Time to catch up on the last three days

PEEK-A-BOO

Do you see what I see?

Monday May 10, 2010

Time to catch up on the last three days. Last week Elaine's father caught a cold. I thought maybe we brought it with us from New York. Since Elaine and I were on the back side of a cold coming down here. A day later Mrs. Bellinelli caught the cold too. Then Adriana and then of course I ended up catching a cold as well. But there was no way we were going to let a little cold interfere with our plans for the weekend.

Thursday night Mr. Bellinelli took us to a little restaurant that they called a churrascaria. It was my first real opportunity to see what a Brazilian barbecue was like. The restaurant has a grill with a very unique rotisserie. The rotisserie has two levels for roasting. Everything is cooked on long skewers. Our first dish was Mozzarella Cheese grilled on a skewer. Our server presented the grilled cheese right off the skewer onto a single platter. When we finished with the cheese, the server brought us toasted garlic bread served again on a skewer. And then when we finished the garlic bread, we were presented with the steak on the skewer. The server would slice off pieces of the steak a little at a time and return the skewer of beef to the grill to continue cooking. Dinner time is a good time to relax and talk. It is quite different than in the states. There are no crowds or lines of people waiting to be seated. And when it is time to leave, you have to ask for the bill. The waiter will not bring the bill until you ask for it. Tips are always included in the bill and so you don't leave any money on the table.





On Friday we took a trip to the street market to get some fruit and vegetables. The street market here operates much the same as the one at home. Quite often we have Hearts of Palm in a salad. You can buy it at Wegman's pickled in a small jar. I got to see how it looks on the street market before it is all cut up.




Another delicious dish here is fried manioc. Graca knows that I like it so she has made some for me a couple of times. On the street it just looks like a huge root from some tree.




At the table it looks like french fries and tastes a lot better. I would love to try manioc with some good old Heinz ketchup. Ketchup is not popular here. They have ketchup but to be honest every dish is quite salty and already has a taste that does not need supplementing.

In the evening Elaine's brother Luciano took us out to dinner at a restaurant that serves sushi once a month. We were all going out for Sushi. I was a little bit nervous at first when they told me that the restaurant was a churrascaria that served Sushi once a month. But I had nothing to worry about. The chef is very experienced in what he does and we could watch him work. In between the many special orders he took, the chef filled a refrigerated case with a variety of samples.
It would be my first chance to try a new drink called Caipisake de Kiwi. When I first started to learn Portuguese in my book called Portuguese for Dummies, I learned the phrase "Quer uma Caipirinha?" The only answer to that question is "Sim, Eu quero." Elaine has been telling me of a special drink that is called Cachaça. We can't get it at home. Cachaca is used to make Caipirinha. If I was to try to describe it then I would say it tastes much like whisky. It is pretty strong.




Saturday morning we got up early to take a trip to the mountains. Luciano came by to pick us up. It was five of us in his hybrid car. They let me ride in the front seat, so that I could take in all the sights. There is so much to see here. We drove for about two hours. Aside from the fact that I had a runny nose and a cough, I didn't say much in two hours. My mouth was open in awe at the many sights of colorful buildings in the cities between the mountains.
As you go into the mountains, you can really appreciate what they mean by "mountain grown" coffee. The mountains are filled with plantations that grow coffee on the hillside. Some of them even grow banana trees in between the rows of coffee on the mountain.




Our first stop was a plantation that opened their place up to the touring public. We could see how they dried the beans on the pavement.




The plantation had a little visitor center that sold a variety of snacks and Cachaca to make Caipirinha. Mr Bellinelli had his hands full as we prepared for the evening.



Oh yes let me say "Ky-pay-dean-nya" That's an English phonetic version of Portuguese. As time goes by the pronunciations get easier. Elaine's mother is helping me pronounce the words properly. She would read the names on the road signs aloud as we passed them. I'm beginning to understand better how to say things. I am a long way off and have just one year to learn. ¡Ay, caramba!

After our stop at the plantation we stopped at a place called Claudia's. What a nice name, don't you think? Claudia knows and remembers everybody. She greeted us at the car as we approached and invited us into her tiny little store to browse and talk.



From there we went to nursery that specialized in growing Orchids. Elaine's family loves Orchids and apparently her brother Luciano has about 100 different types. The nursery was huge. I can't say that I appreciated seeing so many plants until I heard the owner say that he paid $12,000.00 for one that he got from Mexico. In one area we saw thousands of plants and none of them were for sale. (They are the matrix that supports the supply of plants for sale)



After our tour of the nursery it was time for lunch. I don't know who was hungrier. Us or the mosquitoes? They have mosquitoes in the beach and black flies in the mountains Let me clarify that the black flies down here are known as borrachudo. They are smaller than mosquitoes and love ankles. There are many natural repellents in the mountains. I can tell you that the repellents last fifteen minutes at most. They don't work and now I will be itching for two weeks. I even have bites in places I can't show in public.

Our destination was Pedra Azul National Park. We had reservations at a pousada (bed and breakfast) that was at the base of the great rock that at times appears blue with a lizard formation on the side.





We arrived at Pedra Azul just before sunset. Now remember we are going into fall and sunset is somewhere around 5:30 pm. We had just enough time to go for a hike up to the side face of the rock.



Hiking here is just like hiking at home. Luciano enjoys hiking as much as I do and knows the area very well.



Late in the evening Adriana and Giovanni joined us in Mr. and Mrs. Bellinelli's room. We had wine and snacks that Mr. Bellinelli bought at the coffee plantation. The night ended with much laughter and happiness. Unfortunately I gave my camera a rest for the evening. Giovanni has the pictures that tell the story and Elaine just might pay to keep them from being published.