You fancy the beach? There are half a dozen within a comfortable walk. Each one served by chairs, table, waiters, sun shades and all the food and drink you fancy. Or, you can use one not so popular, miles of sand and sea, deserted, except for a little fishing boat or two bobbing in the water. Maybe take your bicycle, or a taxi if you don't fancy walking. Coffee shops are everywhere. Little local places with character, smart modern places with impressive patisserie, or nice, clean little bakeries or posadas( bed and breakfast places). You can find anything from hot savouries to full meals. Go sit in the little park by the church, or head down the hill to take the ferry to the bigger part of town, five minutes away. Or, get your groceries shopping done, have it delivered later. Or there are gyms, little bits of markets....or enjoy a massage , facial or manicure. All so cheap, it's hard to resist and why should you, it's all there to enjoy.
By then it's lunch time, very hot, so take a break and eat something. Self service is about best this time of the day. Rotisserie meats and every salad , or hot vegetable dish you can imagine. There is often a good breeze by then, so under a sunshade is comfortable and enjoyable. All food at lunchtime at very cheap prices. If you go over on the ferry you can indulge in wonderful sushi, sold by weight. I must say, the sushi and sashimi in Brasil is first class. I have no idea why, as I have yet to see an Asian visitor or local. Take a leisurely lunch, as the sun has mostly gone by the beach by four. It gets light early here..and dark early too.
But that's all to the good, because with the night comes the bars, the lights, the music. All the noisy exuberance that is Brasil, vibrates and shimmies along wherever you walk. If you decide to walk up Mucage street, the Main Street leading to the beach, it's full of lovely little boutique type shops. Nights are when they open, so browse and buy to your hearts content. Clothes, shoes, gifts, even a few pretty household bits. The rest of the places are either bars, or restaurants. Your only problem is deciding where you would like to sit, and what you would like to eat.
Even just walking the street is exciting. Everywhere you go there is music.The only thing you won't have is peace and quiet. But that's why you relax day times. Every few steps is a new display of drumming, dancing, acrobats, or capoeira, the unique BrasilIn acrobatic martial art skill. The larger streets are mostly pedestrian, the people you see are colourful. A few more clothes are worn at night, unlike the day when beach wear is the norm. I have never seen so much smooth skin in my life. Many couples are ready to break into a dance themselves when passing music they like. The Brasilians were born dancing, to them, it's as normal as talking. The fun goes on until the early hours.
So, overall, that's Biaha, Brasil. Or, more particularly Arraial d Ajuda. The little peninsular that thinks it's an island. It's quite unique, its crowded, noisy, busy, interesting and above all, colourful and vibrant. Sometimes annoying if you have things to do in a hurry, because thats unlikely to happen. But really..it's a reasonably small thing to put up with for the joy of living in Paradise. For PARADISE is what it is. Yes, it will quiet down again, once the summer season has passed, and Carnival is over. The energy and character remain, there is just more room for cars, people, and more time for enjoying all there is here.
I actually did quite a few of those things today, and saw most of those things too. I thought you might like a little taste of my life as I know it......because I'm going to bed now, because tomorrow is another day of making tough decision about how best to spend my day. Happy days everyone.
No comments:
Post a Comment