Santa Teresa and Bar do Mineiros

A great day out today, up the hill to the bohemian bairro of Santa Teresa. Cobbled, uneven and narrow streets and traditional little houses (and some big ones with spectacular views and swimming pools), give this area a very different feel to Copacabana or Ipanema down by the sea.

After a wander around the streets and some arty shops and a couple of very small purchases, we then joined the queue (managing to bag the bench in their doorway for a birds’ eye people watching session) to have our Saturday feijoada in Bar do Mineiros, famous for its feijoada and up there with the very best in the city. We got into conversation with a young couple at the table next to ours, Brazilians, who are living in Estonia, and we all agreed on a rating of 6 out of 10. Still enjoyable, but not near our favourite in our now-closed Bar 420. Perhaps the new chefs (found this fact out later on) are still learning the feijoada ropes! However, 10 stars for the overall experience and day overall! We wondered what it’d be like to live up there for a month and just enjoy that atmosphere and not come down the hill. Going up and down the hill is a bit of a trek and around 40 mins in a taxi or much longer using the underground and the yellow bondi train.

See extra for some more of the atmosphere.