Well, at least it should be. As I’ve probably mentioned in previous posts, Alcino serves a multi-course breakfast that is a gastronic delight and an adventure. Every day starts with an incredible array of fresh fruit – and please expand your mind from what I now know to be a limited American palette:
Yes, I know you don’t recognize everything on here. I still don’t either! On the table is homemade granola, jams with and without chilis, yogurt and fresh breads. Next comes a glass of just-squeezed juice. What kind depends on the day. One day fruit from the tree in the courtyard, one day from fruit I bought from kids on the street, etc etc. Then I am served a small bowl of some kind of fruit puree\yogurt mixture. On this morning, it was avocado, a little on the sweet side, while a bowl of guacamole, on the savory side, was also placed on the table. Then an egg dish (today omelette with wild japanese mushrooms), and an assortment of other things to try, which have included: fried polenta stuffed with cheese, mini-felafel balls, local specialty of little crusty cheese bread puffs, sliced cured meats, poached fruit with herbs, fresh tomatoes and mozzerella, home-made guava paste to eat with the cheese, cake, little coconut squares, and mini-pizzas with a single zuchinni slice on top. All the while, Alcino goes to the window to bring over fresh dishes (heaven forbid one dish gets partly empty or cold!):
And so by the end of the meal the table looks like this:
Oh, man, am I going to miss these mornings! Especially since I already missed a few due to my stomach problems. Oh well, I’m sure some other culinary adventure awaits, but what a way to start each day.
Today is transit day. Found out about local airport, so am flying back to Salvador instead of taking the 6-hour busride back (yay!). In the airport, I meed and chat with a delightful couple from Raligh, NC (I love that I can seem to find a connection with people somehow) who are finishing up their two week visit. her brother now lives part-time in Soho, NY and part-time in Lencois with his wife and two children. People are doing this in increasing numbers, no doubt about it. We exchange emails, and set off on our separate ways in Salvador.
Not too much to report for the rest of the day. I walked around a little in the Itapoa neighborhood, but everything is behind walls and it’s hot as shit, so I head out for a lunch of crab, but mistakenly order a ridiculously large meal of lobster:
I know I’m smiling (aren’t I supposed to do that in every picture), but I was incredibly aggravated (I wanted to order crab, it was a waste of food and a ridiculous amount of money AND I didn’ t like it! Their lobster isn’t even as firm as crab, not what I think of as lobster-y at all). No shouts from the audience, please, I let it go and of course realized that if this was my worst problem, I was doing okay.
Back to the hotel to make some calls and continue resting up for things to come. No dinner for me: I’d indulged enough for the day.