Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro: 29oC, hot, Sunny and slightly overcast.
It’s Sunday, the day after a lovely night with friends I hadn’t seen in a while. What I also found nice is that when I’m socializing with friends and family now, I don’t feel the need to drink too much. A couple of years ago, I wouldn’t have known when to stop.
Now, just a couple of glasses of something is more than enough for me. It’s genuinely reassuring to realize that I don’t need to drink in order to have fun and enjoy myself. I’m also glad that I now know when to stop and don’t end up regretting it the next day.
As it is Saturday, I get up a little later than on weekdays because I want to combine going out, exercising, walking, having a coffee, and shopping in Largo do Machado for new headphones. By coincidence, Yasmin’s and my headphones broke almost simultaneously. Yasmin uses her headphones both in the house and outside, going and coming home from school. I bought her a good pair of headphones a few years ago, so they have lasted well.
Jessica bought me an exceptionally good pair of headphones about five years ago, knowing that from when I had the dogs, I would love to take them for long walks while listening to music and very often drinking a long neck at the same time. Unfortunately, the dogs have gone. I think about them daily, but I still like to listen to music while walking or doing something in the street.
When I am exercising, I listen to music; when walking anywhere in the street, I listen to music; even at home, I listen to music. For a long time now, my preference has been much more for music than TV; TV is of little interest to me nowadays.
So, I got up, left the flat, exercised, had coffee, and walked to Largo do Machado to find some shops that sell headphones. As I have not bought headphones for a long time, I do not know which ones are good or bad; I will only know they are the right ones when I see them. My intuition will tell me.
I went to two or three shops that I knew and others that I had not known about but did not buy anything; it felt wrong. Or they were not to the sound quality I wanted or too overpriced. Something was not 100% in all cases, so I gave up and decided to walk home without my much-needed headphones.
The afternoon was slow, and Yasmin and Nalva did not want to do anything special. I suggested we go out for dinner as tomorrow would be a small farewell dinner, as tomorrow Nalva will go to Sao Paulo for work. It was about half past six when we left home; we walked around and were still deciding where to have dinner. I then remembered Planalto do Chopp on the corner of Rua Senador Vergueiro with Rua Barao do Flamengo.
It is an enormous commercial restaurant with many tables inside and outside in the street. As it was a Saturday night, the place was buzzing with many people wearing beach clothes. They had come straight from the beach with friends to eat and drink before going home. It is a very Carioca style of life to go to a restaurant or bar after the beach.
Twenty years ago, I would do this all the time in Ipanema, Leblon, and Copacabana, as the Carioca culture favours restaurants that are more open-plan, without a wall or a door, without any form of partition at the front of the establishments; people can enter, come and go as they please. It is an unwritten rule of informality in Rio, and being a part of it is very enjoyable.
Luckily, we found a nice table outside on the pavement in the middle of the hive of tables and movement. I ordered two glasses of wine for Nalva and me and a matte (an iced tea) for Yasmin. We also ordered a barbecue hot plate with diverse types of meat: steak, sausage, pork, chicken, etc.
It was also accompanied by rice, fries, molho accompanhar (a delicious vinaigrette sauce made from chopped onion, tomatoes, and peppers), and farofa (a meal made from toasted cassava. It is eaten mainly in Brazil.
It can be found commercially produced and packaged but can also be prepared at home based on family recipes. Most recipes will also contain varying amounts of salt, smoked meat, and spices; it is tasty but it is like eating gravel).
Simple food but abundant and tasty, more than enough for us three. We talked and decided on things for the upcoming week when Nalva would not be here. It was enjoyable. Fate has brought Nalva and I back as friends so that we can see and understand our differences, have closure in our relationship, and, more importantly, have peace for the future because we have a daughter in the middle.
I ordered a second glass of wine, paid the bill, and asked the waiter to pack up the remaining food so that we could take it home with us. This time, as on many other occasions, we gave the food to a homeless mother living in an encampment in front of a shop on the main street on our way home. It was a pleasant walk home on a cool Carioca winter’s evening, so nice for everyone.
In bed by 11.30 pm.
Thank you very much.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
