Daily Life in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

A Less Painful Airport Experience

When Canadoca and I left Canada, we flew out of Vancouver. Wow, that airport tax sure is paying off, the place looks like a museum - beautiful display cases everywhere. It's all brand new, shiny, nice, you almost want your flight to be delayed. I must wonder how good old GIG will look by the time 2016 rolls around (although hardcore reno's are already underway).

Anyway the Vanouver airport has a spa in the area I was in, which I think is a fantastic idea. People with money and time on their hands, typically wanting to arrive at their destination looking good. It's a great time to get nails done, assuming you have enough time for nails to dry before handling luggage of course. Didn't have time for a wax before your trip? No problem. A massage on a layover would be nice. Another service offered - SLEEP SUITE! So smart...

Now if only more airports would offer this concept, plus healthy fresh food options, traveling would be less painful.

Lots to do...

My to do list is long these days, as is the list of things to do in and around Rio this weekend. Two high profile picks:

• Oi Fashion Rocks Rio. The event features a performance by Mariah Carey, and a show by Calvin Klein, who apparently spends a lot of time here in RIo. At the Jockey Club.
• If you want to then escape the city, the Buzios food festival is on this weekend as well. So many great spots in Buzios to eat, so this is sure to be stellar.

Speaking of Travel...

Still on the road here...

I will be posting detailed travel reviews of our trip and all of our many destinations when I get back, but in the meantime can I just say how much I love Tripadvisor, and the New York Times' travel section of its site and Globorati?

We ended up booking our trip fairly quickly and used just these sites for information, and every recommendation has been awesome. Restaurants, hotels, you name it. I will definitely be paying it forward by writing detailed reviews on Tripadvisor to benefit other travelers.

Tripadvisor is not always very complete/accurate for travel within Brazil as the number of posts are limited especially for not as well known destinations, so be sure to post about your favorites and not so favorites! For other destinations in South America it seems to be used a lot more, and is therefore much more useful.

Kayaking in the Amazon: Part II

Part II of an entry about our friends' kayaking trip in Amazonas in July.

We slept in hammocks and fell asleep each night and woke up each morning to the sounds of the Jungle.




The Urubu river is a black water river. Because of the acidic water mosquitoes were not a problem (I think I got one bite the entire time), but this also meant that the animal and plant life was not as diverse as on the Amazon river.  We were lucky to spot three different types of monkeys, a pig, snakes, frogs, lizards, a multitude of birds, and catch a piranha.  
 



 

The entire experience was magical- we would really recommend the adventure!

http://www.amazon-outdoor.com/textos.php?MENU=Home

My Houston Recommendations

Flying through Houston on a regular basis, I have come up with a few recommendations to pass on:

1) The Hotel Granduca - located close to the Galleria Shopping Centre and is just generally a beautiful property. We stayed there in February, here are some photos of our room.

 

2) In the Houston airport there is this place called the Real Food Company - great stuff, wireless internet - loved it. Hard to find decent airport food usually....

New on Ipanema

An internet kiosk on the beach!

Up the Hill - Aprizavel in Santa Teresa

As I've mentioned several times, we love to go to Aprizavel in Santa Teresa. It's truly fantastic.

Here are some photos of the food & decor...

After many times at Aprizavel, we finally got to eat in a tree house!

The food is Brazilian fusion, the views are divine... go!

Around the web - travel in Brazil

Since becoming Canadoca's mom I have neglected reading a lot of the blogs I normally enjoy. Which means I haven't been passing some of the interesting stuff I find on to you. So here are a few (and some are not so new but that's why!) interesting articles and tips on travelling around Brazil.

Great posts from "Brazil for Insiders" - including:

• Pre Catalan in Rio - Sofitel - which I also recently visited and quite enjoyed. 
• A Tiradentes weekend - great looking pousadas.
• A review of Conde Nast's top beaches in Brazil - and why it might be off-base. Here is a more complete list on the same site. 
• This post is a must for anyone heading to Salvador, Bahia, as is this one from The Moment blog.

From the "Gringo Times"

• Hiking in Rio - fantastic way to see some of Rio's sights in an active manner!
• Some coverage of Trinidade - a little beach community near Paraty that we visited with my inlaws back in November. 
• Or, for a weekend in Rio, check out Markets in Rio in case you are sticking around here... or head to Santa Teresa for the weekend (something I am actually tempted to do on a regular basis since there are so many amazing hotels and dinner spots there!)

From Ben in Rio:

• I don't know where this is but that waterfall waterslide looks like so much fun! 

From Expat American Living in Brazil:

• Pantanal via Train

Finally, with all these great destinations we need some cheap flights! Apparently Brazil's airline industry is going through some deregulation.

South America West - our fall vacation.

Has anyone done a chilean cruise? If so, recommendations? Warnings? Anyone done Machu Piccu recently and might have some recommendations? We are thinking of going in the fall to do both with Canadoca - any travel tips with kids/hotel/tour recommendations appreciated!

My Guestbook - Part 11 - The Finale - Recommendations for Other Visitors

The final question of the survey: Any recommendations or words of wisdom for future guests?

My Bridesmaid & her Boyfriend: Oh this is simple.....GO TO RIO!

My Mother-in-law: Perhaps to learn a few extra Portuguese words to help with their travels.Thank you so very much, Mr. DRL, DRL, and our grandbaby, for a wonderful holiday!

Engaged Couple Friends: Try to avoid the Citibank bank machines - we paid a fortune there - they convert your withdrawal into USD first and then into Canadian. We did better at HSBC and even at a bank machine we had never heard of before in Buzios. And, buy stronger sunscreen then you would normally use. I don't know if its the closeness to the equator, but we burned way more than we do somewhere like Mexico, on a comparably hot day.

My Dad: Take some time to review the language, simple words/sentences.  Bring along a dictionary and sunscreen.  Make sure you do your share and more as the parents to be will need the extra sleep.  Can you believe how much company they are having????  Crazyyyyyyyyyyy!!

My Guestbook - Part 10 - PORTUGUESE

Part 10 of an 11-part series of questions I asked my guests after they visited Brazil.

Question 10: Which Portuguese words did you pick up while visiting Brazil?

Engaged Couple Friends: Please/thank you, "I don't speak Portuguese", and then food words, especially so we could order wine. The waiters thought it was funny that we knew how to say red wine.

My Dad:  The first two words two words my brother and I learned were obrigado (thank you) and desculpe (excuse me).  Typical Canadians eh.  What other nationality would do that.  Oh yeah, almost forgot, the third word we learned was cerveja (beer)  You really don't need  to know much more.....

(DRL's note: on pretty much a weekly basis I get a voicemail from my dad "practicing his Portuguese". The message consists of him saying "Oi, obgrigada, desculpe" over and over again in a booming voice. I always know who it is.)

My Guestbook - Part 9 - What Did You Learn?

Part 9 of a series I am doing based on a survey I asked my guests to respond to after visiting Brazil.

