Brazil Master Thread

[Yehoshua]

Thanks, what other places are on the list?

Well Rio again (hopefully it won't be raining), SP, and maybe Manaus.

[Dan]

Keep saving the best for later - SAO has a lot to do, maybe not as "attractiony" as RIO or IGU, but there are great street market open on the weekends, friday vinte cinco and downtown you can go up to the observatory for free, great shopping at upscale oscar freire in jardins, go to a soccer game, that would be a great thing to do in SAO or RIO, nothing like a soccer match in Brazil, even if it is not your go to sport and you won't understand much, it is crazy fun atmosphere there. Markets like republica and the great fruit market open on Sundays etc.. Lots of stuff there that could be lots of fun. I would go there from like Thursday (or even Wednesday) through Sunday. Don't stay there for Monday, as most of the city closes down on Mondays. - Consider this my mini TR for now of SAO. Though this is just a fraction of the great stuff that there are to do there, there is a whole lot more, can share with you my shutterfly photo book if you want.

Looks like we'll get to SAO Thursday and fly to IGU on Monday morning.
Can you elaborate on any of those activities.

Don't think a game is safe with 2 kids.

Is there any shabbos take out? Any good ideas for what food to bring to IGU for 1.5 days?

[Yaalili]

Looks like we'll get to SAO Thursday and fly to IGU on Monday morning.
Can you elaborate on any of those activities.

Don't think a game is safe with 2 kids.

Dates sound perfect for SAO.

On Thursday spend a day in Jardins, the upscale community, the street of Oscar Freire is one of the safest streets and in SP, as there are guards at every store, fun place to go to is the Havaiana store, where they have the best flip flops in the world, and you can choose from hundreds of pairs, or even custom make your own. You can then go to Paulista avenue, they even have a free 3-hour walking tour there - in English - on Thursdays, so would be great, very highly rated on TA, though never got to do it myself. You wouldn't want to bring kids to a game, not that it is dangerous, but it's just not the right place, though if you can have someone babysit the kids while you go out, it is something you will not soon forget. They have games at all times, and all of the are crazy, though if you go too a game of one of the stars there (Corinthians or Palmeiras) you are in for a real treat!

Friday would be good day to spend at downtown (run-down) area of SP. You can go to the vinte-cinco market, a pedestrian only street of about 3-4 blocks that has all the junk you want there, for name your own price . 5 minute walk from there and you are at the Banespa building, where you can go to the top for free, and get an amazing view of the whole city of SP, fun free activity. You can walk around the historic area where all the courthouses were, there is even a park in the middle somewhere, where they held the fifa fan fest in SP a few months ago.

Sunday is a day for downtown too, though other stuff are open then that are not on weekdays. You can go to the Municipal fruit market, where you can try many exotic Brazilian fruits from all over the country, prices are high, but they will let you try whatever you want, and they try to make you feel that you must buy from them. Republica square is about a 20 minute walk from there, there you can buy an authentic Brazilian hammock for R$50. You can also go to the Liberdade Japanese market that is only open on Sundays, similar idea to Vinte-Cinco and Republica, though more Asian style stuff there. And the streets there are decorated in a way to make you feel like you are in Japan. And in the evening, head out to one of the many shopping malls, even if you are not into shopping, this is where it is happening on Sunday nights, one of the malls has a kosher freddo store inside, and in that same mall there is a cool outdoor rooftop theater.

[Yaalili]

Is there any shabbos take out? Any good ideas for what food to bring to IGU for 1.5 days?

You can't go wrong with going to either All Kosher or SuperK, they both have full Deli counter, and lots of other kosher groceries that you can only find there. Full bakery selections, sushi bars, prices are on the high side, SuperK has the largest selection.

When we went to IGU we brought, crackers, tuna, cookies and biscuits. There we bought other stuff like fruits in the grocery, chips and drinks etc.. If you go to SuperK you will be able to buy whatever you want for your trip, and remember there is a kosher freddo inside the Argentina side of the park.

[Something Fishy]

This is from the master Trip Report thread - if someone here could help out it would be appreciated.

Done.

