Where in the world is Lani?

My friend Luciano lives here in Porto Alegre, Brazil has been many things in his life. A pilot. A sushi chef. An acrobat in the circus. An actor. A model. A models & actors agency owner. A travel agent and much more.

Today, it was his turn to be a city guide, as we set off in his zippy fiat to see the city of Porto Alegre from the eyes of a local. What a great few hours we had.

We started with a tour of some of the Saturday markets held each weekend here in Porto Alegre. The main fare is jewellery, bags, antiques and food - so you can imagine how happy I was!

Afterwards we drove to the 'ritzy' part of town to look at all the beautiful big houses and imagine what we would change if we owned them. More gardens? More trees? A big swimming pool? It was magic.

Later on we went to the local praia (beach) which is more like a lake, for a walk along the sea and checking out more beautiful houses. Then onto the older part of the city, with old terrace and colonial places. Some renovated, others painted bright greens and purples and others very run down. There is so much personality in this city - I just love it!

In the evening we chilled out with Caina, watching DVD´s and drinking coffee before we hit the local wine & beer bar for late night drinks and snack food. We laughed all night over Luciano´s perpetual confusion of the english words 'chicken' and 'kitchen' - he mixes them up all the time and its very funny! We also dreamed of the 3 of us opening up a sushi bar here in Porto Alegre.... maybe we will make it happen - who knows?

In any case, we had a great day and i feel extremely fortunate to be here with such wonderful friends who took the time to show me their city.

Ciao from Porto Alegre

Lani