Question 9: What, if anything, did you learn from your trip?

My Mom: Too many things to mention!

My Mother-in-law: Always an appreciation for Canada after seeing the poverty in other countries.

Engaged Couple Friends: We learned about another culture and way of life, both for the rich and poor. And, we learned about the struggles of being a foreigner trying to make a life in a new country and learn a new language. It certainly gives you a new respect and understanding for anyone who has moved to a new country, including Canada. Mr. DRL and DRL are doing a great job and have accomplished an amazing amount in a short time.

My Dad: How great we have it in Canada, although Brazil is a beautiful country.  Be careful while in Brazil.  Safety in numbers and don't drink too much if you're out as you may need your wit's in event of trouble. Have a game plan as it's too late if you get into a situation and haven't. "Muito policias" lots of police  around, but not sure if they do anything and didn't want to find out given the rumors of corruption....................

My Guestbook - Part 7 - Would You Come Back?

Part 7 of a series of questions I asked my guests after they left Brazil.
Question 7: Do you plan to return? And if so, what would you like to do in Brazil next time?

My Mom: I am booking for June, (DRL comment: mom has already been back since the survey was made!) will spend lots of time holding the baby, will go to Sugarloaf.

My Bridesmaid & her Boyfriend: We would like to return, but it all depends on timing and the thousand other vacations we would like to take in the next couple of years!

If we came back, we'd like to see Paraty, Iguazu Falls in Argentina and MORE SUN!!  Haha, we just had bad luck.  Apparently it was nice before and after we were there!

My Mother-in-law: Would be nice... We would love to see the heritage buildings in Salvadore, the Amazon River, there are semi-plans to meet at Machu Picu in Peru....who of your readers will grant us an unlimited supply of funds, please?

Engaged Couple Friends: There are lots of amazing-sounding places we'd love to see in Brazil, and the rest of South America . . . I'm sure by the time we hear about the rest of the DRLS' visitors' trips, we'll be wanting to go back to do everything they did!

My Dad: Would love to go back and take (my partner) this time, otherwise I'm sure Uncle will be game again....

My Guestbook - Part 5 - The FOOD!

Part 5 of a series of how my many visitors answered questions to a little "survey" I gave them after their trips to Brazil.

Question 5:

Did you enjoy the food in Brazil?

My Mom: The food was amazing, heavier, and more rich, great desserts.

My Bridesmaid & Her Boyfriend: Um YES.  We absolutely loved it.  Porcao was sooo good and both Thai restaurants were awesome.  Fresh fruit smoothies were to be found on every corner too...so tasty.  We also really liked the place in Leblon or Ipanema that DRL took us to for lunch on our second day (when we went shopping - DRL's note: Via Sete). And Koni (a place that just sells sushi cones... so good)!

My Mother-in-law: What's not to enjoy.  Even the buffets at the hotel in Argentina were good.

Engaged Couple Friends: Yes!!!! The fresh fruit was such a treat, and there was tons of seafood and fish. The Brazilian BBQ was very good and really fun. And, I would kill for an agua de coco in Calgary!!

My Dad: Enjoyed the beef, seafood and sushi.  Believe it or not had a great feed of spaghetti, too, but don't tell my Italian wife.

My Guestbook - Part 4 - All about the Brazilians

Question 4 on the DRL visitor survey: What was your impression of the Brazilian people?

My Mom:  I found the Brazilian people friendly and cooperative with the communication barrier, they like to talk to you whether you could understand them or not.

My Bridesmaid & Her Boyfriend: I found some to be very friendly and really try to communicate with us even with the language barrier, but others didn't want to even try to understand us.  We had really nice cab drivers the whole time though! That was a relief.

My Mother-in-law: Certainly noticed the difference in driving habits between the hired drivers and taxi drivers!  And now that Mr. DRL drives like a Brazilian, new shocks are needed for his vehicle!  Something to do with flying off speed bumps....

Engaged Couple Friends: It was hard to get an impression, because of the language difference. They certainly don't go out of their way to communicate with you. It really is true that they have absolutely no self-consciousness when it comes to their beach-wear! That speaks a little to the overall bravado of the people. But, the people in the stores and the vendors on the beach for the most part weren't pushy, while I had expected they would be for some reason.

My Dad: I feel sorry for the poor, lots of poverty.  They were not overly courteous on the streets, cutting you off, etc.

My Guestbook - Part 3 - Let's Talk Safety

Part III of a series on how my guests responded to a little survey I gave them after their time in Brazil...

The third question in the survey:

Did you feel nervous or afraid for your safety at all? If so, in what situations?

My Mom: I was probably the most nervous and hot:) when we were walking in Lapa and trying to find the steps.

[DRL's note: I try to make my tours of Centro & area "authentic"... meaning that I take different routes every time and without fail I lose my way for a short period of time each time.  You know, as though my guests were wandering it on their own! This time, it was really hot and we walked from the cathedral to the steps in Lapa, after a taxi driver told us it was too close to drive us... I don't think we took the most "express' route and it took about 40 minutes in scorching heat. My mom has since told me that she does NOT want her grandchild going there (we passed some sketchiness on the way!)].

My Bridesmaid & her Boyfriend: For the most part we felt pretty safe.  We just kept our wits about us and if something didn't feel right, we just went the other way.  There were only a couple of times that I felt a little threatened.  One being on the last day...it was an overcast day so hardly anybody was at the beach and 2 very young girls started following us.  I saw them and turned around to face them and pointed right through them saying "look at the waves" and they hesitated and then took off.

My Mother-in-law: Not so much, certainly due to the forewarning (didn't wear jewellry) and organization of DRL on our expeditions.  Without the Portuguese expertise of Mr. DRL and DRL, I think we may have felt more nervous.

Engaged Couple Friends: No, we didn't (except for that one crazy cab driver who pulled out to the oncoming lane to pass some cars!). Our tour guides definitely steered us straight!We were certainly aware of the danger though, and very thankful that we weren't staying in hotels in Rio or relying on public transportation and maps to figure out our own way. Thanks guys! You made this trip so much easier! We have been spoiled for our next trip.

My Dad:  A bit uncomfortable in Buzios in the wee hours when walking back to our accommodation.   Encountered a group of 10 guys walking towards us and made a quick 180 and ran like hell once we were around the corner. Would not have been out like that in Rio.  Also both of us had our credit cards compromised which was surprising since mine had the new microchip technology.   My brother and I stuck out like a sore thumb....whitest guys in town and definitely looked like tourists...

Great Lunch Spot!

The other day, after a long walk through Jardim Botanico, a group of us went for lunch here: Da Graca

Here, R$15 gets you a fantastic lunch - delicious grilled chicken, fish or filet mignon with salad, potatoes, rice and beans and it was fantastic. GO!

Babymoon part II

I had promised to write up my stay in Florianopolis/Santa Caterina awhile back, finally I am getting to it!

