24.09.19 - Massa sem queijo é namoro sem beijo

Halloooo,

You're probably all already aware of my dire Swiss straits and efforts to extricate myself from the Most Boring Place in the World™, so I'll just say that plans are afoot, and keep your fingers crossed for me.  

The highlight of the weekend was apparently the triumphant return of the cows from the mountains for the winter, which was celebrated with great pomp and traditional dress.  I didn't go.  As for my non-work activities, I climbed up a hill, checked out the recycling facilities, spent £15 on bin bags blah blah blah.  Let's skip to para 3...

I have made a new compilation, while my phrase of the day translates as "pasta without cheese is like dating with kisses" - basically Brazilians love cheese on their pasta.  Oh, and the site has now officially launched, so feel free to check it out if you've got the time IF YOU'RE NOT TOO BUSY.

Ciao for now,

Fred Over Heels

17.09.19 - Pé de pobre não tem tamanho

Hallooo,

You join me live from sunny Switzerland, which I eventually reached after an epic (actually quite boring) 43-hour journey via:

- New York JFK (fun fact: there are USB ports and credit-card swiping devices for every seat in every terminal in JFK, and none of them work);

- Atlanta (fun fact: the mayor of Atlanta, whose likeness welcomes you to the city in every airport shuttle, is called Keisha Lance Bottoms);

- Zurich: (fun fact: Zurich can be spelt six different ways, which I'm not going to tell you);

- S-chanf (I think it's fair to assume that there are no fun facts about S-chanf)

Now I'm back at the coalface, and living in the roof of a tiny cottage, with the pleasantries of yesteryear receding into a fog of polls and spreadsheets and whatnot (we officially launch this week! Tell your friends).  

But I've rallied with a new compilation, and a phrase of the day which you may remember from your time in Brazil: "the foot of the poor man has no size", i.e. "beggars can't be choosers".

Speak soon!

Fredag.ch

11.09.19 - Casei na balada

Hallooo,

Do excuse the lateness of this missive, but we've been coming down from an absolute blinder of a party in an island paradise resort, so blogging kind of fell by the wayside for a day or two.

As you may be aware FredWed2019 took place this weekend in São Sebastião, after a few days in Paraty and Ilhabela, attended by São Paulo's brightest and best, plus some out-of-towners who soon got into the spirit of things after lots of caipirinhas.  Twas a lovely ceremony - even the cake was in tiers, etc - and a great party with a partial Fat Gabby reunion and a whole Actual Gabby singalong.

The next day we went to Ilhabela for the afterparty, which turned into a sort of Ilhabela greatest hits, including endless prawns by the sea and of course Pimenta de Cheiro to cap things off.  After that we checked in to our seriously luxurious hotel to sleep for about 12 hours, and spend the next two days lounging around by the pool, beach, restaurant, spa, steam room, Finnish sauna, etc. So that was pretty cool. 

Today we're taking it easy albeit cleaning the house from top to bottom - I have an extra few days before I'm shipped off to Switzerland (via New York AND Atlanta, which seems excessive) thanks to my previous airline going under.  I even get to check in hold luggage for free! 

No compilation I'm afraid, but my phrase of the day is "I got married on the dancefloor" - i.e. I stuck with one person all night, so it must be serious. 

Lovely to see you, and speak soon!

Fred Wedding

03.09.19 - Rapadura é boa mas não é mole

Halloooo,

We're in Paraty, after a Dante-esque descent down the mountains to the sea, through thick fog, with the Moulin Rouge soundtrack blasting out.  Today we're off to Ilhabela and I am on holiday in about three hours, which I'm almost as excited about as the actual wedding, to be honest.

Otherwise we saw out our last week in São Paulo with a tour of Ibirapuera Park and several shopping malls, a hairy incident at the football which ended with the application of several icepacks, a frantic dash to the doctors to get vaccinated against measles, a visit to Liberdade market for deep-fried ice cream, and a slap-up lunch at Coco Bambu for Adny's birthday on Sunday.

I've made a new compilation, and my phrase of the day means "rapadura [concentrated cane sugar used in cooking etc] is good but it ain't soft", i.e. nothing good ever came easy. BRB, getting married on the morrow!

Speak soon,

Frederal Bureau of Investigation

27.08.19 - Cavalo dado não se olha nos dentes

Halloooo,

Since most of you are already here and are active participants in this blog, this is but a brief update for posterity's sake.  

We've covered a fair bit of ground in the past week, including trips to the Museu da Casa Brasileira (ft. awesome chocolate cake and antique commodes), the Football Museum, a street market for several pastéis, a tasting evening to finalise the wedding menu, our local pizzeria, and a night at t'footy.  And on Sunday we drove out to a rather idyllic ranch in São Pedro for an all-you-can-eat watermelon-caipirinha fever dream, ending in chicken sketches and hammock naps. 

Otherwise I've been down the compilation mines and bring you not one but two new'uns, plus a phrase of the day which is Portuguese for "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" - or "one does not look a given horse in the teeth", to be precise.

Onwards and upwards,

Hansel & Fredel

20.08.19 - Os humilhados serão exaltados

Hallooo,

Quick note before you touch down in SP - not a lot to report this week, plenty of work and not enough sleep as I try and reconcile two time zones. 

On Tuesday night we went to visit our wedding bar suppliers and were plied with about 20 different cocktails -  I can't remember much from about one hour in, but as far as I know we decided on our menu.  Thursday was my first football-and-bar combo in a while, and on Saturday we went to see Gaby's grandma and "Once Upon a time in Hollywood", which was certainly something.

Otherwise I've been eating cheese and meat and mangoes and other things that were withheld from me in Switzerland, and making compilations.  My phrase of the day is the Portuguese for "the meek shall inherit the earth", or "the little guy will get his eventually", which comes up a lot when we discuss my work.

See ya soon!

Frod x 

13.08.19 - Mas perdido que un pulpo en un garaje

Halloooo, and bom dia from Brazil!

I'm back after a monster 20-hour journey from foggy St. Moritz up to Zurich (the first half surrounded by picturesque valleys, the second surrounded by boozy football fans), then on to Lisbon and finally on to São Paulo.  Thank god for the Avengers and their incredibly long and time-consuming films, is all I'll say.

We went out for a lovely lunch on Sunday, and on to see Gaby's grandparents, and her aunt's dog's new litter of puppies, which was pretty great. This week we're nailing down various wedding issues, including an open bar tasting this evening which I'm rather looking forward to. 

I've made another mix, and indeed am mixing it up this week with a Spanish phrase which means "more lost than an octopus in a garage", amusingly enough.

See ya soon!

Frod Complex