Othon #2

I have come down with a bug. It started late last night on the plane; I started to sneeze. This morning my throat is soar and I’m feeling under par. Tenho tosse. And I find more items I neglected to pack but were on my checklist. What a putz! I have no aspirin, Tylenol, Aleve or the like. I have no Benadryl or Sudafed, no cough lozenges; I didn’t even pack tissues. I will stay in my room until 11 or so when I will call Flavio and see what’s up and if I am up to it.
It’s a noisy room, right over the freeway but it will do nicely for my plan to explore the non-beach side of life in Rio. What am I, crazy? All life in Rio is about the beach.
I am across the street form Museu do Arte Moderna [MAM], Monumento aos Pracinhas, Museo da Guerra Mundial, Museu da Escola Naval. They are all bunched around a little bay called Enseada da Gloria, which is at the north end of the beachfront park known as [Aterro do] Flamingo. That stretches south to the beach and bay of Botafogo which is bordered on the southeast by Sugarloaf Mountain [Pao de Acucar]. I have to hook up an international keyboard on this puppy, as I have to leave off all the tildes, cedillas and those little hat things over the number 6. This Othon has the same “continental breakfast” as The Lancaster, perhaps a bit more extensive. It’s in a much bigger room, which, I think, becomes a full-scale restaurant in the evening.
The poverty of Rio is right outside the door. There is a Banco Real with a small plaza and there were a half dozen sleeping under large plastic sheets, not like a tent but just wrapped up in the plastic. The food crisis is very evident here as Brazil has gone so far with the bio-fuels game that the staples of rice and other grains have soared price wise.
Flavio came by and we went to Pao de Acucar and walked around the bottom of it. It’s a beautiful jungle walk, peaceful and quiet. Little monkeys showed up begging. We then went to Urca, an upscale neighborhood at the foot of Pao to check out one of his favorite bars. We went into a little mom and pop type store and Flavio said something and we walked out and across the street to the sea wall. We were followed by a waiter [of sorts] with two glasses and a big bottle of beer. We sat there with dozens of others and when we needed more beer we waved and they brought it over. It was so perfectly laid back.
We picked up Renata and Caue and went for a bite.
Arataca was Tom Jobim’s home away from home. Flavio remembers seeing him there daily. They lived on the same street.
We had Tacaca, a shrimp soup made with Jambu [an herb I must research]. It was so different and flavorful. Arataca features cuisine from the North and Northeast, Renata’s homeland. We then had tapioca crepes w/ crab. I had a glass of graviola, a not at all sweet fruit juice that looked like pina colada. We poured a shot of really good cachaca in it. We finished of the meal with a big bottle of beer.