First of all, I would just like to say that if you have a week to do a sidetrip from Rio, I highly recommend this Buenos Aires/Florianopolis combo that we did. We felt as though we'd "travelled" ie) explored a new city, and "vacationed" - relaxing in Floripa, all in one week.  A full week of doing either would be "too much" in my opinion, so this was fantastic.

I was a bit confused when we started booking our trip - were we going to Florianopolis, Santa Caterina, or Floripa? All three... SC is the state, Florianopolis is the main city on the island, Floripa is the nickname. I had at some point made notes to visit all three - recommended by different people - so it was nice to kill three birds with one stone ;)

We flew into Florianopolis at night, and really did not experience any of the city as we immediately headed out to our Pousada. It was about a R$100 cab ride from the airport.  In hindsight, renting a car from the airport would have been a better option for us, but I will get to that later...

We stayed at the Pousada da Vigia on the north end of the island.  We were absolutely THRILLED with the service we received there, and with our accomodations. They were sooo great. Even let me order off the kids menu :)

In our room.

We enjoyed our resort SO MUCH. It was small, just 10 rooms, a governor's mansion converted into a hotel. Below is the view from our room.

The restaurant was overlooking the ocean and we enjoyed all of our dinners there listening to chill music (a lot of Sade) and the crash of the waves.   How could you help but relax?

We spent many afternoons on this patio (above) listening to the waves, reading, playing scrabble, enjoying lunch...

The water was so peaceful, clear and calm - great for floating.

Each day at 12:30, the peace and tranquility of Lagoinha beach, where we were staying, was temporarily disrupted by "the pirate boat" - which we figured was either inhabited by 

a) the severely, permanently intoxicated or 

b) actual pirates threatening passengers to "walk the plank" if they didn't keep up with their dance moves, or 

c) a hypnotist show. 

Either way, those pirates had everyone moving!

 On Saturday we decided to venture out and do a scuba/snorkel tour of Arvoredo Island,  a nature reserve located off the north coast of the island of Santa Caterina.  Obviously Mr. DRL did the diving, I stuck to snorkeling.  I was a bit nervous about him diving as it had been 2 years since his last dive but was very relieved when one of the dive masters spoke perfect English.  All he really needed was a 5 minute refresher but as we often say, there are certain things where you can't afford to have misunderstandings with language barriers! It was muito tranquilo.

The boat ride out to the island was about an hour.

After the scuba trip we spent some time "in town" at Canasvieiras beach, but quickly realized we were not missing much back at our isolated little spot... but enjoyed lunch there nevertheless.

It seemed we parked right in front of the beach's "geriatric" ward... looked around for the senior's center but couldn't see it:
  A storm seemed to be rolling in but it blew over quickly. Made for some great shots though!

After lunch, we embarked on another adventure that is deserving of another separate blog post. I am not yet sure how that story ends though as I am still dealing with some of the repurcussions today, so I will save it (nothing too bad just a company we were dealing with, etc.). I don't want to ruin the tranquility of this post so I will keep it separate.

We enjoyed every moment in Florianopolis, we realize we did not see much of what the island is all about, being up in our little isolated corner, but for our purposes we didn't mind. We read, spent time together, named our baby, walked the beach, swam, ate, and soaked up every moment. It was the most relaxing few days we'd had in quite a while!

My Guestbook - Part 2 - The Differences Between Canada & Brazil

The perceptions of my guests...

Which differences between Canada & Brazil surprised you the most?

My Mom: The difference I found surprising was the restaurants and kiosks, everywhere, food, food, food, and the beauty of the city of Rio is number 1.

My Bridesmaid & Her Boyfriend: Shopping is sooo difficult there!  Nothing has prices on it already, so you have to constantly ask 'how much' on every single item.  Then when you go to ring it in, it takes like 20 minutes and you have no idea why!  I commend DRL for all the furniture shopping and appliances she bought because apparently it take 6 hours to ring in a refrigerator!

My Mother-in-law: We had researched before coming down, so had been prepared for the favelas and sheer size of Rio.  The difference in the store types really does show how difficult it was for Mr. DRL & DRL to set up in a new country.  They have done an amazing job and we are really impressed with their Portuguese!  A little surprised perhaps that there wasn't more English on the streets...

Engaged Couple Friends: We loved the tropical vegetation and beautiful country side (not that Canada's not beautiful - just different). The flowers everywhere were amazing. It was also strange to see the number of people employed in the restaurants and shops - there were always twice or three times as many people as there would be at home. Big population, low labour costs.

My Dad: Drivers are crazy here, "muito louco".

My Guestbook - Part 1 - The Highlights of the Trips to Brazil

As you may recall, I had about 5 months straight of visitors (from September to the end of Jan, almost inclusive).  Visitors ranged from good family friends (a father-daughter combo), my dad & his brother, engaged friends of ours, my mother in law and her husband, one of my bridesmaids and her boyfriend, my mom and sister, my girlfriend and her husband and two small children (2 yrs old & 7 months). I think I'm remembering everyone...

We gave them all a short "survey" to complete after their trip, which has become a bit of a guestbook of sorts. I thought I'd start sharing their responses with you as you must be getting tired of just my perspective ;)

Our guests all had slightly different trips, did slightly different things and of course had different priorities and experiences.

Question 1: What were the highlights of your trip?

My mom: Definitely the best New Years ever, meeting all the friends, and every day was a highlight, just walking down the streets was an experience.

My bridesmaid & her boyfriend: We loved Buzios!  Driving around in the 'Buggy' (pronounced "boogy") was so much fun.  Make sure you put the top on at night though because if the rain comes you may have to sit in a pool of water to drive back to your hotel....or ride standing up while holding on to the windshield like I did.

Other highlights....definitely the Lagoa Christmas Tree Lighting (beautiful views and the best damn caiprhina's ever...my boyfriend had to cut me off because they were pure alcohol and fresh fruit and I could only taste the fruit after a while); Centro & Santa Teresa Tour run guided by the lovely DRL; favela tour and last but not least, the three sunny days we had on the beach!

My mother-in-law: What else!  The big news and being with our kids (all 3 of
them).  Iguazu Falls were out of this world so we do recommend the trip
to any of your other company. With the timing being spring run-off, the
volume was no doubt the best of the whole year!  The beaches at Paraty
and Prainha were wonderful with the boat trip being a highlight.  Having
the beach a block away from the apartment for all our walks was
certainly not hard to take. We loved just having the time to spend
making dinners with DRL and salsa with Mr. DRL. Hugs are much better
than Skype! (DRL's note: we were able to first share the news of our pregnancy with her when she arrived).

Engaged Couple Friends: Buzios was amazing - one of the most beautiful places we've ever seen. We also really enjoyed the futebol game, walking the beaches with Mr. DRL and DRL, and, really, pretty much everything, including an evening of Rock Band at home!

My Dad:
1. Finding out my daughter and my son-in-law are going to be parents.  You know what that makes me.  Giddy-up!!
2.  Spending time with my daughter and my son-in-law.
3.  Spending time with my brother, who came with me.
4.  Visiting Corcovado, Sugarloaf Mountain and Buzios.

