Browsing Tag

Rio

Fruit market in Rio de Janeiro
Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Ain’t just beans and rice! – Discover Brazilian cuisine

When I announced my trip to Rio de Janeiro, it was very clear that I wanted to discover Brazilian cuisine. Sometimes, I think the most adventurous expats are the best persons to show us a new culture, because they know what is interesting for foreigners. When people ask me what they should eat in Montreal, I never really know what to say… Sure I wrote a guest post about 6 Delicious Food you Have to Eat When You Visit Quebec, but I had to ask around me to be sure that what I suggested was a good choice of Quebec cuisine. On the other hand, I’d have no problem writing about Portuguese cuisine. Meh… So, when I met Tom, a British expat in Rio de Janeiro, and guide for the Eat Rio Food Tour, I knew he would exactly know what we need to taste while visiting Brazil… and it’s not just beans and rice! Update on July 26th, 2015: Note that the Eat Rio Food Tour is is no longer offered on a regular basis. It can be booked in private with the customer support of RDJ4U. Fruits It’s very cliché to talk about fruits when you think about a Southern country, but Brazilians […]

Lire la suite

Live Band in Rio Scenarium
Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Getting the Carioca Vibe and Learning Samba in Rio de Janeiro

You know how much I enjoy learning new things. So, it was absolutely impossible for me to go to Brazil without trying to learn Samba in Rio de Janeiro. Since I already dance lindy hop, which is also a partnered dance, I must admit I was a little over-confident in my capacity of dancing Samba. Well, you know what? It didn’t help me at all! Ahah! I think there is definitely something different in the constitution of the hips of North Americans versus South Americans. Seriously, how can you people do that? Fortunately, this is why beginner Samba workshops exist and I had the chance to have the very comprehensive and funny Helio as a teacher. Getting the vibe My Samba class was just the day after I landed in Rio de Janeiro and I couldn’t say how much of a relief it was to move those feet after more than 12 hours of transportation from Montreal. In a yoga studio of Copacabana, Helio welcomed the group and made sure everybody was comfortable. None of the seven people in the group (Guess who was alone?) had experience in Samba. So, if you plan on doing this activity, no need to worry about […]

Lire la suite

View from Lapa
Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

First impressions of Rio de Janeiro

It’s been a while since I travelled to South. I don’t know if I was hibernating because of the winter in Montreal, but Rio de Janeiro got me out of my lethargy quite brutally. Getting out of the plane, the air was so thick I could have eaten it. I didn’t remember what it was to inflict 60 degrees of difference to your body in one day. If I was still hibernating after that, the sight of my good friend Igor at the airport sure fixed that. No tropical climate can beat the warm feeling of seeing a friend abroad that you haven’t seen in a while. People are right about traffic in Rio de Janeiro, but it doesn’t beat the one in Los Angeles. The only difference is the perpetual honks and the motorcycles and people passing between cars. Rio is noisy, just as you would expect South America to be. It’s a chaotic blend between Portugal and Central America. It’s broken colorful buildings and occasional azuelos. It’s graffiti everywhere and people sleeping on sidewalks. It’s a ton of fruits markets and juice places. Rio smells either fruits or garbage. Fortunately, more often fruits. Walking on sidewalks is a […]

Lire la suite

Does travelling alone makes you a better traveller?
Blog, Thoughts

How to NOT Quit Your Job, And Travel the World

This week, I’ll travel for the first time alone. Does this mean I deserve the “Real Traveller” badge now? Is there some kind of new world that is unlocked or something? Being a part of the travel bloggers community now (kind of), I feel more and more pressure to perform, to prove to the world that I am a very special traveller. But I am not. I cannot promise I’ll visit every country in the World, but I’ll try. I am not really enthusiastic about eating insects in some tribes. Seriously, I’d prefer to eat the most common meal. I don’t mind sleeping on a couch, but I sure prefer to sleep in a bed. And most importantly, I don’t think you have to quit your life to enjoy the world. I need to say it, I’m a little sick of the “How to quit your job and travel the world” thing. If that’s what you want to do, that’s great! But please don’t pretend that people who don’t are missing something or don’t understand what “real life” is. Personally, I like to go just as much as I like to come back. I like being in a new place where […]

Lire la suite

I saw puffin in Montreal. Annieanywhere.com
Destinations, Europe, Iceland

I Saw Puffins in Montreal… and That’s Why I’m Going to Rio

I’m gonna tell you another love story…involving puffins. Why is there always animal involved in my love stories!? In Iceland, I passed an incredible amount of time chasing puffins. Ask Claude, my travel partner, how many kilometers I made her walked to see the famous birds. She was desperate with my obsession to see puffins. We climbed hills, we took ferries, we flirted with cliffs… there was no puffins. I started to think the emblematic bird of Iceland was like our emblematic moose in Canada and that I would never see it. Seriously, fellow Canadians, who of you often see moose, uh? Yeah. Exactly. No one! …Or maybe it’s my face that scared puffins and moose. So, I passed 14 days in Iceland chasing puffins everywhere my Lonely Planet told me there could be some, and I came back to Canada without the glorious picture. I must admit I didn’t take part in any Puffin Observation Tours. I wanted it to be unexpected. Picture by naggobot (Creative Commons) Last summer, a Brazilian friend I’ve met on Couch Surfing made me the surprise to come to Montreal. And as a very good host, I walked him around town and showed him some interesting […]

Lire la suite

Rio_landing
Amériques, Brazil, Destinations

Announcing my next destination: Rio de Janeiro!

It’s official, my next flight is booked: I’m going to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil! Woot! I’m completely ecstatic about this next trip. Honestly, I never thought of going to Rio in 2015, but a Brazilian friend of mine invited me so I jumped on the opportunity to discover the ”Marvellous City”. Between the World Cup in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016, I think 2015 is just perfect to slip between two crowds. I already began to make the list of things I want to learn and things I want to discover in Rio. What I want to learn in Rio de Janeiro I always try to learn things from my trips. I like to let the culture pass through me and let a new place makes me grow. It turns out there are few things I want to learn from Rio de Janeiro. 1. Basic Portuguese I must admit I cheat for this one, because I’ve already began to learn some basic Portuguese. Even if I go see a friend, I’ll be alone for a part of the trip while he’ll be doing things on his side, and people have been very clear about it: it’s rare to find […]

Lire la suite