SAM TOUR RIO

09/01/2025

Some fruits that you can find in January here in Rio!

Atemoia, Jaca, Jambo, Umbú, Acerola, Manga, Limão Cravo, Goiaba, Maxixe, Serigüela.

🔹️

03/01/2025

Walking food & Historic Tour!

This time we also went inside the Itamaraty Palace, ate at Angú do Gomes, at Rua do Ouvidor and at Casa Cavé!

🇧🇷 Victor 🇧🇷 & 🇨🇦 Ashley 🇨🇦

19/12/2024

Mate Gelado

If you come to Rio there is something you should try in the beach: MATE GELADO (Iced Mate)

Very few things are as carioca as Mate Gelado & Biscoito Globo at the beach.

In fact, for locals, this iconic brew could even be considered, arguably, more popular than coconut water.

Mate culture at Rio de Janeiro beaches has become an institution since vendors started selling it at the beach in the 1950s.

The sellers put the drink into huge metal containers that can hold close to 50 liters and carry them on their shoulders. And they carry two containers, one on each shoulder — one has the mate and the other one has the fruit syrups for you to choose from.

You can spot the orange wearing mate sellers easily. Not just because they’re wearing orange, or because they’re carrying metal tins under their arms but because they’re yelling: “Olha o Mate!!! Alô, Mate!!!” You really can’t miss them.

And don’t forget to ask for the chorinho, which is the extra pour of mate they give you as you sit there and sip, sip, and sip while you’re coming up with your perfect blend of juice and tea — they’ll pour you this “treat” pour, the chorinho, up until they leave.

Mate is an herbal tea made with leaves and twigs of the Ilex paraguariensis plant. The leaves are typically dried over a fire and then steeped in hot water to make tea. Super rich in antioxidants and nutrients, this delicious blend combines the properties of traditional yerba mate, with a high concentration of antioxidants and mineral salts, chlorophyll and vitamins.

Fun fact about the processing of yerba mate: Yerba mate is a tree that grows in the south and center-west of Brazil, northern Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay. The drink obtained from the infusion of its leaves is very rich in vitamins and antioxidants. It is also a powerful stimulant as it contains caffeine.

05/12/2024

📍Prainha
This amazing view is from the secret beach PRAINHA!

The picture was taken from the restaurante !

05/11/2024

This incredible main door is made of rosewood (Jacaranda) with carvings by Manoel Tunes and was built 4.30 meters high.

Eight different ships decorate the building's set of rosewood doors. Each of the doors features two vessels – probably taken from the company's fleet – inscribed in circles framed by branches of fruited coffee and flowering to***co, exactly as these products are represented in the national coat of arms,

The majestic main door of the former Companhia Docas de Santos, seen above, is centrally decorated by two vessels – alluding to the activity of the company installed there -, framed by the rich Brazilian vegetation, represented by to***co leaves, palm trees, sugar cane plants. sugar and coffee.

Built in rosewood, with worked bronze hinges and stops, it is 4.30m high, 2.30m wide and 0.20m thick.

This door was made in 1906.

30/09/2024

Botanical Garden

Created in 1808 by the king D. João VI of Portugal, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is famous for the exuberance and the scientific importance of its plant collection, as well as for the beauty of its landscapes. Its bicentennial history is expressed in its monuments, buildings and artworks.

11/09/2024

Pitanga
(Eugenia uniflora) is a typical Brazilian fruit that it can be found in several states and has an excellent mix of nutrients, vitamins and bioactive compounds .

This tree is easy to find around the city. Now we are entering on spring, and most of them are starting to give us the fruit. So when I walk with my daughter we use to take some of them to eat on the way back home!

A plant native to our country, the pitangueira produces orange, red and even purple fruits. Compared to other fruits, it is still little consumed, including due to the difficulty of commercially distributing it fresh, as it is very fragile. But it is abundant in nature and versatile in preparations, as well as rich in vitamins A and C, phosphorus, iron, zinc, manganese, magnesium, potassium and calcium.

Phenolic acids and flavonoids , with antioxidant properties, are other substances present in this small fruit, which is full of health benefits.

Strengthens immunity
Acts on the nervous system
It is part of an anti-cancer diet
Good for the stomach
Fights bacteria

Pitanga can be used to make delicious juices, jams, or homemade sweets. Liqueurs and ice cream are other options for preparing pitanga.

07/09/2024

Ilha da Gigóia

30/08/2024

Pedra da Gávea Trail

The famous trail that leads to the top of the 845m high monolithic rock. The Rock that divides the West Zone of Rio de Janeiro from the South Zone.

It allows us to have a total view of Barra da Tijuca, Recreio dos Bandeirantes, Jacarepaguá, Itanhangá, Vargem Grande, Vargem Pequena, Tanque, Taquara, Cidade de Deus, Rio das Pedras among other points in the West Zone.

