Maria and Tim visited the real side of Niteroi and we had a funny day. It was saturday so we found the whole people in Gragoatá Beach, it is a little corner next to an Army Fort, it is a bay beach so for sure the water is quite dirty, but there was nearly no space left in the water. The place was packed and full of food stands, the smell in the air made us starving...barbecue, inviting hotdogs filled with everything you can think about, big portion of delicious french (in that case very "brazilian" ) fries and very cheap beer, and the best beer was available. It was so heart that we could not resist...we had a Itaipava!!!!
Unfortunately people do know that the water has no good conditions for swimming because of pollution, the Bay Waters almost always are contaminated, just in rare cases when we have the ocean tide, I would dare to swim - NEVER - in this day; but people do not really care, they say this is the only beach they can go because they do not feel comfortable in the best beaches and they also say that the ocean beaches are very faraway, so they prefer enjoying the beach close to the poor community where almost 100% of them have their homes. But when you go to places like that, for sure you will always listen to good samba, the vibe is great, the environment is absolutely genuine and there is not TOURIST PRICES. It is simply a different Rio that stands under your nose!!! And this experience is simply fascinating!!!
And by the way, their view to Rio de Janeiro is simple spectacular.
We did our part...we bought a big portion of fries for less than two dollars, we picked up a shade, we sat down in front of the sea and we had such a great improvised picnic with good company and very interesting conversation. That is why I am very fortunate to deal only with travellers, the chat flows like a river!!!
Ohhhh and the caldo de cana!!!!! :) Before we made our way back to Rio after a very complete day in Niteroi which is another place to discover; we stopped in a very local place in the middle of the forest and we ordered 3 big cups of SUGAR CANE JUICE and we ate the very popular local pastry called PASTEL which is a sort of "light empanada" filled with grown meat...ABSOLUTELY YUMMY and of course very relaxing.
I am a tour guide for 9 years now, but much more than that I am a proud local person and I like taking my people to experience real things wherever I go.
RAFAEL TORRES LOPES
Tour Guide and Tour Planner
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