food tagged posts

In America, Bonito and Pantanal 2002 On  17/12/2002  No comments

I got to Baia Grande in the morning and was received by Alexandre, the owner. He showed me the house, stable, orchard, bird… The farm works with rural tourism. They receive tourists, in general foreigners, who want a experience of living in a farm. They sleep in the farm’s house. The food is made with aliments produced in the farm and cooked on the old style wood oven.

In the morning I walked around the house and spend some time chatting with Alexandre. By noon a Dutch tourists arrived. We had a typical lunch, rice, beans, steak and salad. The desert reminded me home, figs in syrup and ambrosia (a desert make with sugar and milk). We took a nap in the hammocks to go for a horse hide in the afternoon.

The horse hide was to see the farm, feed the cattle and appreciate the local vegetation. We passed by a small water reservoir where we saw a alligator head in the water. Later we saw a capybara by another reservoir. We also saw birds like woodpecker and toucan...

In America, Bonito and Pantanal 2002 On  15/12/2002  No comments

The Recanto Ecológico do Rio da Prata is in Jardins, a town 54km far from Bonito. The trip was too far to be done with a moto-taxi. I end up getting a hide from a “carioca” couple and his son João. There, we got the equipment (wetsuit, boots, mask and snorkel). Then we hiked by the river for an hour and a half. Almost every tour in this region has this kind of hikes. I consider them important because it is when the guide explain about the environment and he give a class on ecological awareness. It is worth it, the places are so beautiful and it is necessary to preserve.

We went in the water at the spring of Rio Olho D´água and there started snorkeling. We came back to our starting point by the river, following the stream. We didn’t have to swim, neither move the legs, it was just lay down on the water and let the river take you. Good! The river was very clear and we could see a great amount of fishes.

Back to the farm house we had a lunch with typical food...

In Bonito and Pantanal 2002, Hiking/Trekking On  14/12/2002  No comments

At the arrival at Rio do Peixe we met Moacyr, the owner of the farm. After forming grups of 12 we left for a walk on the woods. Once in a while we stopped for a waterfall bath. The place was beautiful, clean water and lots of green. The trail ended in a whole in the rock. We climbed up and jumped in the water. We came back a small part by the river.

Back to the farm house, Moacyr and his wife waited us for lunch. It was lots of regional food. What I liked the most was a “sopa paraguaia”, hat it is not a soup, it is a sort of dough made with corn flour and cheese. Delicious. After lunch we took a nap on leather hammocks produced in the region.

In the afternoon we did another trail. We passed by some waterfalls, bathed and end up at a part of the river where there was a reel. We used it to jump in the water. It was interesting to see people from different ages become child again.

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In Europe, Eastern Europe 2002, Traveled places On  06/08/2002  No comments

I decided to go to Vienna to see a cousin, Lucia, who is there doing her post-doc. By my arrival she suggested me the next day program: to bike around the small villages near Vienna. I seams that she had read my thoughts, I was tired of cities, people, museums, monuments… It would be great to spend a day biking near nature.

From Vienna we got a train to Tulln where we met her workmates and got the bikes. We got a train to Melk. From there we biked to Spitz where we stopped to have lunch. Then we continued to Krems, passing through small villages, wineries, apple, plum and apricot trees… On our way we stopped at Dürstein to enjoy the landscape. We end up the tour in Hadersdorf, in a Heuriger, where we had the local wine. It was incredible to see how they are prepared to cycling. There are bike road all over Austria. One can go anywhere by bike, the special bike roads are by the freeway, or train rail, or the Danube, or through the woods… I loved it.

Following day we went back to...

In America, Peru 2001 On  17/06/2001  No comments

This time I decided to do a tour to the archeological sites in the Sacred Valley. The distances were longer and there were no buses straight to the sights. We left Cuzco already late, about 9:30am. In the way to Pisaq we stopped in a handcraft market in a small village. It was a very touristy, the typical place made for the “gringos” spend their money.

In Pisaq, every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday there is a open market. It is divided in two parts; one of handcraft, to the tourists; and the other of food, more towards the local people. We walked a little in the market and went to the archeological site.

The site is a few kilometers up the hill. It is surrounded by agricultural terraces, theses were used specially to cultivate corn. It was also used to the production of Chicha (typical drink with hallucinogen power drank in rituals). The terraces have a good irrigation system to be able to cultivate corn at high altitudes and cold...

In America, Peru 2001 On  09/06/2001  No comments

I arrived in Ica by the end of the afternoon. I got off the bus and got a cab straight to Huacachina, the local oasis. The place reminded me the oasis from movies in the Sahara desert. There are enormous sand dunes around a small lake with palms tree, restaurants and hotels. There are just a few houses and a small number of inhabitants. Huacachina is known by the tourists for the practice of sandboard (a sport similar to snowboard). The difference is that here there is no cable car to take you to the top of  the dune. The tourists go up and practice in a higher part, without going all the way down, only in the end they go down the big dune. Some have the breath to go up and go down again. Here the climate in hot. After feeling cold in so many places, it was great to be in the hot weather, reading a book by the pool.

From Ica I went to Pisco, I wanted to visit the Ballestas Island. The boat tour usually leaves in the mornings...