Where to go for HELP?

HELP Discoteca is a famous "landmark" on Copacabana beach.  Here is the web site.  I've often heard it referred to as the biggest brothel in South America.

It's right along Avenida Atlantica in Copacabana, across from where the outdoor market sets up nightly. Most of the female "clientele" consists of prostitutes and transvestite prostitutes. The male clientele consists of 1) men looking for this type of thing and 2) men who are gullible. I did a quick internet search while looking for the web site, and came across some hilarious travel reviews from men who didn't clue in to the club's actual setup 'the chicks were all over me!' haha... yeah you the man.

Anyway, word on the street is that Help Discoteca is closing its doors, and that the building will become a music museum.

Obviously there are positives to a place referred to as the biggest brothel in South America being shut down. However, there are also negatives.

Such as... displaced sex trade workers. Where will they go? Where will the work? On the streets? This does not seem like a positive thing to me.

Yoga Retreat, Anyone?

My yoga teacher is putting on a yoga retreat here in Rio, the weekend of Friday May 22 - 24th.

Here is the writeup:
Retreat Yourself to the ecological surroundings of Guaratiba to unite your mind, body and spirit through the fluid movements of Ashtanga yoga, harmonizing reflexology, relaxing massage, calming meditations, insightful healing circles and delicious freshly prepared vegetarian food.

For full details on the retreat, visit www.retreatyourself.net

Luiz Salvador

I swear you could wander Ipanema every day for a year and still find little hidden gems you hadn't noticed before. There are endless Galleria's which are basically malls, and sidestreets of stores.

Last week, after some lunch with friends, we went to Luiz Salvador (R. Redentor & Maria Quitera in Ipanema). I'd heard of the factory near Petropolis, but did not know there was a location in the city.

Being that I did not "send a shipment" down to Brazil like most expats, it honestly made me homesick! I got married just 6 months before moving to Brazil, and didn't even get much of a chance to use all my pretty plates and stuff (I love to cook and entertain so the idea of using it all does make me excited).

 

I took a ton of photos of the store... and could have taken more. I highly recommend stopping in if you are in RIo!
Above: the garden area out back.
I loved these little crab plate/containers.
They also had beautiful Easter displays.
 

There is so much beautiful stuff to choose from... I will definitely have to take a few pieces home to add to my collection!

Final Thoughts on BA

I will restart the vacation coverage soon with some photos and details on our time in Floripa.
Until then, some final thoughts on BA.

Next time, I would stay somewhere different. Which is just sort of what I like to do when I visit destinations over again. While we liked staying in Soho Palermo because of the quiet and proximity to numerous restaurants, etc. I think I would like to stay at the Marriott Plaza near General San Martin Plaza next time. Or rent an apartment in Recoleta if we were going for longer.

I would be more careful with money next time as well - meaning that we were passed some counterfeit change by a cab driver at one point. In this instance, I would try to use as close to exact change if possible. Good thing that the exchange rate is in our favour...

I would probably do ANOTHER tango show. It was so spectacular.

I would go to some museums that we did not have time to hit.

And finally, since I will likely a) not be pregnant and b) know if my babe is a boy or a girl, I will shop my little heart out!

I Heart B.A. part 4

I loved the architecture of Buenos Aires. The city is beautiful and pretty much everything that is beautiful about it is man-made or designed -  parks, monuments and buildings.

Some examples:
 
A University

 
have you ever seen such a nice Burger King? Seriously...

 

San Martin square

Recoleta Cemetery - Buenos Aires Continues.

The Recoleta Cemetery is the final resting place of many of Argentina's elite (presidents, writers, scientists, the wealthy, etc.)

As I mentioned, I recommend going on a Sunday as there are many vendors set up outside.

Inside the cemetary there are a wide variety of mausoleums - mostly granite and marble, some more elaborate than others, some better maintained than others...

Here is one of the most famous graves in the cemetery: that of Eva (Evita) Peron.  It is said to be extremely secure - after her body was famously hidden by the military who took over, and she was moved to be buried in Europe for several years.  She is reportedly buried in the under chamber of the mausoleum under three plates of steel.

After all these years many people still honor her with flowers.

Creepy personal aside/fact: On August 31, 1997 I was over at my dad and stepmom's house for dinner and we watched a movie afterwards - Evita.  I had previously watched it at the theatre and loved it so much I bought the soundtrack so I was thoroughly irritating everyone with my singing along.  When we watched the funeral scene, I said: "I bet this is what it would be like if Princess Diana died."

A couple hours later after I returned home, my dad called me and told me to turn on the news...

Eek!

Some other interesting graves:

I Heart B.A. part 2

After our night out at the tango show, we got up the next day (Sunday morning) and headed over to Recoleta, to tour the famous cemetery and check out the vendors set up nearby.  We enjoyed breakfast at La Biela, great spot.

After breakfast we headed into the vendor area where many treasures were to be found, such as:

Tasty healthy snacks:

And toys for the boys... well my boy anyway!  There was a woman selling handmade incredible marionette's there and Mr. DRL had to have one.  I couldn't really blame him though! It is quite incredible.

After finishing our shopping we ran into a CANADIAN fellow who came up to us to ask for help with the bank machine... pretty funny. There are an unbelievable amount of tourists in Buenos Aires, it seemed as though we heard more English than Spanish! After chatting with him for a few minutes, we headed into the church beside Recoleta Cemetary.

Just gorgeous

and some of it, more than a little creepy!
 
I'll do a separate post on the cemetary soon.

I Heart B.A. part 1

Back to the Babymoon/vacation!

For the first half of our trip, we had 4 fantastic nights in Buenos Aires.
I'll share our adventures with you over the next few days.

As a sidenote, Argentina has always been VERY high on my list of places to visit. I visited Iguacu in September but I've been itching to get to Buenos Aires for a long time. We were advised by many to do so before the baby comes as then we'd have the opportunity to experience some TANGO.  Which we did, on our first night (see below).

We stayed at the Torrecillas Soho in Soho Palermo. It's a very small little boutique hotel. The service was fantastic, there is a front desk clerk named Serjio (who goes by "Chucky") there who provided us with a wealth of information and help, he is truly a gem!  The place was not fancy but it is very new, modern and had great ammenities (little kitchenettes, etc.).  Soho Palermo is a good place to stay because cabs are cheap in BA so you can get around to the attractions easily during the day, and then come back to a quiet neighbourhood at night that is full of restaurants and nightlife, within walking distance.

As I mentioned, on our first night we headed to Madero Tango (located at the end of the Porto Madero). Includes dinner and a bottle of wine per couple, with different seating options which each come with their own price. It was fantastic, the singing, the dancing, the costumes... nothing disappointed. I highly recommend it.

