Rua do Lavradio

My friend Dani and I trekked out to Lapa on Saturday afternoon to visit the street fair, "Feira da Rua do Lavradio." Lapa is not far from Santa Teresa and is better known for its music scene -- street bands and music shops during the day and nightclubs and live music in bars at night.
The street fair at Rua do Lavradio is known for its antiques, and indeed, we did find cast-iron irons and old Singer sewing machines. There were also more Brazilian crafts, like colorful clothing and paintings from the Northeastern part of the country and various musical instruments. I saw a t-shirt with this design and it took me a moment to figure out what it said:

When I figured it out (asking Dani for the keyword "madeireiro"), both she and the vendor burst out laughing: "Save the Amazon: Burn a logger." They weren't laughing because the message was that funny, but because my expression changed the second I understood. "Aha!" (In case you were wondering, I didn't buy the shirt.) 

After we wandered the fair a few times and Dani bought a maraca-like instrument made from a small gourd, we went in search of food. The restaurant we found served mediocre gnocchi (logically spelled "nhoque" in Portuguese) and great fruit juices (mango for me, lime "lemonade" for Dani -- discussion ensued as to why Brazilian lemonade is made from limes!). What was really excellent was dessert. On a whim, I ordered what Dani ordered, which I was assured would be delicious. It was. It was a little bunt-shaped chocolate cake, filled with chocolate cream, served with vanilla bean ice cream, and drizzled with chocolate syrup for good measure (below, with Dani). We both agreed we won't need any more chocolate anytime soon! I also stand by my opinion that the cake resembles a volcano, and given the name of the street "Lavradio", it's an appropriate comparison, too!

So after devouring our chocolate volcanoes, we walked back to the subway and each took our respective trains home. It was an exhausting day, but absolutely worth it!