Saturday, November 29, 2014

Life is a Cachaca!! Cheers!! Elsie Gabriel


Life is a Cachaca!!

I kept staring at the ‘Cachaca’ in front of me....and guess what I kept thinking about?? Is sugarcane a fruit or a vegetable!! Hah, gottcha.... I was on my second glass now and  guess what I was thinking about?? Why don’t they make this in India!!

 

We have so much sugarcane in India and may be I could think of making Cachaca!! Well let me tell ya.. I was in the middle of the Amazon jungle tropical hotel, with beautiful soothing music around , all you could think of was....wow life is a Cachaca....



The cocktail Caipirinha is Brazil's national drink made with cachaça, ice, sugar, and lime. It is the drink most commonly associated with  Cachaça. The humble cane,grass, tropical gift to mankind..call it what you wish,but this cane drink was gooood...

Slim slices of lime floating in my drink, topped with ice, well stirred with some sugar grains in lemon juice and a good portion of this sugarcane raw brew......amazing..quenching every thirst after a good whole days trek up into the forest jungle......so now you get it..you want one, dont ya....slurrppp....

Didn’t ever imagine this Sugarcane  production could turn out so good. I believe that sugancane was brought in from the Mediera islands into Brazil by the Portuguese in the 16 th century.God bless the sugarcane farmers...of the 16th C that is.....



 In Brazil everything starts and ends with a Cachaca...you are on the Copacabana beach and God its Cachaca doing the rounds with shiny ice cubes dancing in the glasses being sold on the beach every where.....  

If vodka is used instead of cachaça, it is called a Caipiroska or caipivodka; if rum is used it is called a caipiríssima; if strawberry or some other fruit is used instead of lime, it is usually called a batida or caipifruta.

 1.5 billion liters are consumed annually, Brazil is one happy state, people are polite and happy. It is a sun shine country alright....

Get yourself a good aged Cachaca bottle, smoothly blended when aged to perfection, do not go for the younger cheap offerings...Next time follow me into a trail of a lot more local Brazilian brews...amazing ....

The dark variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk straight .But never mind the history of Cachaca, come join me in a drink, celebrate life and celebrate sugarcane!!! Cheers......make it a large, this time!!!

Friday, November 21, 2014

Stadium Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho.Electric experience at Soccer stadium Sao Paulo - Pele glorified.Elsie Gabriel

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                                       Goalllll ....  aand its am amzing win for Brazill....

                                     Stadium Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho

[ Copyright all pictures Elsie Gabriel.Lifting and copying photos is a legal offence.]


Electric experience at Soccer stadium Sao Paulo-Pele glorified.

I'm not a huge football fan but toured this brand new football museum while visiting Sao Paulo. The Football Museum is a thematic museum, located in the Stadium Municipal Paulo Machado de Carvalho. My husband took me there in celebration of our wedding anniversary, I relented because there was a Brazilian gourmet tour agenda following. I have not a single regret believe me…







The three storied building enclave explains Pele's life and achievements. There is an entire wing which is "interactive" and you'll be challenged to beat Pele's scoring, dribbling and running feats. I have never seen so much footage on the game and past World Cups.  The historical data is impeccably documented and illustrated. It is a fabulous collection and you can see how much hard work has gone into the setup.




The museum features many highly ultra modern and state of the art technology in interactive audiovisual resources. Pictures of great players such as Pelé, Zico and Ronaldo are projected on large screens, and narrated displays introduce their life stories in the history of the sport.

Club histories are also represented with every intricate memorabilia, flags, banners, posters, and other personal life photographs.








My Son Ridge who loves hi end technology, a “virtual field” was God sent. It allows visitors to kick an imaginary ball into a 3D goal. He took a shot, ofcourse he didn’t beat Pele but am sure he felt what it was to experience an international field virtually.

Very high and assorted incredible content on all the ABCs of football is on display. It's a must-see for anyone visiting Sao Paulo.

 


They have Pele's entire foot balling history there, in almost every format. You can take your time and find out all about him, interesting facts and quotes. I remember my Uncle who is a reverend priest, who first introduced me to a Pele film as a tribute to me finishing my ICSE exams as a teenager and then Pele has stuck in my mind ever since. He is inspirational and after a visit here…God you want to play football for sure…

The history of Brazilian football is exhaustive and impressive, highlights of each and every world cup competition since 1930, videos and portraits of Brazilian former players dominate the areanas. The best audio show were the radio sound bites which covered the matches were replayed to bring back life like memories of each goal on full volume speakers which transport you to the game. Tickets aren’t very expensive but you can always show your student ID card to get a very good discount.
Keep almost three hours for the tour, and if you have kids remember to keep your wallet full as the souvenir shop is highly rated and you can’t come away with out a FIFA replica ball or T shirt, can you!!