Deborah Leipziger
February 2025
Today we are meeting my parents in Ibirapuera Park, a gorgeous oasis inside São Paulo, with palm trees, orchids, and bromelias. The café Tres Corações is a gem, located right inside the Park. All kinds of coffees are available, both iced and hot. Iced coffee is still somewhat of a new concept here. There are even drinks for dogs, including a non-alcoholic beer.
This breakfast feels like a celebration, as we toast my mother’s new book: Julia de Paraty, about the mother of Thomas Mann and Heinrich Mann. Writing a book at any age is a major accomplishment, but at 82, it is even more amazing.
My Father is a Rabbi and we are also celebrating the new year of the trees, the holiday of Tu’bishvat.
On this Sunday morning the Café is packed and we enjoy seeing the joggers and their dogs. The Café is located right next to the dog park. Andy orders an iced coffee with chocolate and pão de queijo. This one is the best cheese bread we have had yet. (Check out Andy’s take here.)
The trees surrounding us a truly majestic. Under their shade we enjoy fruit salad with mango, kiwi, strawberry, and melon. Andy tries his first pão na chapa, which is bread grilled with butter.
We walk along part of a nature trail with my parents, passing stunning buildings designed by the famous architect Oscar Niemeyer. Our destination is the Museu Afro Brasil, the Afro Brazilian Museum, which is extraordinary. The Museum traces the history of Afro Brazil to the African continent and goes back to Ancient Egypt. I marvel at the False Door of the Tomb of Ptahshepses. Through this door, the living could send offerings to the dead ruler.
The section on Africa focuses on objects of power, including scepters and crowns. There are two examples of crowns made of thousands of pink feathers. These symbols of power are then adapted to the African diaspora in Brazil.
In the top floor of the Museum is one of the most shocking and unforgettable items I have ever seen in any Museum: a boat that transported slaves from Africa. The boat’s wooden beams make shadows on the wall. We learn that the kidnapped people were unable to stand up for the voyage. I leave the Museum shaken but also with a deep desire to return and to learn more.