For a few minutes before the show started however, there was a bit of an emergency - an old man sitting right behind us collapsed, and his family started screaming, before we knew it there was a group of who seemed to be military paramedics rushing in.  It was intense. He made it, thank goodness but the entire place just came to a halt for a little while. Scary! Also good to know how fast help is available.

I wrote down my first impressions of Buenos Aires upon arriving... I'll share some of my scattered thoughts with you...

• Upon arrival, you are not just urged to go into the duty free store, you are forced to cut through it on your way to the baggage claim.  Duty free is an expat's dream as there are many things unavailable elsewhere there.  Dangerous!
• Petrobras is in Argentina (stations).
• Tranquilo ie) lack of horns constantly honking unnecessarily.
• More on traffic: cars actually give one another a few meters worth of space while driving!
• Available at the grocery store: Chocolate Covered Raisins, Pretzels & Oreos! (Things I don't see in Rio...)
• 12 lane one way street... wow.
• Gorgeous architecture and ornate monuments.
• Fantastic green space and parks.
• Cafe culture evident everywhere.
• Sooooo many tourists. I swear we heard more English spoken than Spanish!
• Mini-mullets on the men.  I'm just sayin...
• Presence of many retail stores we'd see back home but not in Rio, and some of them not even anywhere in Brazil, such as Christian Dior, Ralph Lauren, Armani, Harrods used to be there, Calvin Klein Underwear, Hush Puppies, etc...

More Ways to Get Here!

Options are a good thing, methinks...

US Airways is poised to start service between Philadephia and Rio de Janeiro this fall.

Continental has tentative approval to resume its direct service between Rio and Houston, this time it would be daily and year-round. Link here. Potentially starting this summer.

Dengue Fever in Brazil

Just as a sidenote, most of my guests who have visited travel doctors back home were advised to get Yellow Fever vaccinations to visit Rio, something that is NOT actually required!

It's Dengue season again - Expat American Living in Brazil has a travel alert/update on the situation - check it out here.

Luckily Rio is not yet affected.  Thank goodness for me because pregnant women's oxygen-rich blood is apparently a magnet for mosquitoes!

Bikers, Beware

Sadly, I must inform you of two incidents that happened to friends of mine in the past week.

One friend was riding her new bike (which may have made her a target) in the morning along the beach in Leblon. She stopped to cross the street, and a fellow came up to her and tried to grab her bike away.  She resisted a bit, and a couple who were walking nearby also came to her aid, they scared the guy off.

Another friend was riding her bike at 9:30 in the morning along the Lagoa, when a man sitting on a park bench jumped up suddenly, and stole her bike, knocking her to the ground. She was shaken up but not injured, thank goodness.

In both cases I am very glad that it was not worse, obviously, but it is still sad that this has happened. I will be much more careful on my bike... not that these women weren't being careful! I don't really think that there is anything they could have done to prevent these incidents, besides staying at home, and that's no fun.

So bikers, be aware!

As an aside, it seems as though many incidents in this area that I have been hearing of, have been happening around 9:30 in the morning, a time of day when I probably feel safest (and obviously shouldn't!).

DIY Travel and Brazilian sales tactics...

As I mentioned in a recent post, I was quite irritated by the "service" I received from a local travel agent. I was trying to book a multi-destination trip (babymoon) for us, and enlisted his help, which ended up being a fairly pointless endeavor. Why?

In the end, he quoted me US $6,266 for a trip that is sub-par to what I just booked myself for US $2,490.  Ummmm yeah that is a US $3,776 difference, not to mention the waste of time in even dealing with him!

Let it also be known that my booking includes very nice hotels in prime areas. His didn't. Unbelievable.

As an aside - I got a smoking good deal on our multidestination flight with TAM, even better than what was quoted to me on Kayak.com. All I did was phone TAM and book it that way. Just FYI.

It sometimes seems to me as though "sales people" be it travel agents, real estate agents, retail shop girls, etc. take a very different approach to their job than what I am used to back home. Sales tactics back home: listen to the customer and find out their needs, then recommend products.  Here I don't see much regard for what I as a customer want.  If I don't know what I want, that's one thing.   But here are some examples of such situations I have found irritating over the past year:

• The travel agent mentioned above - instead of looking into any of the 10 or so small, private, spa-like boutique hotels we requested and had already researched and provide us with rates, took it upon himself to only give us one rate - and choose a huge chain hotel for us. In other words, the exact opposite of what we were looking for. When I asked why, he said because it was not as far from the airport as the hotels we'd chosen.  We were well aware of this fact when we requested the hotels - rather than simply asking us, he simply assumed.  And paid no attention whatsoever to the type and calibre of hotels we had originally requested.
• While looking for an apartment, the real estate agent takes us to apartment after apartment with neither outside space/veranda nor view (we specifically requested that we wanted at least one or the other).  When after several places like this I finally commented on this to him, he looked at me incredulously and said "but this place is great, it has 4 parking spaces."  I informed him that we did not have a car.
• While shopping for appliances there was an attempt to talk me into buying a refrigerator I did not want, with features I found useless...
• Anytime I go into a clothing store, hideous clothing items are offered to me that are completely opposite of what I am looking at/wearing.  Like I am talking lime green sports bras, and oh my favorite! Crop tops.  I am in my third trimester, folks...

I don't find that a lot of sales people take the time to read the customer, do the homework, or anticipate needs. It honestly feels like they are just trying to get rid of whatever inventory is getting old, whichever hotel rooms offer the highest commission for them, etc... but maybe I am wrong!

Can anyone comment on how sales people are trained here in Brazil?  What are some of the fundamentals?  How do they differ from North America?  Are there some philosophies?

Nothing like getting ripped off....

So my husband and I would like to take a quick trip before the baby is born. You know, a babymoon! We have two destinations in mind, so it's a multidestination flight, which I had a bit of trouble booking online as the airline I'd like to use does not make this easy.  No problem, I'll ask for help.

I enlisted the help of a travel agent, gave him our proposed dates and destinations, even a few flight numbers I'd found.  Specifics on hotels we liked, and which areas we'd like to stay at each destination.

He sent me back an email that stated that he had found cheaper flights than I had (but did not include pricing), reversed the order in which we'd visit each destination (when the order we'd asked for was quite deliberate - it is a more tour-y destination followed by a RELAX destination) and proceeded to tell me that a hotel for the first leg of the trip - which by the way does not quite fit the spec's I'd sent him - would cost us over US$4,000 (for 4 nights).  This seemed EXTREMELY high for the place we are going, so I did a quick online search, found the hotel's website, and checked the rates & availability for those dates.  My price was a little different: under US$800 (for 4 nights).  Even in the hotel's most executive suite, we would only be paying US$1,500 for those nights. Ummmmm... what???

Then, for the other destination, where we provided a long list of potential hotels and pousadas, all very intimate and private, some with just 4 rooms, spa-like, he provides us with one price quote (again, very high) for a gigantic resort that was not on the list. The resort has absolutely nothing in common with any of the places we'd chosen.... again - what???

