It is not food, but the view from there is a “delight”. The SugarLoaf at Rio de Janeiro is a landmark in the city and it is a MUST, just like the Christ the Redeemer.
To get there we went from Botafogo. After visiting the favela Dona Martha, and we had to walk a long while to arrived to the bus stop so we could take a bus that would leave us almost in front of the place where the bondinho is. But before taking it, we decided to go to the beach; see the environment and eat some food from the Brazilian street. We ate something that it is called tapioca and my mouth was completely in love with it, is sort of a crepe but … different.
We also bought a coconut water and while we were there, seeing the Sugar Loaf and the beach in front of me a man approached to me and he started speaking in Portuguese. From what I understood he was from Rio, born and raised, and that before (pointing to the beach)
“The beach wasn’t filled as now, they were more locals and everything looked nicer. I prefer less crowded “
He said while sharing his gaze to me and the beach.
“I also prefer it that way”
I said, while I smiled and then I said goodbye and walked away from him to eat tapioca… but I kept watching him. He was an old man with a young soul, or maybe he was drunk, but while he was watching the sea he began to dance. He seemed happy.
After this “de tour” we went to take the bondihno. It costs 62 reais but I had my student card (overdue but they accepted it) and charged me only 31 reais. We stayed in the Sugar Loaf a good time, the view was nice but there was a mist and took away beauty, although in a way it also seemed mysterious which was cool. There were many people there, seeing Rio from a rock named like a dessert. We spent touring the place and the different views. I was taking photos of the landscape and my dad was taking photos of us.
I sat on a bench and a young man with his wife and children were sitting next to me. The kids had a glass with something in it that looked like coffee ice cream but also seemed like beans. I asked the lady about it and said:
“It Açai. It’s good. It gives you energy “
I smiled and wrote about it in my mind; Açai would be another thing I had to try in Brazil. That afternoon after the Sugar Loaf we went to eat in a very “local” manner. It was a quirky place, Anelise, our Brazilian friend, told us it was a matter of cariocas, tourists did not know about it. It was pretty much eating at a small pier, sitting there, not in tables but in the jetty and eat what we ordered in a little restaurant that had more people than a women store on sale. Well, the pier was also packed with people eating, drinking beer and talking. We ate breaded fish and shrimp, and it was delicious and the experience was good; different. There we saw the sunset and how the sun was reflected in the calm sea. It was a good day.
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