Sunday (July 12) I walked around Brisbane – a lot.
Tag Archives: other travel
Auckland: Western Springs & the Zoo
^ two of the star-attraction tiger cubs born at the Auckland zoo, in one of those moments that has the whole crowd going “awww…..”
Auckland had fair weather for my return, so I spent a few hours enjoying the sun in Western Springs park and the zoo.
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Opotiki
The best down time I’ve had on this trip so far was a visit to David and Sally Kibblewhite (who had been my teachers at Woodstock School) in their beautiful home in Opotiki, on New Zealand’s Bay of Plenty. The weather was beautiful: I finally got to see some sunshine after days of clouds and/or conference rooms. But there was something strange and unsettling about the light. Was my body, tuned for the high sun of the northern hemisphere summer, rebelling against the return to short winter days? Or was it that the sun was on the wrong side? I never did figure it out. I also would not have said that I knew much about the night sky, but that, too, looked wrong. I did finally see the Southern Cross, which included the brightest star I’ve ever seen in any sky, anywhere.
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Churrascaria
Of course while we were in Porto Alegre we had to go to a churrascaria. This method of cooking originated with the gauchos of southern Brazil and is mostly about all kinds of very good meat, though there’s also a buffet of salads and vegetables, and you can get grilled cheese (in large, melty chunks, not sandwiches).
Truly some of the best meat I’ve had in my life (there are times I am thankful not to be vegetarian), and the tableside capirinha service helped to wash it all down.
I was delighted to learn that the Fogo de Chao chain is of authentic Brazilian origin and considered good, so there are a few places in the US where I’ll still be able to enjoy churrasca.
Brazilian Condom Brands
^ above: The one on the right is grape flavored.
The middle one is tutti-frutti flavored.
