Upon our arrival at Daniel's house, Lara and I immediately fell in love with his grandma. She reminds me of Sugar Mama from the Proud Family haha.
We decided to spend the afternoon at the Ipanema Beach even though it was kind of an overcast day (remember, July is winter for Brazil!) These pictures probably make it look really cold, but I think it was 68 degrees.
I literally have no idea what I am eating in the following picture!
Okay the next photo deserves an explanation LOL. The entire time we were in Brazil, I kept seeing carts that were selling "churros rellenos," or stuffed churros!!!! You could choose caramel or chocolate. Since I love churros and am irrevocably addicted to chocolate, this sounded like a dream come true. When Lara FINALLYYYY (haha!) allowed me to buy one, I, naturally, asked her to take a picture of me. Right when she is about to photographically memorialize my gluttony, these Brazilian surfer dudes jump in and totally photo bomb me! I could have died, it was so embarrassing.
We forgot how to get back to Daniel's house (the trip was about 1.5 hours on two separate city busses) so we borrowed somebody's cell phone to call him and ask him to come get us haha. Wow, we are really annoying! Daniel was so awesome and helpful the entire time. Lara and I sat on the beach, drank beer, and watched volleyball until our knight in shining armor arrived.
To show gratitude to our hosts, Lara and I cooked dinner! Chicken fajitas, mexican rice, and guacamole. Mexican flavors are so foreign in South America and Daniel's family had literally NEVER tried guacamole!!!!! The concept of using that "strange fruit" as a savory condiment/snack was so ridiculous to them that we actually had to coerce Daniel to taste it. They ended up loving it (his dad requested it again the next day and Daniel recently told me that his mom still makes it regularly!).
The next day we decided it was finally time to enjoy the infamous Copacobana Beach!
The sunset was so beautiful! Lara and I sat on the beach all evening, basking in its beauty and striking up conversation with others doing the same. We met a musician who was in Rio to watch his little brother's soccer tournament with his family and a couple who fell in love at first sight last year in Paris and decided to vacation in Rio that week for their second meeting. So amazing.
After the beach, Lara and I wandered around the touristy streets looking for something to eat for dinner. We ended up deciding on a pizza place, not really understanding the signs on the windows or the waiters (we were still working on deciphering Portuguese). It was relatively cheap and the waiters were begging us to come in (which is common for bars/restaurants in South America), so we said, why not?!! As it turns out, it was an all-you-can eat pizza/crepe restaurant!!! We sat at our table as servers walked around with new, exciting flavors, both savory and sweet. I ate until the very thought of pizza disgusted me hahahah. Probably the best meal we had in Brazil.
With that, I bid you adieu. I hope you have lovely pizza-filled dreams.
