Natal Part 2

We had some down time and were in the neighborhood of Lagoa Nova.  Rodrigo suggested a local cafe, Vanilla Caffe, as there are not yet any Starbucks in Natal.  I was looking for simple black coffee, but the best they had was espresso.  It was pretty good, but not quite the same as an American cafe.  Brazilians prefer the sweeter Espresso drinks which are also popular in the USA, but not my personal preference.  Marina had a bowl of ice cream, with caramel and M&M's.

For dinner, we went to another restaurant in Ponta Negra, called Mazzano.  They have a rodizio, all you can eat, of pizza on Monday nights. There were a number of delicious pizzas and pastas, and I definitely ate my fill!  It was finished off with the chocolate pizza above, extremely sweet, but I loved it.  I definitely got my R$26 worth of food.

Sign outside Gringo's cocktail bar, pretty funny.

Final stop of the night was at a local specialty restaurant, Casa de Taipa, their specialty is tapioca.  Not the tapioca pudding we are familiar with in the US, this is much closer to an omelette, except made with tapioca flour.  There is a wide range of fillings, I chose a calabreza sausage with onions and cheese.  Delicious with tabasco sauce.  Not the cheapest food, but a good snack for R$16. Washed down with a Kaizer Summer beer.

Right next door to the Tapiocaria is the Lua Cheia hostel.  It is designed like a medieval castle and is one of the best hostels in the world.  Very cool design and features a medieval pub.  If Marina didn't have so many helpful and welcoming family members, we would definitely stay here.

At home, we played some Mexican Train dominos.  A favorite of ours in the US, that we taught to Marta (left) Luiza (middle) Rodrigo (right) when they visited my family.  Helena (pink) has picked up the game as well, and we brought her a set of dominos to play at her home also!

Brazil Part 1

I am down in Brazil, visiting with Marina's family and enjoying her lovely city of Natal.  Located on the northeast coast of Brazil, the weather is perfect and the natural beauty is amazing.  The city is developing at an impressive rate, and one of Marina's brother in law's cousins told me that it is considered one of the "hottest" real estate markets on the continent.  There is construction everywhere and the city is modernizing at a ferocious rate.  With that said, it is great place for both locals and the numerous tourists.

We took a tour of the Parque das Dunas, a large urban park in Natal, in fact it is the second largest urban park in the country.  There are several paths which lead from the entrance out towards the ocean. Here we are rounding the last corner of the dune.

Not mean mugging, it was just so bright out there.  Ponta Negra and the the beach are in the background.

Drinking a well-earned fresh young coconut afterwards.  Vita Coco ain't got shit on me.

Afterwards, we were hungry for lunch and Rodrigo suggested a local sushi place.  You paid by the pound, and it was roughly $25/kilogram, which works out to like $11.36/lb, not bad for sushi.

Grabbed a couple random sashimi pieces and my favorite was at the top, left.  Salmon, cream cheese, with a shrimp on top.  Whole plate cost R$24.50, so like $12 USD.  Totally worth it.  Washed it down with a beer.

Was feeling a little tired after, and grabbed an "energetico," made by Coca Cola and sponsored by David Guetta, pretty cool.

Old Orchard Beach

I spent the past 3 days at Old Orchard Beach in Maine. A very small honky-tonk town, just south of Portland. There were a number of members of my mother's family there, including distant cousins and my grandparents who made the trip up from Florida. I got a pretty viscious sunburn, as we spent a lot of time by the beach and pool, during the 100 degree heatwave! Important to me, I was able to drink a lot of great beers. First night I was there, I walked a mile up to the nearest location selling Baxter Brewing Co's Stowaway IPA. A very solid canned offering, available only in Maine, at 8.99 a 6er, it was a bargain. It reminded me very strongly of New England Brewing Co's Sea Hag IPA.

Thursday, we made our way up to Portland to tour the Allagash Brewery. I went with my father and uncle, who are curious about craft beer, but not very knowledgeable. We toured the facilities, which are very impressive, and since the tasting room/retail store was under construction, we had a tasting in the barrel room of the brewery. We had Allagash White, Tripel, Curieux (Tripel aged in Jim Beam bourbon barrels) , and 2011 Fluxus (Bier de Garde). I enjoyed all of the beers, as well as the very informational tour, best of all it was free. I did not pick up any beer there, but I regret not grabbing a piece of glassware.



After that, we stopped at Whole Foods Market, Portland, and I was able to grab 2 bottles of Maine Brewing Co. Lunch IPA ($5.99/500ml bottle), with a lot date of 7/21 which was the day we were in the store! Pretty crazy stuff! I enjoyed one bottle that night, and just had another one last night, after the restaurant. Incredibly hoppy, but still very drinkable and refreshing, one of the hoppiest "single" IPAs I have had in some time. Highly reccomend all of Maine Brewing Co's offerings!