Natural Beauty

The National Park of the Chapada Diamantina is one of the most fascinating natural parks of Brazil. The mountain scenery contains an extraordinary variety of ecosystems, like Cerrado, Mata Atlantica, and Stone fields, Caatinga. The bromeliads and orchids find a privileged ambiance, adapting themselves to the differences in climate and altitude. The mountain tops reach a height of 5,660 feet and they offer shelter to the Jaguatiricas (local breed of feline) pumas, mocós (local rodents), deer’s, teiús (local reptile) and seriemas (local little ostrich) .

The massive quartz pieces, have undergone and resisted erosion, forming towers of minerals known as “TEPUY” by the local Indians of the Maracas and Cariris tribes, who dominated the region before the arrival of the first settlers or bandeirantes, around the year 1750. The most astonishing tepuis reach a height of 4,830 feet and they run across the municipalities of Palmeiras, Lençois e Mucugê . Read more

The New Shockoe Bottom

I remember growing up in Shockoe Bottom, located east of downtown along the James River, in my hometown of Richmond, VA.  Before the millennium ages, Shockoe Bottom was the more industrial part of Richmond, where many goods were loaded and unloaded.  Apart from the industrial feel, for me, Shockoe Bottom was like a gregarious countryside Caribbean Island.  Within a five block radius you were surrounded by several small family owned businesses and the largest Farmer’s Market.  There would even be, on rare occasions, a man on a mule or tugging a cow, passing through.  The people of Shockoe Bottom were a community of friends, whom bonded well and supported each other’s businesses. And I remember my Dad’s business, Pacific Seafood Market, located at 19 18^th St. 

 

On a recent trip home (to lend a hand in my mom’s latest entrepreneurial venture) my burning desire led me to revisit Shockoe Bottom, the community which felt like immediate family during my adolescent days.  It’s been over 17 years, since my Daddy, sold his Seafood Market, and that was probably the last time I visited the neighborhood and stepped foot into the market, and boy has a lot changed.

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Busboys and Poets

Imagine a place where you can grab a sandwich, attend an open mic, have a cocktail, pick up the latest books by America’s leading black intellectuals, attend a lecture by a nobel laureate, and plug-in to free wi-fi.  Well, you will find all this and more at Busboys and Poets in DC’s vibrant U street/Shaw neighborhood.  Named after a reference to famed Black poet, Langston Hughes, Busboys and Poets is not just a restaurant, it’s a community center.  Busboys and Poets makes no secret about promoting progressive values, but you will find everybody and their mama here.  Looking around during a packed Sunday brunch you will see Howard University students, young white hipsters, and older Black ladies with their pastel hats and church suits.   

I almost always inevitably show up here for at least one meal when I have out of town guests.  They serve breakfast, lunch, dinner and late-night food at reasonable prices.  It’s a fantastic spot for brunch and is packed on weekend mornings.  The menu is eclectic and global.  The food is consistently good and everybody will find something they enjoy.  The baristas are top-notch, and the coffee is always perfect.    

Busboys and Poets hosts daily events.  On any given day you can attend a film screening, lecture, open mic, concert, or networking event.  They also were quite popular during election season, and lines formed down the block to get in for debate and inaugural parties.   

Busboys and Poets business is so booming that they opened two more locations in the DC area, but I am loyal to the original on 14^th street.  If I ever leave DC, Busboy and Poets will be one of the places I will really miss.  There is a vibe and energy here that is so unique. Few places these days are as community focused and there is always something going on here, interesting people to meet, great art to look at, and good times to be had.   

2021 14th St NW 
(between N U St & N V St) 
Washington, DC 20009

202) 387-7638

www.busboysandpoets.com

Arts Festival in my Backyard

It’s Artscape weekend!!  The largest free arts festival in the country is literally in my backyard (and around the corner and up the street), and I had my apartment to clean.  What would you have done?  Exactly.  My dishes can wait. 

 I walked to the festival and found myself immersed in Baltimore’s arts culture.  Thousands of people of all ages and colors strolled through wide streets as if some tropical market.  At Artscape, hundreds of vendors from various places sell all types of wares, from jewelry, original t-shirts and paintings, to clocks made out of Cuban cigar boxes and magnificent, colorful (amazingly unharmed) framed insects, ready to mount on a wall.   Performances both stage and musical are feasts for the eyes, and are free to enjoy.  Even though it was exhilarating to be among all the people and the arts, I came specifically for Baltimore’s own Mario/Dru Hill free concert.  I got to the old Mt. Royal Station just in time to hear Mario sing his hits off of his most current album.  I parked myself on the side of a very steep hill among throngs of people and let my inner teenager come through.  I sang along to song after song bopping to the beat.  About an hour after Mario left the stage, Dru Hill commanded the attention of hundreds in the audience.  They belted out their classic songs to their Baltimore hometown family.  I left right when they were wrapping up and walked the few blocks back to my messy place.  That’s the joy about living in the heart of B’more: everything out of the ordinary is a few steps or a short drive away.  If that means another day of dirty dishes in my sink, so be it.

Artscape is usually the second to last week in July. Learn more at www.artscape.org

Au revoir Paris

Day three started out really sunny and with lots of promise as we took a metro trip to La Defense which is the downtown Paris working area. Lots of futuristic highrise buildings like any other downtown location and I can see it being really packed and bustling on a work day. A train ride back to the city center and a walk around Les Halles which has a really huge shopping mall but with boring chain stores we can find over in the States.  At night Les Halles has a strip of clubs and bars and a bit of seediness thrown in for those with much energy to spare after walking around the city all day.  A walk through the grounds of the Louvre museum and Jardin des Tuileries which is supposed to be a really great centrally located garden but there was barely any green so calling it a garden was a bit of a stretch. The tour ended at Place de la Concorde and the obelisk which is a huge gold topped obelisk taken from the Egyptians by Napoleon during his reign.

At night we took a dinner boat ride with the Bateaux-Mouches company along the Seine.  This was by no means cheap as it involved a 4 course dinner, a bottle of champagne and wine and I am sure there are cheaper dinner tours available if we had done the research but it was a nice dinner and the views of all the major monuments along the Seine…whew, you just can’t take too many pictures of the Eiffel tower especially when it is all lit up at night. Absolutely beautiful.  The buildings along the Seine are historic but fabulous architecture and it is sometimes hard to believe they have stood for thousands of years.

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