The #16 thing I love about Brazil is.....

Padarias. Padarias or bakeries in Brazil rock. If you leave early enough or if you are in a city that is way out in the boondocks it is easy to smell fresh bread coming out of the ovens. It's enough to make the mouth water. Besides selling bread they sell all sorts of really good pastries such as sonhos. A "sonho" (or a dream) is this wonderful dessert like a creme filled doughnut, but much better. They make my beloved coxinha and other types of "salgadinhos." The bakery has one pitfall though, its usually more expensive than most in-store bakeries. But if your in a pinch, the bakery will always have a bag of flour or sugar to sell, just at a price that has been marked up 400%. Still, I do love bakeries and the entire atmosphere of them. They are usually family owned and operated. They have been around since the oldest person in the neighborhood can remember. They usually are open from around 5 to 5:30am until around 11pm. For the most part they are ALWAYS packed with people wanting a breakfast of hot fresh bread with butter and hot chocolate or coffee. Around lunch they may have a few options like paulista virada which is a traditional plate in São Paulo that consists of rice, beans, french fries, beef and a fried egg. There are a few other variations, but those are the primary ingrediants. At night there is almost always a soccer game on the big tv at the front of the store and there are lots of men eating pizza, drinking and watching the game. On the weekends they sell roasted rotary chicken. Then to top all that off they almost always sell my beloved Guaraná. So if your in need of some food and you got nowhere to go, just remember, there is a padaria on almost every street corner in Brazil. And don't forget to call me up so I can get some good eats too. Até logo e um abraço.

                                                                         the "sonho"