Something is very fishy...

Saaiiiiling

We had pretty much the perfect day yesterday - went sailing to Itaipu (sp?) with friends.... just loved it. I mentioned recently that we'd found a service for those wanting to go sailing in Rio de Janeiro  - I highly highly recommend seeing Rio by boat if you are coming down, it gives you a different perspective, money very well spent - we were out for almost 7 hours!

We stopped in Itaipu to have lunch and swim - the cool, clean, calm water felt incredibly good....

Fort outside of Niteroi
Looking back towards Rio from Itaipu
Love it.
Our neighbourhood & one of the brothers & Pedra de Gavea from the water.
A bit of a different vista of the Cristo on Corcovado mountain.

City lights at night... 

Parque Lage write-up

Here is a cute little write-up on one of my favorite spots in the city of Rio de Janeiro, Parque Lage! Check it out here...
 

On Travelling to Brazil

Canadian site Canoe.com published a report on some of Brazil's hot spots such as Santa Catarina (...where I think we are now going on our "baby moon" after a stop in Buenos Aires), Salvador, etc. Check it out here!

In airlines news...
US Airways wants to start flying to Brazil - check it out here.  They currently do not fly to any South American destinations.  We like more options. Options are good.

No word on whether Continental has gotten the green flag to extend its direct Rio-Houston/Houston-Rio route it currently operates a couple of days per week.  It really does make a huge difference in my opinion, not having to stop in Sao Paulo.  They would like to extend it, beginning June 1.

Speaking of Continental, in December my husband was flying through Houston, when a snowstorm hit, then was sitting on a plane for more than 4 hours befire the flight was finally cancelled... lovely!  Here's some redemption - Continental now has a new policy that allows passengers to get off a plane that has been grounded for more than 3 hours...  Still not a great situation but then at least you have an alternative!

Anyway!
If you are looking for some smoking deals to get yourself down to Brazil, there are many to be had... check out Kayak.com.  My alert this morning gave me the following deals (flights to Rio):

Like from ...

Miami: $673+     Feb 22 - Mar 25
Toronto: $833+   Mar 15 - 21
London: $724+   Feb 23 - Mar 16
Seattle: $838+   Mar 31 - Apr 14
NYC:     $755+    Apr 7 - 14
Houston $785     Deals to be had in March, April, May & June
LA:        $724+    Mar 14 - 28
Vancouver: $763+   Deals to be had in Feb, March & April
Calgary: $767+    Mar 7 - 18 - Deals in April as well!

Splendid Splendia

I've been using this site Splendia to find hotel rooms for my guests and for myself over Christmas. It features unique, boutique style "Luxury and Character hotels" from all over the world and is a central bookings system.  The rates are also quite good!!!!

What I like best about it is that the site only uses a selection of pre-screened hotels, and it allows you to enter in your dates and where you'd like to go and then it shows you what is available.

A word of warning : if you are booking in a hurry, skip the destinations that only allow you to send an "inquiry" to the hotel rather than ones which allow you to book immediately.  In my experience this saves you a lot of run around.

There are a good selection of hotels in Rio & Buzios on the site - check it out!  I highly recommend booking this way for people who don't speak Portuguese as it is possible to do it all in English.

Plataforma

Every group of my visitors luckily does something slightly different. It keeps me sane! One group and I went to the show at Plataforma one night...

The guidebooks I've seen all feature Plataforma in them, don't really recommend it and call it a tourist trap, but fail to recommend an alternate place where you can see the same variety of Brazilian dancing.

I agree with the guidebooks on the point that it is a bit pricey -$130 per ticket- and also admittedly a bit cheesy, but being that I don't personally know of another show where one can take in an evening of samba, capoeira, fantastic carnival costumes and bahian dancing, I would still recommend it to someone who is looking for an evening of Brazilian entertainment.  But maybe suggesting alternatives is something my readers can help me out with?

I did not eat there (they have a churrascaria) but have been told by Brazilians that it is very good.

The costumes...
Our male guest commented that he had paid more to see a lot less in Vegas!  (In the T&A department). In fact, one of the costumes the girls wore featured a bra sort of thing that only really covered the nipples (with little, pink round sparkly pieces)...

The best part of the show in my opinion was the Capoeira (below). The demo was very impressive.

This pic is pretty blurry but shows one of the many amazing carnival costumes which are part of the grand finale. 

The funniest part of the night? A toss-up between this guy who did an act with a whip sort of thing that was so macho and needed his ego fed so badly that he really spurred on the crowd (in a funny, fantastic, amusing, entertaining way!), and the part where they try to get some audience interaction by surveying the crowd on which country they were from, then invited each well-represented country to come up and do a little song and dance.  The night we were there the people from France and Puerto Rico were especially entertaining.  A big group of French people got up and did sort of a big congo/can-can number while the representative from Puerto Rico was an older gentleman who was obviously quite intoxicated and got up, grabbed the mic and sang a long song.  Oh and by the way, we were not totally sure he was actually from Puerto Rico because we had already noticed him earlier when he kept putting his hand up for pretty much every single surveyed question (of which country we were all from)...  It was great. I loved the audience interaction part because it reminded us how many different countries were all being represented in the same room rather than just being "the audience"... pretty cool.

Plataforma is in Leblon, Rua Adalberto Ferreira, 32  Tel: 2274.4022

Weird Weather

I feel terrible for a reader who emailed me a couple of weeks ago because they were heading to Rio and the forecast called for nothing but rain and everytime they had checked it in the past few days it had said it was constant rain in Rio (which at the time, was not the case). I emailed them back and confidently said I doubted that it could possibly rain the whole time they were in Rio.

But I think it did.

As you know I have had company from Canada for the past 6 weeks straight in addition to 2 sets of visitors each here for 10 days or more a few weeks before that.  This last group has had terrible weather with the exception of today (so far so good!), Monday and Tuesday.

I must say this though: the international weather reports and forecasts seem like they are off. Before one group came down they'd been checking the weather in Rio online and it was claiming a high temperature of 23 Celsius which was far from the truth (at the time 27 - 28 would have been more accurate).

Advice for visitors (this is what I always tell my own): you never know with the weather here and frequently a beautiful morning does not last the day, and ends at noon. Just as a cloudy morning can clear for a gorgeous afternoon and sunset. So get your beach time in when you can and find things to do when it socks in with clouds.  Plus: go and do the "views" (Sugarloaf, Corcovado, Vista Chinesa) at your first opportunity because you just never know...

Ripped off in Rio

Being that I have had guests for pretty much the past 6 weeks straight (plus another 2 weeks before that!) I am really getting a taste of what it's like to be a tourist in Rio again. Most of it's fantastic, but some of it is definitely not pretty.

To make a huge, potentially unfair, sweeping generalization, many Brazilians seem to fail to see the big picture. As in: they are more concerned with winning the battle than the war.

What do I mean by this? Well many seem more concerned with getting their R$5 extra out of unsuspecting tourists than building a reputation on which they could garner more traction for their business. I will give a few examples.

