Some photos first until I find a few minutes to blog about our super relaxing trip up to Jeri. We have managed to lose one camera and break another so these are all off my blackberry, not too bad as long as I don't want to print any...
Tuesday, 28 June 2011
Friday, 17 June 2011
Las Chicas
Lovely brunch / lunch place I'd love to recommend. Went there yesterday for lunch with some girlfriends, had a cheeky glass of wine and their buffet lunch which was absolutely delicious. Big lovely salads, chicken xadrex and the best cheesecake (dessert) I've had so far (obviously aside from my cupcakes!!).
I also saw on their menu that they do eggs for brunch too so will have to head back there on the weekend to try. The only problem is that it's tiny! Because it's so small I can't imagine it's the best place to take Sophie (but that's all relative, as everywhere here is childfriendly...) but I can imagine it's aboslutely packed on the weekend.
Las Chicas, Oscar Friere 1607, Pinheiros (north side of Reboucas). They are open from 9am.
*on a side note, we went to Pain et Chocolate in Moema for supposedly the best breakfast last weekend and it is so average. The only thing that was 'NY brunch' about it was the 1 hour waiting time!!
I also saw on their menu that they do eggs for brunch too so will have to head back there on the weekend to try. The only problem is that it's tiny! Because it's so small I can't imagine it's the best place to take Sophie (but that's all relative, as everywhere here is childfriendly...) but I can imagine it's aboslutely packed on the weekend.
Las Chicas, Oscar Friere 1607, Pinheiros (north side of Reboucas). They are open from 9am.
*on a side note, we went to Pain et Chocolate in Moema for supposedly the best breakfast last weekend and it is so average. The only thing that was 'NY brunch' about it was the 1 hour waiting time!!
Thursday, 9 June 2011
Jericoacoara
Just booked flights to Jericoacoara for later this month!!! If anyone has any tips on places to stay, things to do and most importantly, restaurants - all would be much appreciated!!!!
Tuesday, 7 June 2011
Waste Land
Just watched the Vik Muniz documentary, Waste Land.
It's about the catadores - the people who work picking through the rubbish for recyclables - who work at Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest rubbish dumps in the city. Through Muniz's documentary he brings this underclass to life, putting faces to the faceless. The idea is that he takes their photos, sells them, and gives them the money back to support their association (which they started to try and formalise their workforce in the industry).
Definitely worth a watch, and a think.
Check out the NY Times review too.
It's about the catadores - the people who work picking through the rubbish for recyclables - who work at Jardim Gramacho in Rio de Janeiro, one of the largest rubbish dumps in the city. Through Muniz's documentary he brings this underclass to life, putting faces to the faceless. The idea is that he takes their photos, sells them, and gives them the money back to support their association (which they started to try and formalise their workforce in the industry).
Definitely worth a watch, and a think.
Check out the NY Times review too.
Ilhabela: Eaten alive
We went to Ilhabela 2 weeks ago and I still have the bites to prove it (they're still itchy!).
Had my mother-in-law in town and decided to take her away for a long weekend as Tim couldn't get much time off work. Ilhabela is one of the dozens of places on our list of places to visit here -and decided it would be ideal, the weather was going to be good, it wasn't too far to drive and technically off-season so wouldn't be so busy. We've heard that the summer months can be awful there - too many people, too many mosquitos and too much rain. But we figured that if people still go there, that this island must be pretty amazing!
We drove up on a Friday morning and it took us just under 3 hours to get to the ferry point at Sao Sebastiao. We had read other blogs which advised to pre-book the ferry online, but we couldn't find the link and it turned out to be fine particularly since it wasn't a public holiday in peak season. We arrived 10 minutes before the next ferry was scheduled (they go every half an hour at this time of the year)
We booked a little chalet up on the hill next to Praia Grande which is half way down the island, using the website Alugue Temporada. It's low season so it was only R$150 a night but next time I would like to definitely be walking distance to the beach.
