Deli Tropical

        Once we mournfully parted with the blushing orchids of Jardim Botanico, we were ready to return to face-paced life of the bustling city, to at once find that we were again famished. Feeling the gnawing of persistent hunger in our stomachs, we duly informed Evandro of our predicament. He noted our problem with due respect, and heartily agreed that it was time to stop at one of Rio de Janiero's many, many restaurants to finally hunt and kill ourselves a meal. While I am only kidding about that last bit, as we are vegetarians, it was about time we ate something, and we hastily started off for a restaurant, that was sure to be chocked full of vegetables.
      We again slid into the bright, orange van, more comfortably than before, and allowed ourselves to be swiftly transported to an exciting, new restaurant, unlike the likes of the insipid Pizza Hut or Subway. After several minutes of rapidly crossing street after street of Rio de Janiero, we finally stopped before a large shopping complex in the Botafogo district.
           Like other malls of its breed, the edifice was wide, rectangular  and beige, having a large, colorful banner pasted to the front  of it. On it was a cartoon of a confident, lanky woman, who was of course carrying various shopping bags in her right hand.
       As we approached the unexpected center, I smiled up at the wide mall. Before arriving in Rio de Janiero, we had previously planned on  visiting only the essentials: Copacabana, Cristo Redentor, Sugarloaf Mountain, Corcovado... But with the help of our gracious guide, it seemed that we would get a glimpse and taste of local culture as well.
       All of this ran slowly through my mind, as we stepped into the large air-conditioned building, enjoying the bright halls and the rows of neat shops. My eyes never settled in one place, as we felt our hard sneakers go "click-clack" on the smooth tiled floor. I wanted to take in as much as I could of this unforeseen trip to a local shopping center, from all of the sundry of goods and services, to the various types of people, to all of the names of stores and sales in Portuguese.
    Soon enough, we found that we had just breached the entrance of our prospective restaurant of choice. Its name was Deli Tropical.