1st day – Friday (11/02/2012)
We left Rio around 5pm, because we were too lazy to go out with the rain that was falling. We woke up late, had breakfast, packed our bags and said goodbye to our parents to hit the road towards Teresópolis.
Dona Irene Restaurant
Still in Rio, we called the restaurant Mrs. Irene, in Teresópolis, recommended by my mother-in-law and we asked to reserve a table. I left Rio knowing that it was a wonderful restaurant Russian cuisine that cost R$100 per person, being able to pay only with cash, and I went with high expectations!
My mother-in-law also mentioned that it was a feast, which means that since we hadn’t had lunch, it would be perfect for us. We called to make a reservation for 8pm (ordering the main course right away) and arrived in Teresópolis at 7pm. We walked around the city a bit and entered the name of the restaurant into our phone’s GPS, which we quickly found. We started to find the suggested place and realized that we were in a very poor neighborhood, which scared us a bit, especially because it was dark and we were in Rio de Janeiro, right?
We tried to relax and soon we reached the restaurant's avenue and then the restaurant itself. A house with a not very eye-catching sign and an automatic gate that opened as soon as we drove up. We parked the car, afraid of running over the dog that was running around, and got ready to go in.
We were greeted by waitresses dressed in Russian costumes, which was very friendly. The restaurant is inside a beautifully decorated house, and I felt very comfortable there. We sat at the recommended table and enjoyed the decor and read the pamphlet about the restaurant and Russian customs.
Soon, we were served by a waitress who confirmed the dish we had ordered when we called and asked what we wanted to drink: VODKA, please!
They gave us two shots of homemade vodka to try and a basket of bread. We read in the pamphlet the 3 rules for drinking vodka:
- Never drink alone
- Never drink without eating something afterwards
- Never take it in small sips or mixed with ice or tonic, but all at once.
Well, we were together and there was food on the table. Now we just had to turn it all over in one go…. Done! We thought it was strange, but it was fun.
We ate the bread, obeying the second rule, and soon the starter arrived, called ZAKUSKIS. Pâtés, cold cuts, fish, caviar and salads…almost everything is delicious…lol.
When we finished, they brought the second starter, consisting of a WONDERFUL beetroot soup (really incredible and I'm not even a big fan of beets) called BORSCHT and some EXTRAORDINARY meat pies called PIROZHKIS. Wow…they were very, very good!!!
We were almost satisfied, because we ate everything on the table, but soon after another batch of starters arrived. Wow! They brought grilled chicken wings, eggplant soufflé and another dish that I don't remember what it was, because I decided not to eat it to save room for the main course. I ate the grilled chicken wings and almost died of happiness. IT'S AMAZING how DELICIOUS everything there is.
After these appetizers, the main course arrived. I ordered the BEEF STROGANOFF and Celo ordered the CHICKEN KIEV. Man, I have no words for both dishes. By far, the BEST STROGANOFF OF MY LIFE!!! And since it's one of my favorite dishes, I've tried it in many restaurants.
I HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
We couldn't eat it all and, going against our customs, we asked them to make us a hot meal...lol.
It was time to choose the dessert: WALNUT SUPREMES WITH CHOCOLATE for me and the PITANGA dessert WITH PANETTONE AND CHOCOLATE for Celo. Both were DIVINE!
After a bottle of vodka and all this wonderful food, we left there more than happy. Mainly because we were enchanted by the stories told by the gentleman responsible for creating the restaurant, who sat at our table and talked, talked, talked… What a healthy and cheerful gentleman! So many good memories and a way of telling stories that captivated us.
In short: the best spent R$100 of my life in a restaurant! =D
We returned to Celo's father's house via a more peaceful route than the one we had taken on the way there and slept very well after this wonderful dinner.
2nd day – Saturday (11/03/2012)
We woke up late and despite not being hungry because of the night before, we forced ourselves to go out for breakfast/lunch before going on the trails in the Serra dos Órgãos National Park, PARNASSUS.
We went to the Oficina do Pão bakery and ordered waffles with honey, juices and chocolate carrot cake. Everything is great!
We left there and headed towards PARNASO, but when we saw the clouds, we turned around. It seemed like the world was going to fall apart. We went to Source Judith and we made sure to drink the water, despite the fear that it wouldn't be 100%.
Then we went to the other tourist spot we saw on the city signs, the Lake Iacy. We followed the road that had signs for the lake and after reaching its end, up on the mountain, we realized that we had taken a wrong turn. And there were practically no signs. We went back the whole way and when we took another turn, we soon arrived at the lake, or at least what it once was. It was a bit sad.
We left there disappointed but willing to visit another tourist spot. We followed the city signs and went to Waterfall of Love, which also left something to be desired.
We followed more signs and went to see the Lake Comary, which is located inside Granja Comary. That's where the CBF headquarters are located. We parked the car outside Granja and managed to walk in to see the lake. It's so cute...all tidy.
Then we stopped the car near the Fairart, to go to the famous craft fair in Teresópolis.
We ate tapioca at Beto & Eliana (very tasty, by the way!) and walked around until we were full. We left there and stopped at the Oliveirão supermarket to buy wine and snacks for the evening. Surprisingly, we were still not hungry, because of the feast the night before…lol.
We did our shopping and went back home. We watched a delicious movie (Under the Tuscan Sun) that was playing on SKY and then we prepared our dinner, which was very modest compared to the one we had the night before. We enjoyed the cold weather and more movies that were playing on TV…a more than perfect program! =D
3rd day – Sunday (11/04/2012)
We woke up late, had breakfast and packed our things to leave. However, halfway through, we decided to give the National Park a chance, even though the weather was cloudy.
We went in by car (we paid R$$11 per person + R$$5 for the car) and after a short climb, we stopped at the main house. We visited the park museum, with lots of images, models and explanations and got information and a map from a park representative.
We decided to do the trail called CARTÃO POSTAL, from where it is possible to see the Dedo de Deus on clear days. This trail is 2km round trip and the estimated time to go and return is 2h. Of the trails presented, we thought this was the most interesting, as it is the longest (except for the Terê – Petropólis crossing, which is 30km).
And there we went...we went up, up, up...and ta-da...we arrived! But we couldn't see anything...the fog covered everything...lol.
We were expecting this, but we decided to do it simply for the contact with nature, which we love. When we got to the base of the trail, it started to rain heavily. Thankfully, it didn’t rain during our hike. As soon as we got to the main house, we bought some cold water, my fridge magnet for the collection and went to watch the video about the Park. We were left wanting more…we have to go back when the weather is nice! =D
