Manaus
Adolpho Lisboa Market
We began our first day in Brazil walking to
Adolpho Lisboa Market in an attempt to find a cup of coffee. The market is near the city center, but we were staying about
an hour outside of that, in an area that isn't particularly popular with tourists. This meant that on the way, we were able to
see what Manaus looked like to the locals.
We passed many car dealerships and mechanics while walking over the hilly, paved terrain, and a few food stands, but otherwise,
very few places to get food. Within the market, there were two places you could sit and eat. We picked one at random and ordered a pão
com carne, queijo, e ovo (an egg, cheese, and meat sandwich) and a misto com tucumã (a sandwich with cheese, ham, and
tucumã - a
plant with little taste but with a pleasant, rubbery texture). We also got mango juice and
cupuaçu juice, as well as some coffee. This was when we learned that Brazilian coffee is half sugar by default, and
memorized the phrase "sem açucar".
After breakfast, we explored the market, which spans several blocks and offers everything from meat and fish to clothes to
house plants to souvenirs. The market was founded in 1882, making it the oldest market in Manaus. Like so many of the
structures in Manaus, its history is rooted in the rubber trade.
In the late 1800s, Europeans began to colonize parts of
the Amazon in order to extract its natural resources - primarily rubber. This created an economic boom for port cities,
like Manaus, while decimating indigenous populations. European influence is evident in much of Manaus's architecture. The Adolpho
Lisboa Market, named after Manaus's mayor at the time, is modeled after the Les Halles market in Paris.
Teatro Amazonas
The main attractions in Manaus are all very close to each other. After exploring the market, we walked two blocks to the
Teatro Amazonas, an opera house built by the
French colonists in the late 1800s after the
rubber boom. The town square sits in front of the theatre, and was surprisingly empty, allowing us to admire the
mind-bending pattern on the ground. The statue in the middle of the square represents the opening of the ports to foreign
nations, and each side is dedicated to a different continent.
The only way to see the inside of the theatre is via a guided tour. English-speaking tours were offered every other hour
and cost R$20 (~$4 USD), so we bought our tickets and waited for the tour to begin. The tour lasted about 20 minutes,
and provided a lot of information. The materials to build the theatre were all imported from Europe, in order to maintain
the European style perfectly. The design of the main hall symbolizes the closing of the monarchy (the closing curtain painted
on the stage) and the opening of the republic (the pendant above the governor's box facing the stage). In other parts of
the theatre, the floorboards alternate light and dark brown, referencing the famous Amazonian
meeting of the waters. The theatre also contains a small museum which displays costumes used in various performances, and
two miniature models of the theatre, one made out of legos. After artificial rubber was discovered, Manaus lost its main source
of income and closed the theatre for 90 years. In 2001, the government re-opened the theatre, and it once again puts on
regular performances.
Tambaqui de Banda
While waiting for the next English tour of the Teatro Amazonas, we got lunch at
Tambaqui de Banda, a restaurant next to the theatre that came highly recommended by several friends. Manaus restaurants are
known for their fresh fish, and especially for two giants: the
tambaqui and the
pirarucu. The pirarucu, or arapaima, is one of the world's largest freshwater fish, and needs to be wrestled to be caught.
It is typically caught in the depths of the Amazon, salted and dried, and shipped to cities to be sold. Tambaqui look like
large piranhas and have ribs long enough that you can eat them as you would beef ribs.
At Tambaqui de Banda, we ordered an
appetizer of pirarucu bites (fresh, not preserved) and their signature dish, tambaqui ribs. Before the meal, we were presented
with a small, clear glass of orange liquid that was hot to the touch. We couldn't figure out what this was before we tasted it:
fish soup. (This turned out to be a common starter in Manaus.) The main dish was served with rice,
salsa, and farofa - a
breadcrumb-like topping made of manioc flour that is incredibly popular in Brazil and is utterly inedible to everyone else.
(The appeal of farofa is apparently a common debate between Brazilians and non-Brazilians.) To wash down the meal, we ordered
Brazil's national drink, the caipirinha, and a beer, which was
served in a hard-shelled coozy to keep it cold in the hot weather.
Manaus Brew Shop
We decided to wander slowly back to our hotel and see what we could see along the way. Close to the hotel, we passed what looked like a brewery. While conspicuoulsly eyeing it, a woman driving by rolled down her window and confirmed in perfect English that yes, it was a brewery, and yes, it was good. On her recommendation, we entered the Manaus Brew Shop. While we enjoyed their beer, the owner explained his process to us. Due to regulations in Manaus, he tries out different recipes in his garage, then sends the best ones to large breweries outside of Manaus, who manufacture the beer and send back the final product. This was easily the best beer we tried in Brazil.
Shopping Centers
A few times during our trip, we found ourselves in need of supplies that could only be obtained at a shopping center. On our first day in Manaus, we needed an ATM to get cash to pay our tour guide, and on our last day in Manaus, I needed perfume so that my neighbors on the flight home would be able to stand me. (It turns out that keeping your clothes in a damp bag in the jungle for six days makes them stink.) The only place we could find either of these things was in a shopping center. Manaus has a few of these, but we only ventured into the one near our hotel. The inside was in stark contrast to the surrounding area, which seemed to be on the lower end of the wealth spectrum. In the shopping center, there were fountains and play areas for children. There was an arcade and a movie theater. There were dozens of high end shops and souvenir stands. Like many places in Manaus, few people spoke English, so we were on our own. After a few attempts, we successfully obtained cash from the ATM. I also managed to buy some perfume through gestures and broken Portuguese. We tried cupuaçu and açai ice cream and bought some chocolates. Everyone here was very nice to us about our attempts to communicate.
La Vaca Negra
On our first day in Manaus, for dinner, we went to an Argentinian steakhouse near our hotel called La Vaca Negra. Our server spoke English well and explained all the dishes and cuts of meat to us. We got steaks and fries, which were of course served with farofa. The food and the wine was so good that on our last night in Brazil, when we desperately needed a break from fish and carbs, we returned for more steak and wine.