Entries by tomlemes

The bad behaviour of Brazilian bees

One day when we were shopping for something completely different, I spotted a hummingbird feeder for sale. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it before, but I love birds and I find hummingbirds particularly wonderful. As soon as I saw the feeder I lost interest in everything else! On the way home I was already […]

More Hortifruti Word-Play

Do you remember all those great adverts that Hortifruti were running a while back? They put fruit and vegetables into famous film posters using excellent word play skills. Edward Scissor Hands (Edward Mãos de Tesoura) became Edward Mãos de Cenoura, Moulin Rouge became Melão Rouge (melon) and Shrek became ChuChuRek (chuchu) – take a look at my […]

My favourite word in Portuguese

Back in 2009 when I was planning my 4 month (ha!) trip to South America, I started taking Spanish lessons. Back then there were no plans to visit Brazil and so Spanish was the obvious choice. A couple of friends and I found a lovely teacher and we would spend a very enjoyable hour each […]

Looking up

I’m feeling a bit wistful at the moment – perhaps some saudade even. It’s because we have reluctantly made the decision to leave our lovely big apartment in Santa Teresa and move a bit closer to my work. A young couple came to look round this morning and they loved it – the looks on their […]

Waiting for the Bondinho

The Bondinho (sounds like bon-JEEN-yo) is the name used by the people of Rio for the little yellow trams that used to trundle along the steep and winding streets of Santa Teresa (the neighbourhood that I currently call home). They would make their way from the hills of Santa, across the amazing arches of Arcos da Lapa and end up […]