And on the other side, a privileged view of São Conrado, Rocinha, Vidigal, Botafogo, Urca, Pão de Açúcar.

We can also see Niteroi at the other side of Guanabara Bay.

An ideal hike for those who like to go on a demanding trail!

Tip: if you can, do it on weekdays, try to avoid weekends. And choose a day that's not too hot.

tomas.ossa

26/08/2024

Igreja da Ordem Terceira de São Francisco da Penitência

The Church of the Third Order of Saint Francis of Penance is a colonial church located next to the Convent of Saint Anthony. It is considered one of the most important in the city and the country due to its exuberant baroque decoration.

The secular members of the Order of the Thirds of Saint Francis settled in Rio de Janeiro in 1619, occupying a chapel inside the church of the Convent of Santo Antônio, located at the top of the Santo Antônio hill.

In the middle of the 17th century, the Franciscan convent donated land next to the convent church for them to build their own temple. The Church of São Francisco da Penitência was built, with interruptions, between 1657 and 1733.

The interior of the Church of São Francisco da Penitência has a simple plan, but is exceptional in its style, in the quality of the gilded carving of the altars and walls that cover the entire available surface, and the painting of the wooden ceiling lining.

The carving work is the work of the Portuguese Manuel de Brito and Francisco Xavier de Brito, who worked on the church between 1726 and 1743. The carving is Johannine, typical of the time of King D. João V.

The decoration of the church is completed by the beautiful painting on the wooden ceiling, depicting the "Glorification of Saint Francis", executed by the Portuguese painter Caetano da Costa Coelho, between 1736 and 1741, in a baroque illusionist style. The same Caetano da Costa Coelho, after this work, would gild the carvings at the São Bento monastery, also in Rio de Janeiro, in 1742.

The ceiling painting is the first that simulates the perspective in Brazil, a technique that would later be widely used in colonial times in Minas Gerais, Pernambuco and Bahia. Caetano da Costa also gilded the carvings of the church and created the side panels of the chancel.

25/08/2024

Capiroska de Cajú with Absolut Rio

Have you ever heard about the Cash Fruit?!

Here in Rio we use to eat it and also use as an ingredient for cocktails.
Like the famous Caipirinha!

Wheb the Caiprinha is made with vodka, we call it Caipiroska or Caipivodka.

Here I did with the Vodka Absolut Rio. An special edition with Orange, Mango and Passionfruit.

And this Caipivoda was made with the fruit were the Cashew Nuts come from. The " Cajú " .

1,5 oz Vodka Absolut Rio
1/2 cashew (fruit) in cubes
1 tablespoon of sugar
pinch of lime juice
Ice cubes

In the glass that you are going to drink the Caipiroska Add the fruit, with the sugar and the pinch of lime juice
Gently macerate everything
Complete the glass with Ice Cubes
Put the Vodka in the glass
Shake gently to mix everything, but no to strong so you don't melt the ice.
Add a Straw and the Garnish (optional)

SAÚDE!!!!
cook.riocigars.rio

21/08/2024

Pedra do Arpoadro

A nice spot to enjoy the view of Arpoador, Ipanema and Leblon.

You can also see the Two Brothers Hills (Morros dos Dois Irmãos) and the Gavea's Rock (Pedra da Gávea)

This is the place that you can enjoy one of the most famous sunsets in Rio de Janeiro.

20/08/2024

Jacú Bird Coffee

Jacu Bird coffee is one of the most expensive coffees in the world. Was inspired by Kopi Luwak, a coffee that is also derived from animal f***s.

As a natural selection mechanism without any human interference, before consuming Jacu chooses the healthiest and ripest grains to eat.

A type of coffee produced from bird f***s and this bean is one of the most exotic and expensive in the world. This already gives Café Jacu a great difference and value, as only the best beans are used in the manufacture of the product.

It absorbs only the skin and pulp of the coffee, keeping the seed intact, removing its bitterness and giving it better aroma and flavor.

The beans are collected manually from the coffee trees, where the birds leave them. After harvesting, the grains go through a careful selection and cleaning process, and finally they are roasted and ground.

09/08/2024

Santos Domont's grave

Alberto Santos Dumont 
20/07/1873 Palmira, Empire of Brazil
23/07/1932 Guarujá, Brazil

03/08/2024

25/07/2024

Walking Tour around the Historical city with families whit kids and babies!

19/07/2024

Queijo Coalho & Pastel de Queijo da Canastra

10/07/2024

Star Lotus
(Nymphaea nouchali Burm.f.)

This amazing flower became very popular around the lakes and lagoons of Rio de Janeiro.

It's original from Asia, and it's the symbol flower of Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.