Eat Rio Blog - Page 27 of 106

Good times (and dancing) in São Cristóvão

04/02/2014/6 Comments/in Musings

One of the 2 main stages which hosts live music on the weekends. The golden roof resembles a chapéu de cangaceiro (typical hat worn by nordestinos).

One of my favourite things to do in Rio is visit the Feira de São Cristóvão – if you’re in Rio and you haven’t been yet then you should definitely go check it out – find all the details here.

If you go in the evening on a weekend, the whole place is really lively. Crowds of nordestinos (people from Northeastern Brazil) come to eat, drink, dance and generally have a good time – quite a few of them stay all weekend! If you’re interested in Forró, (the music/dance from the Northeast) then stand anywhere near one of the main stages and before you know it some friendly octogenarian will be whisking you around the floor!

On our most recent visit, Mrs Eat Rio and I had a brilliant time browsing the shops, eating far too much food and drinking plenty of ice-cold beer (the temperatures were up above 40°C). While we were eating at a place next to the stage, the live band took a break and put on some recorded ‘holding’ music. The atmosphere calmed a little and all the couples that had been dancing drifted away…

All, that is, except for one! A lone dancer remained. And he was having great time!

A Tapioquinha for brunch

31/01/2014/6 Comments/in Food and drink

Mrs Eat Rio and I are off to São Paulo this weekend to enjoy the culinary delights that Brazil’s largest city has to offer. Sadly the Eat Rio budget won’t stretch to D.O.M. this time, but our greedy stomachs are quivering in anticipation of a visit to the highly rated Mocotó. Speaking of food, I’ve been playing about in the kitchen myself recently and I thought I’d share my results.

Locals’ Price vs Gringo Price

30/01/2014/13 Comments/in Musings

Before I came to Brazil, I spent the best part of a year backpacking my way from Argentina to Mexico. While very few (if any) backpackers I met were actually poor, most of them were doing their best to make a limited budget stretch as far as possible. People were always swapping money-saving tips – cheap hostel recommendations, scams to avoid, any handy discovery to save a few pesos/soles/bolivianos.

But one financial question always seemed to cause disagreements: Locals’ Price vs Gringo Price.

Advice for Expats

27/01/2014/24 Comments/in Musings

Pouco açúcar!

Not so long ago I was asked to contribute some advice for people moving to Rio. The first thing that popped into my head was “Remember to ask for pouco açúcar [just a little sugar] when ordering your caipirinhas”.

“No no”, they said, “It doesn’t have to be specific to Rio. But it does need to be proper, serious advice for expats” (clearly these guys have never suffered an over-sweet caipirinha if they thought that advice wasn’t ‘serious’).

OK, I thought, let’s try to think of something a bit more weighty. Something serious. I imagined someone relocating to a country they’d never seen before. Perhaps they’d heard mixed reports, including some issues with crime and bureaucracy and were feeling a bit nervous. What would be the best advice for someone like that?

The ‘Surreal’

24/01/2014/15 Comments/in Musings

The prices of goods and services in Rio are undeniably high. It doesn’t matter whether you’re eating in a restaurant, buying clothes or looking to rent an apartment – the prices are often wince-inducing. And when prices are high enough to make rich holidaymakers and expats gasp, imagine how the locals must feel.

Last year’s protests were a graphic illustration of just how sensitive Brazilians are to these high prices – many people have been pushed to the limit of what they can afford, yet feel that the standards of these goods and services are not good enough. In short, they’re not getting value for money.

Factor in further issues such as inflation (currently around 6%), overspend on the ‘megaprojects’ (World Cup and Olympics) and gentrification of what were traditionally the cheaper parts of town and you get an idea of why there is a general feeling of frustration among many Rio residents.

Well, hard times drive change and it seems that all this dissatisfaction has given birth to an alternative currency. No, not the Bitcoin. Meet the $urreal!