The wiki now has separate listings for Rio, Sao Paulo, Iguassu, Florianopolis, as well as just "Brazil". Maybe someone who is more familiar with Brazil could organize them in a way that makes more sense, either merging a few of them, or alternately, breaking out the ones listed under just Brazil to where they belong.

I don't know enough about Brazil  to know if this even makes sense, but it just seems weird now IMHO.

[Dan]

Celadon is awesome!

[Yaalili]

Celadon is awesome!

What is that, some pottery place?

[Dan]

What is that, some pottery place?

New milchig place. I am so drunk from there...gosh I missed caiparinhas!

[jaywhy]

New milchig place. I am so drunk from there...gosh I missed caiparinhas!

Lol. They're amazing. It's so easy to get hammered off them. 

[Yaalili]

Lol. They're amazing. It's so easy to get hammered off them. 

Yes they are, stores in US should carry good quality Chachaca.

[Yaalili]

New milchig place. I am so drunk from there...gosh I missed caiparinhas!

Cool, I see it now - http://koshermap.com.br/pt/view-10154/celadon-conheca-o-novo-restaurante-chalavi-kasher-do-sushi-papaia.html. I'll add to wiki.

[Yaalili]

Two weeks ago, I wrote up my Florianopolis TR, it finished like this:

CWB will have to wait for a future report.

Well here it is! - Curitiba is not the most exciting city, but is probably the most beautiful city in Brazil.

We took a bus from Florianopolis to Curitiba on Friday morning, the ride is about 4 hour if you get direct, or 5 hours with a few stops along the way, which we did. Difference in price is only about $10-20 but the times of the non-express worked better for us. Pulling into Curitiba central bus station at about 2pm, we had just a few hours till Shabbos, so nothing much in the way of touring in such a short time. We got into a cab - was tricky to find one that would take all of us 4 people with a suitcase each - to take us to Agua Verde, the area which has the Chabad house, and also the brand new FIFA stadium.

Shabbos was very nice and relaxing at Chabad, warm community and great Rabbi's there. We ate by the main Rabbi's house on Friday night, and on Shabbos afternoon there was a full Kiddush at Chabad. And Shiurim later on in the evening before Mincha & Maariv.


The Shul at Chabad Curitiba


Mini playground for the kids at Chabad


Kids preschool in the same building of the Shul.

The Chabad house also has a small grocery store, carrying basics such as, crackers, wafers, snacks, soft drinks, cookies, milk, chocolate and more. And some night they make a "restaurant" night, where they cater dinner and there is a dining room to eat there, call ahead to find out. This place is the only source for anything Kosher in Curitiba other than potato chips and soft drinks.

Sunday morning we went to the outdoor market at the old part of town. Nice place to stroll around for a bit, and very easy to reach, close to everything.


Sunday Market

Leaving directly in front of the Sunday market area / old part of town, is the very popular Curitiba tourist bus. Tickets to get on were R$29, and it allows you to hop on/off 4 times during the day. The tour itself is boring, no narration as you are driving about this long 3 hour tourist route, just short announcements right before each stop, with a brief description of what is there, the same of what you can find by reading the complimentary pamphlet they hand out onboard.


Tourist line Curitiba

The first or second stop on the bus is the 24hr shopping mall, most people wrote online that it's a tourist trap with no major attracting there so we skipped it. After that we passed by the Teatro Paiol, which is one of the oldest theater's in Brazil, again nothing much to see inside, though nice from the outside.


Teatro Paiol, as seen from the bus.

Our first place that we got off at, was the famous Jardim Botanico of Curitiba. A beautiful garden area in middle of the city, the postcard of Curitiba.


The stop on the bus.


Entrance to the admission-free Botanical Gardens.




View of the City and the gardens from the deck.


Small trail through the forest of the gardens.


No shortage of green space in Curitiba, unlike many other cities around Brazil.


Inside the greenhouse of the gardens.

A few stops later the bus pulls up in front of the Oscar Niemeyer museum. The museum is named after the man who designed it, who was also very instrumental in shaping the way Curitiba is today. He was the one who made the very popular bus tube system in Curitiba.


An icon not only in Curitiba but throughout Brazil. Below a replica of the full museum including the "eye".


He was the one who created this genius over-ground tube system.


Outside the museum.