The little town was cute - a few restaurants and shops. The first night we were recommended Cheio Verde which serves local food. There is no menu - you choose from 4-5 daily plates that they have. Ilhabela is a popular sailing destination and this is restaurant is a favourite amongst old-school sailors for a good hearty meal after a long day at sea. My seafood spaghetti was OK but I personally wouldn't go back.
It was a really lovely weekend and we were really lucky with the weather considering it's winter. Though the first morning, one of Madeleine’s varicose veins burst!! It must’ve been from the pressure of her flight over from the UK. Not the best thing to happen when you are settling yourself into a hammock for a morning cup of tea. So Tim rushed her down to the hospital in town and luckily they didn’t have to wait too long for a doctor to check her out and give her some pills. Spent a day on Praia do Curral (where DPNY hotel is located) which was the busiest beach. I love to people watch and the water there was great for Sophie. The only thing that spoilt it for me was two cars that had put on loud dance music (e.g. electronic version of 'I had the time of my life'). We went to Restaurant Nova Iorqui (at the south end of the tarmac road) where we were told had the best seafood on the island. We had a lovely seafood stew but got pretty cold sitting on their balcony - would recommend going there for a late lunch and watching the sunset.
The next day we drove up as far north as we could go to a beach called Jabaquara. It was stunning as it was much more off the beaten track than all the other beaches we had seen so far. We had a plan to do a boat trip to the other side of the island where we heard the beaches were even more stunning (because they are harder to get to I assume) but we didn't plan our day properly. But we we were quite happy to stay on Jabaquara - during the day we spent there, there couldn't have been more than 50 people on the beach. Spent the morning watching a kite surfer fail abysmally at taking off. We had a gorgeous prawn risotto there and left to drive back mid-afternoon when we couldn't take the borrachudas (a special variety of sandflies) anymore! Note to self: take cash to this beach, they do not accept cards.
We also decided to stop off at the hospital again, for Sophie this time. She had a nasty allergic reaction to the bites, and even though they didn’t seem to bother her they were so ugly (on the second day it looked like acid bubbles had formed under her skin). Again, luckily, there were not very many people waiting so we go to see the doctor pretty quickly. He prescribed her some cream, and it took 3 days for her bites to dry, scab and peel off. I’m now going to have to smother her in Vitamin E cream to try and get rid of her scars : (
We went for dinner at Manjericao which is a new restaurant in town. We were impressed with the food - the fish dishes were excellent - but it was pretty empty. I guess everyone had already started heading home that Sunday night.
Not the best night sleep. All of us woke up every other hour to itch a bite (or 20). All our creams (I’m a big fan of tiger balm to help relieve the itching) didn’t last the whole night. Madeleine spent the next week pouring boiling water on her bites, and we were also told to use a hairdryer on full heat to stop the itch but if anyone has any other tips on how to stop getting the bites in the first place that would be great! All the deet and citronella did not work with these little buggers.
On Monday morning I spent it down at the café on Praia Grande while Tim took Sophie and Madeleine for a walk to a waterfall. It was a gorgeous 27 C and the beach had 10 other people on it. Fresh fruit juices, and no sandflies here made it heaven! It’s morning like these that remind me of why we moved here to Brazil. We just need to make the most of the opporunities here.
We caught the 6:30pm ferry back that evening and were back in Sao Paulo by 10pm. Certainly worse ways to spend a weekend : ). Next trip back to ilhabela, I will be armed with vegemite (I was advised by fellow kiwis that eating vegemite every day the week before your visit would keep the little pesky biters away) and definitely organise a boat trip to the beaches on the other side of the island. Any other tips on must-see's or must-eat's would be much appreciated!
Had my mother-in-law in town and decided to take her away for a long weekend as Tim couldn't get much time off work. Ilhabela is one of the dozens of places on our list of places to visit here -and decided it would be ideal, the weather was going to be good, it wasn't too far to drive and technically off-season so wouldn't be so busy. We've heard that the summer months can be awful there - too many people, too many mosquitos and too much rain. But we figured that if people still go there, that this island must be pretty amazing!
