Author Archives: thebrazilianaire
Sao Paulo – City of Secrets
All good things pass through The Mouth
Although named because of its location at the mouth of the river, it could just as easily owe its name to the entrance of one of the most revered of the senses – taste. The senses are truly delighted by the music, the colour and the spectacle of La Boca. Yes, it’s a haven for tourists and it’s changed the nature of the area somewhat, but there are still small pockets of delight for even the most tourist-weary traveler. It has its allure. Come, relax, sit back with a fine glass of Malbec, and drink in the show. I recommend avoiding the tourist buses. Take a fairly short walk from San Telmo down through the back streets of La Boca to see the other side of this ‘barrio’ (neighbourhood).
Muerte y Gloria
Death and Glory… never captured quite like in the mausoleums of Cementerio de la Recoleta.
Inside the cemetery lies row after row of memories, chronicling the lives, histories and accomplishments of the dearly departed.
Forget Madonna, this woman captured the hearts of many of the local ‘Porteños’. Starting from humble beginnings, she went on to become an outspoken first lady of Argentina, marrying the President Juan Peron. She won the respect of many, for her tireless campaigning on behalf of the poor and for the rights of women. Unfortunately her tale is a sad one, as the military didn’t agree with the dictatorial style of her husband and staged a coup. She was just 33, the same age as me now, when she passed away from cancer. If you get the chance, definitely head to this famous cemetery in Recoleta, Buenos Aires for a few hours of reflection and respect.
Check out more photos online at the 2011 gallery
On waking in Buenos Aires
It’s about the third day of travel when it sets in…
Australia Day… again
Ten Brazilian Timeouts from the Brazilianaire
You’re at work aren’t you, and you’ve been YouTubing again… I can tell by the glazed sparkle in your eyes. Well don’t despair, this highly researched list of ten of my fave Brazilian themed clips online will pep you up. If you’ve seen another you like better, send it through in the comments!
#1 Favelas/Equality… This is Michael Jackson’s music video for “They don’t really care about us”, shot on location in Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and a few other hot spots around Brazil. The songs topic addresses the vast divide between rich and poor, which in Brazil is widely considered to be its main domestic challenge
#2 Samba… even the toddlers are outdoing me on this front. I have to skill up pretty quickly so I don’t get stomped on during Carnival
#3 Carnival… You’ll never look at a street party in the same light again afterwards… 2010
and a bonus clip of our Jen in Rio‘05
#4 Rhythm… You can get it in a tram, you can get it on the streets, matter of fact I got it now…
#5 Brazilian Waxing… You can wax any part you want to in Brazil. It’s just called a wax there… The good news is, no visa is needed to experience a Brazilian wax…
#6 The Boys from Ipanema… Distractions aplenty on the beaches of Ipanema… Need I say more…
#7 Portuguese… such a beautiful romantic language, except perhaps when you get your maid to try and spell out YouTube’s web address in Brazil.
#8 Football… whether it’s the emotional ankle injuries for the refs, or even the emotional shows from the refs, football is about 95% performance
#9 Football Passion… if you think the fans go a little nuts for football, then wait ‘til you see the commentators!
And finally… #10 Churrasco… Bring on the Meat Sweats! If the meat doesn’t get you drooling, at least the dancing tomato clip art kitsch will get you grooving
On Visas and Passports
Travel only really works when you have travel documents that are up to the task.
And as it turns out, my passport was not quite up to the task of letting me into Brazil – yet… They needed to have six months validity on the passport, which there was, when I applied for the visa. However, the validity needs to be from the date you enter the country, not the date you apply for the visa. (Would have been good to have that in the notes section online somewhere!)
Anyway, after a few frantic calls and a trip or two down to the Australian Passport office in Sydney, I’ve been able to get myself a passport that is up to the task of some good old fashioned Aussie backpackery.
So hopefully the Brazilian visa will be not too far behind and the trip can commence as planned!
For those Aussies wanting to travel to Brazil, you will need an entry visa. Tourist visas cost around $50 and are available through the Brazilian consulate.
Here’s the details…
Preparing for the adventure
So it’s my final few weeks in Sydney.
There are a lot of changes coming up for the Brazilianaire these next few months… New job, new place to live and of course, the new travel adventures.
While I’m traveling, I wanted to be able to keep my friends, family and readers up to date with where I’m at and what I’m up to… but keeping it as simple as I can.
My site homepage will be updated on January 20 to include a new homepage that will show you the latest blog updates, latest tweets, photos and where I’ll be.
I didn’t want to take a computer with me when I was travelling, so I opted for an approach which would let me publish everything beforehand and update it with a simple email as I go.
iWeb, Apple’s web software created the pages for the www.thebrazilianaire.com site.
Location updates come through Plazes, and the widget that will appear on my homepage.
Blog updates come through from Posterous, a blogging platform that lets you update easily by sending emails from your standard addresses direct to your blog as posts. Posterous also lets me update Facebook and Twitter automatically.
Photo and video updates are done through Apple’s MobileMe galleries, which have been pre-published online so I will just upload direct to those…
Anyone using the twitter hashtag #brazilianaire can join in the conversation online and will appear in the homepage tweet timeline.
Widgetbox has provided a few widgets for me to easily share the blogs, location and photo updates.
Hopefully all the above will make it easy as to update the site while I’m travelling around.
One year on…
One year on… it seems like only yesterday.
I’m currently working in Sydney at a PR agency, living in Elizabeth Bay and every day waking up dreaming of Brazil.
The hardest thing about travelling had to have been coming back home and learning to adapt back to a life I had previously been used to, but taking all of the things I had learnt during my trip and incorporating them somehow.
It’s still difficult one year on… but life is always what you make of it.
So I’m currently working to save up and do another huge travel experience again in the next few years. If you want to come and tag along, let me know! Or make a suggestion of where to go even!
Thanks for reading my experiences and I look forward to sharing more with you all soon.
Lots of love, Adam – the Brazilianaire.
The Brazilianaire Returns!
His travel-worn features can no longer be seen…
I had planned with my sister for some time to arrive back in Australia early and surprise the rest of my family. Mostly this was just to avoid a scene at the airport with my mother (she’s a little emotionally unpredictable at times).
Two weeks before I’m scheduled to return and I get a call from my mother, who says she has a feeling I am planning to come back early (how did she work that out?). And she emphatically said that she would be VERY disappointed as she wanted to meet me at the airport. So much for avoiding a public confrontation.
I had already booked my secret flight and organised it all, so there was no changing plans now. However, my sister came up with the great idea that Mum and Dad were down in Adelaide the same weekend and that I could then go and meet them at the airport instead of them meeting me. I figured it would still pay off as there’d be less of a crowd at the domestic terminal than the international for me to be embarrassed in front of.
My mate Rafael came to pick me up at the airport and then I went over to my sister’s place and hung out slowly acclimatising back to Oz!
A few days later and it was time to meet Mum and Dad at the domestic terminal. Mum came through the terminal doors, down the escalators, saw me and then screamed. As I had anticipated, everyone in the terminal looked up worried about a possible terrorist attack, only to find the happy reunion of a mother and father with their travelling son.
But I was back in Australia and certainly it was going to be good to acclimatise back into the Australian way of life.
Tales of The Brazilianaire 