ArgenTea

Sitting in a beautifully designed cafe called Tea Connection. It's in the upmarket, central area of Jardins, which may imminently become our new home, at least temporarily. It's the second time we have visited this cafe.

On the first occasion we had a longish chat with one of the Argentine owners, who were making their first move to expand the chain outside of Buenos Aires. It reminded me of some of the tea houses in London - indeed, the logo looks slightly too close for comfort to at least one of them.

The fact that it has free WiFi, hence this live blog post, is in itself cause for wild celebration here in the WiFi desert that is Sao Paulo. But the thing that really stands out is the style. Beautiful Argentine style.

Is it just because Argentina kept much stronger ties to Europe ? I remember on our recent trip to Buenos Aires being blown away by the quality and style in general. Yet when I visited BA many years ago, direct from London, I don't remember being so impressed.

Conclusion: too long in style-and-quality-challenged Brazil tends to make you go a bit giddy when certain living standards are reinstated.

By the way, the tea is a wide range of exotic concoctions but I find the fruit-infused water - subtle, refreshing and low in added sugar - even tastier.