We drove up on a Friday morning and it took us just under 3 hours to get to the ferry point at Sao Sebastiao. We had read other blogs which advised to pre-book the ferry online, but we couldn't find the link and it turned out to be fine particularly since it wasn't a public holiday in peak season. We arrived 10 minutes before the next ferry was scheduled (they go every half an hour at this time of the year)
We booked a little chalet up on the hill next to Praia Grande which is half way down the island, using the website Alugue Temporada. It's low season so it was only R$150 a night but next time I would like to definitely be walking distance to the beach.
The little town was cute - a few restaurants and shops. The first night we were recommended Cheio Verde which serves local food. There is no menu - you choose from 4-5 daily plates that they have. Ilhabela is a popular sailing destination and this is restaurant is a favourite amongst old-school sailors for a good hearty meal after a long day at sea. My seafood spaghetti was OK but I personally wouldn't go back.
It was a really lovely weekend and we were really lucky with the weather considering it's winter. Though the first morning, one of Madeleine’s varicose veins burst!! It must’ve been from the pressure of her flight over from the UK. Not the best thing to happen when you are settling yourself into a hammock for a morning cup of tea. So Tim rushed her down to the hospital in town and luckily they didn’t have to wait too long for a doctor to check her out and give her some pills. Spent a day on Praia do Curral (where DPNY hotel is located) which was the busiest beach. I love to people watch and the water there was great for Sophie. The only thing that spoilt it for me was two cars that had put on loud dance music (e.g. electronic version of 'I had the time of my life'). We went to Restaurant Nova Iorqui (at the south end of the tarmac road) where we were told had the best seafood on the island. We had a lovely seafood stew but got pretty cold sitting on their balcony - would recommend going there for a late lunch and watching the sunset.
The next day we drove up as far north as we could go to a beach called Jabaquara. It was stunning as it was much more off the beaten track than all the other beaches we had seen so far. We had a plan to do a boat trip to the other side of the island where we heard the beaches were even more stunning (because they are harder to get to I assume) but we didn't plan our day properly. But we we were quite happy to stay on Jabaquara - during the day we spent there, there couldn't have been more than 50 people on the beach. Spent the morning watching a kite surfer fail abysmally at taking off. We had a gorgeous prawn risotto there and left to drive back mid-afternoon when we couldn't take the borrachudas (a special variety of sandflies) anymore! Note to self: take cash to this beach, they do not accept cards.
We also decided to stop off at the hospital again, for Sophie this time. She had a nasty allergic reaction to the bites, and even though they didn’t seem to bother her they were so ugly (on the second day it looked like acid bubbles had formed under her skin). Again, luckily, there were not very many people waiting so we go to see the doctor pretty quickly. He prescribed her some cream, and it took 3 days for her bites to dry, scab and peel off. I’m now going to have to smother her in Vitamin E cream to try and get rid of her scars : (
We went for dinner at Manjericao which is a new restaurant in town. We were impressed with the food - the fish dishes were excellent - but it was pretty empty. I guess everyone had already started heading home that Sunday night.
Not the best night sleep. All of us woke up every other hour to itch a bite (or 20). All our creams (I’m a big fan of tiger balm to help relieve the itching) didn’t last the whole night. Madeleine spent the next week pouring boiling water on her bites, and we were also told to use a hairdryer on full heat to stop the itch but if anyone has any other tips on how to stop getting the bites in the first place that would be great! All the deet and citronella did not work with these little buggers.
On Monday morning I spent it down at the café on Praia Grande while Tim took Sophie and Madeleine for a walk to a waterfall. It was a gorgeous 27 C and the beach had 10 other people on it. Fresh fruit juices, and no sandflies here made it heaven! It’s morning like these that remind me of why we moved here to Brazil. We just need to make the most of the opporunities here.
We caught the 6:30pm ferry back that evening and were back in Sao Paulo by 10pm. Certainly worse ways to spend a weekend : ). Next trip back to ilhabela, I will be armed with vegemite (I was advised by fellow kiwis that eating vegemite every day the week before your visit would keep the little pesky biters away) and definitely organise a boat trip to the beaches on the other side of the island. Any other tips on must-see's or must-eat's would be much appreciated!
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