Adventures with Julia

Monday, September 29, 2025

I had no idea about the aquifer until we arrived in Iguacu. Hope you enjoy this image of it.

The Falls are spectacular in every way—size, volume, sound, area. No wonder my parents were impressed. We got to stand where I believe they stood for a photo.

We were so engrossed in our dinner last evening that I forgot to take any photos. The chef, Fabio Dall Antonia Taveira, met us upon arrival at his home, gave us a tour of his garden, and escorted us into his dining room overlooking his kitchen. All the while he was chatting away about the garden and asking questions about us. He was very charming from the moment we met him. We sat at the only table preset for us and sipped on our first drink, while he told us his personal history.

Born in São Paulo, he first studied music and still plays the sax, but eventually he transitioned into cooking, studied to become a chef and worked in many places before finally settling on catering private meals for tourists. His focus is on the history and preparation of Brazilian cuisine. While we tasted each creation he presented, he shared the history behind the food and the ingredients in each dish. He even shared how to make cassava palatable. Fortunately, he did not serve us much of that indigenous food, which was part of the first course. Other courses included a fish stew, a roasted Tucupi duck and a Portuguese dish called Feijoada, a bean dish which reminded me of the same dish served to us by Dad’s family when we visited the Azores with my parents in 1997. The dessert was a condensed milk flan that even Mark liked. After two and a half hours we finally finished our history lesson and dinner, complete with a musical performance by Fabio. Our driver was waiting and we departed.

If you want to read more about Fabio and his cuisine, here is a link to try; http://www.brazilianfoodtales.com

Today we flew back to São Paulo. From there we took a flight on a King Air 200 to Paraty, which is on the coast slightly south of São Paulo on the map.

Arrived in Paraty approximately 2pm and were picked up by our next guide, Rodrigo. Our hotel was only 5 minutes away in this small colonial town of approximately 20,000. Our hotel is called Literaria Pousada. After checking in, Rodrigo joined us as we ate a light lunch. He told us about our activities for the next few days and then we went for a leisurely walk about the nearly deserted town. Apparently it exists exclusively for the tourist trade and we are here on the edge of the season. We have had perfect weather since we arrived in South America and it is wonderful this day too. Sunny, warm, a light freeze and no bugs.

The only problem for me is the uneven cobblestone steps that constitute the surface of every street and walkway. Thankfully Rodrigo held my arm the whole time. After a couple of hours we were ready to get off our feet and headed back to our room. Felt good to stop moving.

At 6:30 we walked to our recommended restaurant, Banana Da Terra. I had a delicious sea bass cooked in a banana sauce, while Mark had sea bass baked and served with risotto. We were both very satisfied. Walking back to the hotel, we found the streets finally busy and the stores and eateries all open. The town came to life. We stumbled our way back to the hotel and settled in for the evening.

Paraty is a Portuguese colonial town that developed next to a perfectly protected bay from which the Portuguese shipped the gold they found in Brazil back to Europe. It is also a port where slaves were brought from Africa. Brazil received the largest number of African people as slaves—4 million.

Tuesday, September 30, 2025

This Brazilian monkey, a Sanqui, tried to join us for breakfast.