• At Pao do Acucar - As I was leaving in a cab with my dad & uncle, I realized the cabbie (who had been oh so eager to get us in his car) hadn't turned on the meter, and I alerted him to this. Oh no, he says, it's a flat rate to Leblon, R$35.  Well that's funny, I said, as we just came from there and it was a $R22 cab ride. Turn your meter on. He refused and insisted on the fare. Realize that by this time I want to jump out of the cab but we are a few blocks from Sugarloaf by this point and it's dark and we have two very expensive cameras on us (not to mention that as my dad often put it - he and my uncle were "the whitest guys on the beach" - obvious gringoes). I was totally infuriated! Don't these people realize that tourists are their bread & butter? I have had similar experiences with ridiculous taxi rates at the Sofitel in Copacabana - never, never, never catch a cab there!!!!
• At the suco & salgado place (juice & snack) around the corner from my place, I sent my gringo friends down to get themselves a snack, they came back annoyed as after trying two pastels, they were charged for three after the guy insisted they'd had three... guess where I won't be sending people anymore. 
• This one takes the cake... last night before the lagoa lighting party my girlfriend from Canada & I visited the neighbourhood salon to have our very curly hair blown out. I told the girls at the front what we each wanted as my friend was arriving slightly after me, and proceeded to take my appointment. When it came time to pay, hers was significantly more expensive them mine (and I'd had my nails done too!), I'm talking to the tune of $R100 more expensive. I asked why and the girl at the front - who I'd spoken with at the beginning showed me on the screen that my friend had gotten a "deep conditioning treatment" along with her blow-out. I had been warned about these at salons before. I said she hadn't ordered/asked for this and asked for it to be taken off the bill. The stylist was called over and the receptionist bawled her out, saying that of course she should not have been doing this when my friend clearly did not speak a lick of Portuguese... so we were not charged for it, and the receptionist apologized profusely, so I will go back there, but will warn my guests ahead of time!

In so many instances, I see Rio depicted in the international media as a scary place where tourists are robbed and taken advantage of. With the internet being one of the main sources of travel information and word spreading more quickly than ever about where to go and to avoid, I wish that people in the industry here would realize this and be less concerned with the quick buck and more concerned with Rio's overall reputation and not ripping off tourists - because then there would be more of them, and more to go around.  I realize a lot of this stems from genuine desperation to feed families, etc. which is heartbreaking but I still don't like to see people get ripped off when they come here and I take it really personally when I am the one who has invited them here/recommended a place, etc.

GPS in RIo

I strongly urge people to be careful if driving in Rio and relying on GPS. Ever seen the episode of the Office where Michael drives into a lake because the GPS tells him to? Well, let's just say you could get yourself into a lot more trouble than that in Rio.

Recently, three Norwegian men had their GPS set to "quickest route" on their way back to Rio from Buzios, the GPS led them into a favela, and their car was shot at, the driver was wounded but luckily survived.  The incident is being blamed on a faulty GPS system but I think it probably genuinely did show them the "fastest route"... not that it was a safe one!

Incidentally I know some people who were making the drive to Buzios and accidentally had their GPS set to "no tolls" so it directed them to go all the way around the bay rather than taking the Niteroi bridge. They quickly realized this and saved themselves several hours of travel in the process! (The toll is definitely worth it!!)

To All of Those...

...Who find me by looking for a place to rent a cell phone in Rio: try presscell.com apparently they will even deliver to your hotel. Maybe I should have tried this option, huh?

...Who were on my blog because they were hunting for a place to have Thanksgiving dinner in Rio - I tried checking out a few places for you, but no luck.  There are turkeys at Sendas in the frozen food section, hopefully your hotels have ovens? Yeah, maybe not...

...Who find me by looking for places to go for live music in Rio - how the heck did you end up here? Try this link to Gringo-Rio's site where you will find a great listing (which is what I use when I want to know the same thing).

...Who arrive here because they have googled "hot brazilian bunda" or bunda of the day or hot brazilian girl... best of luck to you, best of luck.

...Who keep checking my blog just to find out what the heck my announcement is? Sorry, you will have to wait a few more days (December 1st!) but I like that it keeps you coming back!

 

What Our Visitors Buy

What do our visitors typically buy as souvenirs/mementos/additions to their wardrobes/gifts for friends and family, while in Brazil? This post could also be titled "good buys in Brazil"...

1) The number one item, hands down, would be Havaianas. Everybody buys them. I spend a lot of time frantically texting and emailing people back home for their shoe sizes while standing in Centro with my guests while they shop and try to figure out their girlfriends/wives/daughter in laws'/sister's/brother's shoe sizes.
We have had visitors leave with more than 25 pairs. Below are the acquisition of a recent Casa DRL guest...
What's the big draw for Havaiana's here? Well they are quite a bit cheaper than back home. For plain jane Havaiana's in Canada you generally pay $20-$25.  Here, the plain jane ones are $R10 in Centro (which is about $6.50 Canadian). There are much "fancier" designs available here, as you can see, and besides people love to say that they were purchased in Brazil!

2) Shoes & Purses. As I may have mentioned before, shoes in Brazil are, in my opinion, are a great price for excellent quality shoes.  Wide variety of styles and colors, very funky and unique styles. Although I don't have photos of shoes my visitors bought (as in the case of the Havaiana's, above), here are a bunch I've purchased in Brazil. Yes, I realize these photos are already on the blog in different places.

3) Swimwear
Biquini's & Sungas... gotta do it. With a lot of the styles at places like BlueMan, they are easily enough worn back home as well. Here is a selection of swimwear I've purchased in Brazil...

4) Jewellery
Be it handmade wooden jewellery, strands of beads, cascading earrings with semiprecious stones (there is an amazing kiosk in the Ipanema 2000 "mall" on V. de. Piraja in Ipanema with tons of beautiful sets of these), or some serious bling from Amsterdam Sauer or H. Stern, Brazil is a fantastic place to buy amazing, unique jewellery!

5) Clothing
Everyone asks me about the clothing shopping here and to be honest, I find it hit-and-miss. If you are looking for something specific, forget it! But if you come here with an open mind and don't need anything per se, clothing shoppping in Rio can be a lot of fun.  Items I don't recommend buying: for women - bras (weird weird sizing...) and business clothes (generally of pretty poor quality - but men's are much better).

6) Coasters
Seems silly & simple but there are some beautiful stone coasters here - like little works of art in fact- we started buying them for hostess gifts for friends & family back home when my husband started working down here, they come in a wide array of colors and are just gorgeous and very unique.

7) Art
The Hippie Fair & Copacabana Art Markets (are there other regular ones we should be frequenting? Let me know!) make some great sales thanks to our guests - art is incredibly unique and cheap here in Brazil.  Most mounted canvases can be removed and rolled up (you just have it re-stretched and mounted upon returning home).

