Tropical Wonders

My mid-1970s childhood in Rio was a tropical wonderland of pedalinho na lagoa (pedalling in a swan boat on the lagoon), going to Clube Caiçaras (a club that was practically my second home in Rio), also located at Lagoa and many walking tours through the Jardim Botânico (Rio’s botanical garden).

I was comforted by empadinhas from Chez Anne and often craved fruit ice cream from Mil Frutas, places I visit often every time I go back. Lunch at Caiçaras was often steak with mustard sauce while watching handsome men row on Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. It’s impossible to live in Rio without looking at its beautiful people, without feeling the joy of being alive, without singing the lyrics of the music, without feeling the heat oozing through your pores. In Rio, life is a party, every day of the year.