Over the hills, under the moon - and off the beaten path

I wonder as we drove through the landscape along the coastline: where do Brazilians grow their vegetables? I know nothing about the quality of the soil but with around 206 million inhabitants and a country the size of North America, there must be a market? Actually Brazil is one of the world's major breadbaskets, and Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. When I shop food in the local supermarkets here in Vidigal, I can only find what I regard as a small selection of vegetables. Maniok, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green pepper, chuchu ( in the family of cucumber), carrots and onions. I know I live in a favela and that the selection might be limited, but I found the same limited selection of veggies, when we stayed in Itacare, a relatively wealthy town. Is it simply supply and demand or is there another explanation? Also: I have watched many street kitchens, cafes and restaurants. All kitchen staff even in the street kitchens are wearing hair...

Some of our experiences here in Rio are like stepping between the most beautiful and the worst. Like it was today, when we arrived at Centro, the city center, and saw rows of torched and burned out city buses and lots of smashed up shop windows after a night of violent demonstrations. Thousands had been protesting against government plans for cuts by making a general strike during the day - and during the night mayhem had beset the streets and police had thrown tear gas and  had been shooting on protesters with rubber bullets   Photo: Reuters & AP Even when we passed through the area at noon, many hours later, armed policemen patrolled the streets and cleaned up the barricades, which were put up by the protesters during the night. And then - in the midst of the devastation - we found a picturesque alley, Arco de Teles, where we were attracted by the sound of distant, gentle bossa nova It was a strange feeling to walk from the remains of...

Photo: Rio tourism Rio is visually a strange place to visit. Looking at the city from above,  you see the deep blue ocean, the endless strings of golden beaches and the multicolored favelas clinging to the steep foothills of lush, jungle-clad mountains. Seen from above, Rio is for sure a Cidade Maravilhosa, the most marvellous city. But when we came closer and actually walked the streets, we started feeling somewhat disappointed. A not so tall girl on Ipanema... The areas next to our own - Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana - are (just behind the fabled, bustling seafronts) mostly streets  with quite drab buildings and not that interesting shops. Just some areas which seem a bit faded since their heyday in the 1950ties.  Whenever we returned to Vidigal, we confirmed each other: This favela has the excitement, the sexiness and the samba, which we didn't find in the neighboring residential areas.   After a couple o...

João Goulart, the main road, which winds up along the steep slope of the  Vidigal favela, is normally teeming with traffic -  motorcycles, cars and lorries cruise up and down at breakneck speeds.  Normally, but not on the evening of Boa Sexta-feira, The Good Friday, when everything comes to a standstill during the enacting of the way of the suffering Christ. The darkness is lit up by  twinkling candles, carried by hundreds of pedestrians - all following the young man, who's designated to carry the cross up the hill. Along the route, neighbors have erected candlelit alters, each displaying a small figurine of the virgin Mary. They stand, praying, while the procession slowly passes by. - Pai de Misericórdia durante esta época de arrependimento olhai com compaixão para nós. The priest, walking in front, belts out the words. - Father of Mercy during this time of repentance, look with compassion on us. We walk solemnly up the alleys - until t...

As  our friends know well: We're not into football, but when you happen to be in Rio on the day of a Fla-Flu match, you just can't sit at home. Fla-Flu - the more than one hundred year old, intense rivalry between the two local clubs of Flamengo and Fluminense - is considered among the most beguiling derbies in the entire world. Unfortunately - this Sunday the two teams didn't, as is normally the case, clash together on  the fabled Maracanã stadium. If that had happened, we absolutely would have tried to get seats at the 'Clássico das Multidões' (the derby of the masses) - on the packed bleachers surrounded by what is described as a pandemonium of flags, banners and fireworks. This Sunday, the Fla-Flu match was (by reasons we didn't understand) placed on an obscure stadium far from Rio and we had to make do with watching it at one of the local taverns. Prior to a 'fla-flu' encounter the excitement is building up all over Rio -...

I'm beginning to feel a little bit as a Favelean now - and even though we have this very tiny kitchen in our apartment, today I went out shopping for one of the classic local dishes - beans and rice. First and foremost because it tastes so good (we had it as our first meal at a street kitchen in Salvador, shortly after our arrival), but also because it is one of the basics in Brazilian kitchen - just like "sauce and potatoes" is in the Danish. Now, I'm cooking, while, somewhere deep below, Michael is out running his daily distance along Ipanema beach. Eventually he has to climb the many hundreds or perhaps thousand steps leading up to our building on the mountain slope. I hope, he'll be building up a healthy appetite, because there will be plenty  in the casserole. Here is the recipe I have chosen: Rice and beans or  “o arroz com feijão” : 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons of diced bacon or use a selection of salted meats (ready ...