I lived in this unit for about a month but it felt like a year. I wrote two books and I made dozens of friends.
The building is located in one fo the fanciest neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, consequently in Brazil.
Safe, clean, beautiful and green, you can hear birds singing right in your window or you can walk for 20 minutes to the "celebrities beach" praia da Barra. You can also take the ferry always available to cross the little river, shortening the walk to only 7 minutes until the beach.
Paulo is the one who drives the ferry.
Cleaning is available three times a week and Monica is the one who cleans the unit. Make sure to tip her well too, her cleaning is impeccable. There's an wonderful restaurant downstairs with the most authentic Brazilian food working almost 24/7 every day. The price is cheap and the quality of food is extremely high. The owner Luciana and her husband will have a baby, say hello to them if you have a chance! Also, try the spaghetti Bolognese
(I know, trust me you'd be surprised) but if you want the most traditional Brazilian IN RIO DE JANEIRO (bear in mind Brazil is a huge country) - you got to try Feijoada. Their feijoada set is perfect. Ricardo will serve you with the most welcoming Brazilian traits, no worries. And if you want it to be full experience, Feijoada needs to be accompanied with Caipirinha. Cheers!
There's a gym available and it's probably well equipped but I've never been there. Ask Valter for help, I guess. Or maybe Diego the bodybuilder.
The pool area is nice to stay and make friends, tan, swim, work - the wifi works all over the facility, but sometimes it cuts off when it rains a lot, but at the restaurant there's always wifi working. Go sit there and watch the rain, order pão de queijo e guaraná antartica with orange slices. You're welcome.
Groceries, Pharmacy, Banks, malls, bus station all very close by. 5 minutes walking is the small and charming Barra Garden. I loved going there to eat 'canjica' - (white corn cooked in milk, coconut and spices) typical dish from north Brasil. Also, the man at the entrance is a quite fun character. Make sure you notice is hairstyle, he puts some effort on it. The grocery store available in this mall is a high level quality of products with fair price. Open every day from 9- 10, I guess.
But there is also a giant grocery store two blocks from the building. Guanabara has everything, also opened every day I guess 24/7. In Guanabara you can find from pillows to açaí. Everything. Period. On the way back if you want to walk, you can say hello to Vicente, the man who sells plants up street. He made a house in the three so he could smoke weed without being caught by the police back in the 90's , but now he just placed a mattress up there and take naps during the day. Lol. He is just hilarious. He gave me a plant called Arruda, a Brazilian spiritual cleansing plant because he said that someone has died in the buidling long ago, and in case I was feeling my energies sucked up for the ghosts and spirits lol. There is no ghost, the energy cannot be bad with the sunset you will see from the balcony of this apartment. It is a blessed place, for sure. But Vincent is hilarious, you have to spend time talking to him. Say I am the "escritora".
Last but not least, there is a typical Brazilian bakery 2 minutes way that basically became my office for a few weeks. There are tables outside available 24/7 and you can just sit there, Andre and Maria will make sure to provide you the best Brazilian breakfast in town: mixto quente na chapa no pão frances with orange juice - minas cheese though. Expresso afterwards. Take your time, wifi works too. And surprisingly, is still a place where people can smoke in public in Brazil. So if you are a smoker, you can feel free to do it there without being judged. If you are not, like me, you can either not go there or just weight the pros and contras. Smoke does not bother me. It fits the smell of fresh carrot cake with a Brazilian espresso, it is super close to the building and the atmosphere is great.
Thanks Rogerio, Michal, Atel and Luiz for providing me everything I needed, Agelica and Rogério from reception and Gil from security. I felt Home. I will miss it all.❤️ But I guess I will have to go back to pick up my jacket I forgot in the closet. See you soon then, Love you all.