My Travel Diaries of
Brazil
Summary
Currency: Real
Capital: Brasilia
Drink like a local: Baden Baden (Pilsener), Guaraná (extremely sweet lemonade)
Special Facts:
- Brazilians are incredibly hospitable
- If you want to go out for lunch, almost all restaurants only offer buffets
- If you want to go out for lunch on a Sunday, you should put on a dress or suit and reserve a table. On Sundays, Brazilians go out chic with their families. Every Sunday!
- Brazil is as expensive as Europe! For lunch you easily pay the equivalent of 15 euros per person.
- Brazil has the greatest biodiversity in the world, but is also destroying it the fastest.
- Brazil has the second largest Oktoberfest in the world! The Santa Catalina district has a huge community of former German immigrants, and you can converse with people in German in Joinville and Blumenau.
- Beer with a German name, brewed according to the German Purity Law, can be found everywhere. Brazilians are avid beer drinkers.
- I didn’t see a police officer anywhere in Brazil, even though I was driving my car without an import permit.
- The Brazilians have more coffee and cake in the afternoon than I know from any senior residence.
- A Brazilian told me that as a German, you should definitely not mention the disastrous 7-1 win at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, when Germany knocked the hosts out of the competition. Neither do I – the Brazilians do. Every Brazilian I meet starts with 7:1 when I introduce myself as a German. Maybe it’s masochism.
Language
Brazilians speak Portuguese. But you can often find people who also speak English or Spanish. The most important vocabulary is:
- Good afternoon – Bom dia
- Hello – Ola
- Cheers – Saude
- Awesome! – Que legal!
Currency
The Brazilian real is worth one-third of a euro. The country is very expensive compared to neighboring countries.
My Lesson:
Nowhere in South America have I felt so much hospitality as in Brazil
Travel Diaries
Actually, Brazil wasn’t on my itinerary at all. I had planned to drive from Paraguay just to make a detour to the famous Iguaçu Falls and then cross south Argentina to the west. But Argentina was experiencing a difficult economic crisis at the time and diesel was in short supply.
I didn’t want to take the risk with my diesel guzzler. Well why not Brazil. In the north there is the Pantanal. That should also be exciting. I’m very happy that it happened because I was pleasantly surprised by Brazil and its people.