8) Books
After trying to capture as much of this fantastically picturesque city, many of us have not quite admitted defeat but enlisted the help of a coffee table/photo book to remind of the bluer than blue skies and mountains that emerge straight out of the ocean. Also a popular read with our guests: How to Be a Carioca.

9) Cachaca!
Enough said.

10) Funky cooking stuff
Like this beautiful limestone and copper fondue pot (they also have pizza stones - Santa Teresa shops) or a wooden mortar and pestle set for making caiprhinhas with the cachaca you already bought...

I would also like to divulge that guests purchased 12 sparkly wigs, 12 pairs of light-up sunglasses a six pack of Guarana, and two pirate hats. But I am not saying who's who...

Iguazu: The Views from the Brazilian Side

To fully appreciate the falls, I think it's essential to see them from both sides of the border.  The views are quite different. 

As you can see, the views are quite different from the Brazilian side, and eventually you get to a point where you are standing virtually underneath the falls.

Iguazu: Duty Free & the Peso

I must also mention how far a dollar goes in Argentina.  For what we paid for two amazing dinners and two great lunches, we paid the same for one average dinner while back in Brazil.

We also visited the duty free store... accoLegally we were each allowed to bring one case of wine or alcohol back into Brazil.  We paid 40 Argentinian pesos per bottle of Luigi Bosco wine (which costs about 65 - 70 Reals here).  So it cost us about a third (and we bought a case).  We also bought a case of hard alcohol - and paid an average of $11 US per bottle (most of them 40's).  Nice!

The Duty Free shop in Puerto Iguazu is really something else... it has electronics, clothing, sports items, sunglasses, home accessories, perfume, and of course alcohol and food. It is gigantic, pretty much the size of a shopping mall.  There is even a large fountain outside. Oh and the security guards ride around on these ridiculously funny little scooter things.

The end result? 

The liquor cabinet is now stocked for our visitors, to say the least. 

Iguazu: People & Views

We met some very friendly people while visiting the falls. A lovely Canadian family living in Santiago, some very nice Argentinian students - teenage boys who were as polite as could be and wanted to practice their English skills with the foreigners!  When on the Argentinian side, a group of rambunctious Brazilians stole the show (and irritated a lot of people...) on the train by screaming and laughing as though they were all on some sort of er... substance.  A lot of glaring from old ladies was going on.

We were impressed by the infrastructure, particularly on the Argentinian side. There are amazing walkways, a train to take you around the park, and even separate containers for recycling (!) ... I know!

Then back on the Brazilian side, on the double decker buses, the crowds are doing their best to sway the buses and rock them... oh and to scream as loud as possible at all times. Oh, gotta love Brazil!

The views on the Brazilian side are to die for, and I would say slightly better and more impressive than the Argentinian side, however to be fair I think to fully appreciate the falls it is essential to see both sides.

Iguazu: Hotels

We recently visited Foz do Iguazu - both the Argentinian and Brazilian sides - as we needed to get our Visa issues straightened out (yay we are now legal!) and enjoyed some days of R&R.

Although it's a bit out of the way I highly recommend for everyone to visit Foz during their time in Brazil.  It is amazingly beautiful.  It is about three times the size of Niagara falls. These are the 2nd largest falls in the world.

I would recommend staying at the Sheraton on the Argentinian side if possible. There, you have a view of the falls and although the hotel is nothing to look at from the outside, the inside is very nice.  The spa comes highly recommended.  However, it was fully booked up with a conference of some sort so we stayed in the town of Puerto Iguazu at the Panoramic Hotel Iguazu and were thoroughly impressed. Great beds, new rooms, beautiful view (where we enjoyed a fantastic thunderstorm, amazing lightning!), attentive service, nice property. The restaurants were excellent and the pool area fantastic.  I was incredibly relaxed there. I even had a nap.  Which I never, ever do. For more amenities, such as tennis, etc. the Panoramic has a sister hotel: The Iguazu Grand Hotel, located closer to the Brazilian border.

Back on the Brazilian side we also stayed at the Mabu Thermas Resort, which we did not enjoy as much. However it would be a good choice for families as it has a ton of activities, activities staff and a large pool and pond area.  But do not pay attention to the photos on the web site, no, in fact you cannot see the falls from the hotel! But someone at the company sure is handy with photoshop.

Here are some photos from our stay at the Panoramic Iguazu:

The River view of Argentina, Paraguay & Brazil.

The pool.

Speaking of Activities...

Something my dad has asked about doing (he plans to visit next month) is going FISHING in Rio.  On the way home, Continental's in-flight magazine featured a piece about fishing in Rio - did you know that there is a great "fish to angler" ratio here and more than 200 species of fish? The article mentioned this web site, of a local guide: waderson.com which has boat tours for fishing, etc.

Things to do in Rio

So I am trying to get all of my visitors prepared to visit Rio.  I mean, it's overwhelming, really.  I feel as though I will be better prepared to show them a good time if I know what they would like to get out of this trip, you know?  And to give myself a head's up if they want things like tickets for events, etc...

So I've devised a list just off the top of my head of sights to see and things to do, ways to spend an afternoon, a meal, or a day in Rio... check it out and add in the comments section all the obvious things I've missed, please!

• Ipanema & Copacabana beaches
• Corcovado/Sugar Loaf/Vista Chinese
• Biquini or Sunga Shopping (we know where you can get custom sungas, folks!)
• Copacabana fair/art market
• Feira Hippie
• Futebol game at Maracana - tours of Maracana
• Cachaca tastings
• Helicopter city tours
• Bike ride around the Lagoa
• Santa Teresa Bonde ride & lunch
• Shopping in Ipanema
• Samba lessons
• Fishing
• Boating (ocean)
• Paddle boating on the swans in the lagoa
• Arpoador photos session at sunset
• H. Stern Museum & Store
• Surfing
• Kite surfing
• Scuba diving
• Snorkelling
• Centro - tour historical buildings, markets, cathedral, reading room, lunch at Colombo, etc.
• Centre Cultural in Centro - Dancing
• Weekend excursion in either Angra, Ilha Grande, Paraty, Buzios or Cabo Friio
• Longer excursions to: Buenos Aires, the Amazon, Foz de Iguacu, Salvador, Bahia.
• Golfing in Gavea
• Dancing in Lapa
• Prainha beach for a day
• Barra da Tijuca beach
• Hiking Pedro de Gavea
• Niteroi Zoo
• Favela tour
• Tijuca forest hike
• Jardim Botanico & Parque Lage
• Petropolis - Imperial museum & Locanda della Mimosa for dinner & overnight, Itaipava
• Hang gliding
• Marius or Porcao Churrascaria for dinner
• An afternoon at the club
• Massage at the beach
• Yoga

Safety Warning

I have been meaning to mention all week as well that last weekend there was an article in the paper mentioning that people should take extra precautions when in the Lagoa area/not run or walk alone there.  I am not sure if this is related to any specific incident or group of incidents but figured it was worth mentioning!