The next stop on the bus was the Memorial Polonês, this place looks like a run-down Polish / Ukrainian shtetel. Nice place to walk around a little bit, and connected to the museum through a nice 10 minute walking path through the woods, so you don't have to use up an extra stop.







We then passed by Bosque Alemão, the German area of town, nice monument there but we didn't get off. The next stop we got off at was Parque Tanguá, a beautiful park outside the city, worth getting off at. Large pond of water in the center, and offered beautiful views from the top, and great hiking trails.







Our final stop that we got off at was Parque Barigui, a large urban park, fun atmosphere in the evening, with many locals there skateboarding, people making bbq's the vibes are great. Very close to downtown too and shopping malls that are open late.


Parque Barigui


Some unidentifiable animals across the river.


At the end of day.

Few notes about the bus, the entire trip takes almost 3 hours. The buses do not run on Monday's, as most stuff / attractions in Brazil. The bus starts at 9am from Praça Tiradentes, and goes for another run about every half hour or more frequent if it fill up faster. If you are renting a car, than there is no reason I see to take bus, it is more of a means of transports for those without one, than an attraction in itself.

Monday morning, we were going to go on the Serra Verde express train, that goes through the coastal Atlantic rainforest. Unfortunately the weather in the morning wasn't the greatest, so we skipped it. Instead we went to Pátio Batel, a brand new high-end shopping mall the was opened this past year. The mall itself was beautiful and felt very exorbitant.


Inside Pátio Batel


Relaxing lounge areas at the mall.

At the roof of the mall was a nice place to stroll and view the city. Down a few blocks, was another mall fully decorated for FIFA with soccer balls hanging all over.


Rooftop of the mall.


Notice all the soccer (football) decorations for FIFA2014.

Before heading out to the airport for the next part of the trip, I headed out to the regus lounge in town, and got some wifi, drinks, and a great high up view of the city I was about to leave. I got the card almost 2 years ago when Dan posted about it one of the first times, and it is still working more than a year later bh.



Hope you enjoyed reading this long TR, have so many more pictures, but I think I clogged it up enough for now

[Yehoshua]

Great installment. Can't wait for the rest!

[jaywhy]

Awesome!

[Yaalili]

Great installment. Can't wait for the rest!

Awesome!

Thanks guys, here are pics from my Florianopolis trip, the report is above (reply #454). HT to Something Fishy for the tutorial on how to post pictures.


View before landing in FLN.


View from our hostel where we stayed, the Aloha Barra.


Beach less than a two minute walk from our hostel.




The thickets that separate the beach from the road.


The area where the ocean forms into the lake.


On the left water flowing in from the ocean to the lake.




Sun starting to set over the Barra Lagoa beach.


The main road in the area right along the beach, notice the dog who 'owns' this block is resting.


Talking about the dogs there, my friend snapped this picture of one of the sophisticated homeless dogs.


Across the bridge from Barra Lagoa beach is where the avenues start looking like this.


And this.. I encountered a wild dog in this place who was in a fight/chase with another little dog.


These roads also lead to beautiful gems, hidden away beaches.


Next morning we set out on a hike along the road on the lake to the next beach.


Midway between Barra Lagoa and Mole beach was the gorgeous observatory over the lake and mountains.


After a while hiking we made it over to the most popular beach on the island - Mole.




After some more walking, we came to the Joaquina dunes, must go here!


The adjacent beach is beautiful as well, but was the most full of all the beaches.


Sun setting over the lake on our last day there.

[Yehoshua]

Great Pix!

[Galitzyaner]

@Ya'alili, thanks for your TR's!

It took me so long to figure out all the best spots around town, wish you'd have been there during the year I was there. You really get around over there, and you know your places spot on.

Keep it up! Makes me miss Brazil so much. Such a lovely place!

[Yaalili]

@Ya'alili, thanks for your TR's!

It took me so long to figure out all the best spots around town, wish you'd have been there during the year I was there. You really get around over there, and you know your places spot on.

Keep it up! Makes me miss Brazil so much. Such a lovely place!

Thanks, which places did you go to there besides RIO?

[ethana]

Anyone been to Manaus recently?

[Yaalili]

Anyone been to Manaus recently?

I was. If you call 3 months ago recently.