He was grey, old and short, wearing a black trench coat (despite brow perspiring heat), black rimmed-thick glasses and a black hat.
He stood there, across the street, on the corner, smoking a white tipped cigarette and seemingly ignoring life and me along with it.
He was clearly distracted- possibly contemplating his next case?
On this day, I was left to my own devises. Clarissa was at a conference of the remarkably smart doctor variety and I decided (taking my bearings first-as I tend to get lost easily) to have a wander for a couple of hours.
This is what I saw;
A lingerie store in the stable of the Poundland shops (advertisements featuring large bottomed women were prevalent in bold billboards above the shop).
A book store, that seemed to sell English language literature (to be visited in full later in the week).
Numerous shops selling all the Gaucho regalia one might require.
The Cathedral of Our Lady, Mother of God-Porto Alegre;
(apologies for the finger in the top left corner-photography lecturers, I apologise)
Inside this middle to large Cathedral, wooden chandeliers hung, pillars towered and people knelt and prayed at the alter. Coming from a country laden with religious institutions, I had not expected quite so much grandiosity. I'd read a little of the history of Brasil, circa 1500's and the Portuguese influences on architecture, but this building blended the regal and the pauper where I had possibly just expected less.
Down the road hung this;
I'll tell you more when I re-investigate.
A few days prior, Clarissa, her father-Cezar and I found ourselves shopping for Cezar's present for Nirlei's birthday. This involved a two hour trek through one of the many shopping malls of the greater PA area. To her credit, Clarissa was fast. Yes, she did insist on seeing every store in the mall, but she was direct and swift with it. I, for my part, stood outside and hummed, while Cezar interacted- offering his opinion (sometimes accepted) and taking part as much as possible.
When the task was completed, we decided that a brief snack was called for.
This involved a trip to the food court.
Now, the food court's in PA are rather extensive. Variety is everywhere. Chinese, Japanese, McDonalds (of course), pizza and everything else you might want.
We opted for Bob's Burgers.
For the America readers, you may very well be familiar with the animated series of the same name- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n846puzM9h0&noredirect=1
Back, when I lived in Sheffield, I occasionally reviewed films, events and restaurants for a city guide site-http://www.itchycity.co.uk/
Were I still reviewing for them, this would be much like my review of Bob's Burgers;
Waiting in line at the funnily named Bob's Burgers takeaway, one can only wonder and wait.
Wonder- where is the service?
and
Wait- when will I be served?
Much like any other burger 'joint' and specifically styled on the mega successful McDonalds chain, 'Bob's' would seem to employ the most laxidasical of staff members. Seeming to find umbradge at the mere thought of serving, nay, looking at the customers. After standing with Clarissa and Cezar for five minutes, I took a seat, after standing for another five minutes-Cezar took a seat. After standing for another five minutes, Clarissa took a seat (having stared at our server to negate any risk of intentional or unintentional spitting), but with our food.
We hadn't ordered much; Fries x 3 and Coke's x3 (we were eating that night to celebrate Nirlei's birthday and simply required a little bite). The fries were salty beyond measure and the Coke's lacked something...what was it??? Oh yes, FIZZ.
Our servers had failed to look at us, take our order inside of 10 minutes (a definition of 'Fast Food' might be required) and provide us with a meal that satisfied to any extend other than to delay the hunger pangs and rumbles.
In short- Bob's Burgers, not worth your time or R$s.
Thankfully, our meal was delightful. We attended a buffet restaurant that served slatherings of meat to your plate (pork, steak, sausage, etc) and had all the filled pasta's you could eat. We drank, a lot. We nearly sang. We laughed...at me Inglezinho. In short, we had a superb evening.
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