A Dinner in Sao Paulo with Jair and Carlos

We had a glorious evening with Jair and Carlos and their adorable dog, Doris Consuelo Day.  They fed me all the things I love, assorted swiss cheeses, little ham and cheese pastries, olives, beer and then red wine, guava juice, an absolutely to die for leek and catupiry cheese tart (which I have to have again!) and for dessert, fresh fruit tart.  They had Nina Simone, Liza Minelli and Norah Jones etc. playing in the background of their cosy apartment.  I loved being here because it felt very homey and welcoming and was FULL of mementos from travelling all around the world.  The conversation was fabulous.  The whole evening is one I will remember for a long time.

Look at Doris Day´s Eyelashes! This is after trimming!

Doris is afraid of this orange bull - He is the `Cheese Protector!`

Parque das Aves - Bird Park in Foz do Iguacu National Park

This bird park was literally 200 meters from the entrance to the waterfall park - (cataratas) and was definitely worth the entrance fee - if you are Brazilian, it is cheaper.  I pretended to have to sneeze and blow my nose so I wouldn´t speak and give myself away as a Gringo and Cassio said we were both Brazilian.  It saved us 35% for this little fib.  We did the same thing at the waterfall entrance too.  You need to be able to speak the language to fool them though.  We both think it is unfair to penalize tourists, but hey, it is still worth the trip.  We took so many more pictures than this and I could write about these birds forever, but then, you would get bored.  Trust me, if you go to Foz do Iguaçu, go to the Parque das Aves and see for yourself.

This place was huge and you are able to go right into the large enclosures and hang out with the birds.  We spent probably 2 or 3 hours here.  It was loud and full of the sounds of the many parrots, maccaws, tucans and the really loud flamingos and many, many other types of birds and reptiles and beautiful butteflies. 

This guy was determined that Cassio´s sandal was food!

As you can see, we really got a chance to interact.  Well, the butterfly came of it´s own volition, but the parrot was trained to pose for photos.  She would really dig in her claws though! Very fun day.

Foz do Iguaçu - We came all this way and look, no water!

Boo hoo.  Not an impressive sight.  This year the water level is the lowest in over 20 years!  Just a trickle in some places.  Behind us it usually looks all white with a wall of water.

These animals are similar to racoons - wild, they bite and carry rabies and yet, they are everywhere food is.  Their name is Quati.  Pretty cute though.  They tried to get into Cassio´s backpack when he was crouching to take a picture.

Ok, we lied.  There actually was some water.  Quite a bit, in fact.  It is FAR prettier than Niagara Falls.  No casinos and cheap souvenier shops everywhere.  Just nature and tons of it.  We didn´t pay for an excursion, but came by local bus and were able to stay as long as we wanted to at every lookout point.
I would just stand there, stare, and breath deeply.  The air was full of oxygen and water vapour.  Delicious!

Itaipu

This is currently the largest dam/hydroelectric power plant in the world!  (The Chinese are working on a bigger one...)  We decided to do the full tour - inside the innards, as Cassio phrased it.  It was a two and a half hour tour but well worth it for people who like to see how things work. 

This thing supplies 90% of the power to Paraguay (8% of all it´s production), and the rest goes to Brasil.  Interestingly, it is owned by both countries and it is located on a `neutral zone` between both.  Even inside the control room there is a line down the centre - representing the equal division of ownership and labour as well as the border between Paraguay and Brasil.  Cool.

Plus, the river overlooking the dam was absolutely gorgeous!  If you look down from here, the drop is 180 meters (I think that´s what they said).

Each one of these tubes, (there are 20 of them) carries as much water as the total that falls from the waterfalls in Iguaçu at it´s current state.  They are 10 meters in diameter and the sight is impressive.  Our guide told us to put our hands on them - you could FEEL the vibration of the water and the massive power.

This is inside - the thing is just over a kilometer long! Can you see the tiny people working around one of the circles?  It is the ´lid´ of one of the turbines.  Workers use small trucks and bicycles to get around.

Curitiba was great!



Fortunately we don't have much time to write because we are in a go-go mode, but just wanted to tell all that the trip has been great so far and the experience that our friends Edla and Beto provided in Curitiba was great.  Just see the pictures below.

E um super obrigado para a Elaine e o Roberto pelos presentes e toda a familia Pavan por varias horas de diversao, risadas e muitas lembrancas boas do passado.

We are now in Foz do Iguacu and will post something new soon.

24 hour street

Paco Municipal



So cute behind the Birds of Paradise




Very cool bus shelters  all over the city




The Araucaria, tree symbol of Parana





Edla e Beto



The only five seconds we were not laughing or eating.





Not much. For now!

Life has been very quiet for the past week. Visiting friends, helping around the house with chores, grocery shopping and trying to cope with the extremely fast-paced lifestyle compared to Toronto.

This coming weekend we are going to visit friends in the southern part of Brazil and spend 2 days in Iguaçu Falls.  Those pictures will be worth checking out (right Vince?)

And for all the Italians back home, take a look at the brazilian version of the street market.

  

Stroll...

  

Look...

  

Choose...



And cook!