Venha comigo para o Brasil!

Coming to Brazil with us? Right on time for the football World Cup, we take you on a virtual tour of the home of countless precious stones. Would you believe that there’s a lot more than football and samba to discover? For example, the real caipirinha or the Brazilian trends that are taking over the world.

Olá spirit of life!

Four kilometres of the finest sand with Sugarloaf Mountain perched in the background – Rio’s Copacabana is a magical place. Snatches of samba music dance on the air and all you need now is the right drink: how about a fresh coconut? Here you can get them everywhere. The coconut, by the way, is totally hot right now: it’s a light treat, it contains almost all the important nutrients and it tastes of holidays – heavenly!

Caipirinha – know your stuff

Feel more like a caipirinha? Then simply cut a lime into eight pieces (cut off the ends first), put the pieces into a tumbler, sprinkle two dessert spoons of sugar over the top and crush with a mortar. Add 6 cl of cachaça and then fill the glass with crushed ice. With this cocktail, you’ll conjure up the Brazilian spirit in no time up on your balcony or down on the terrace. Did you know that in Brazil they use white sugar for the caipirinha? When the recipe was imported to Switzerland, the word for cane sugar (‘Rohrzucker’) was mistaken for raw sugar (‘Rohzucker’).

Since no one can live on caipirinha alone, we’ll follow that up with a tip for the barbecue: put a skewer of fresh pineapple on the barbecue. Before eating it, roll the hot pineapple in grated coconut and allow this special Brazilian treat to melt on your tongue. Mmmm!

Models and labels...

If you travel to Brazil, even if it’s only a virtual trip, you can’t escape the models. The Brazilian Gisele Bündchen is, according to Claudia Schiffer, the ‘last supermodel’. She is also making a splash as a designer and has set a new trend worldwide with her iPANEMA flip-flops. The name of the range comes from the famous Ipanema Beach in Rio, part of a neighbourhood with the same name.

Speaking of trends, Brazil has many more to offer. There’s the coffee (no other country exports as much as Brazil), the music (samba and bossa nova conquered the world in the middle of the last century) and finally the football artistes who have reinvented the game – they don’t so much shoot with the ball as dance with it.

Viver e ser feliz

The inhabitants of Brazil are united by an irresistible combination of passion and a sunny temperament guaranteed to bring a smile. ‘Viver e ser feliz’, live and be happy, is the motto they live by.

Is it any wonder that the precious stones that come from this country, abundantly rich in species of flora and fauna, also radiate its happiness?

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