Wow, this is quite the country. Rio de Janeiro is amazing. Abject squalor followed by incredible opulence. Most of the city is even more beautiful than the books and websites make it out to be. They are proud of the coming World Cup and the Olympics and I, for one, hope they make a good job of it.
People here are incredibly laid back about things and very friendly. They try very hard, especially in the restaurants and hotels. The beach is amazing and the water isn't too cold although I haven't been in yet, but I will. The weather is absolutely phenomemenal for winter (85F and sunny).
Now the hotel we have is on the beach, but not on any of those fancy ones near town. We're down south closer to the plant (I am here for work after all). Traffic is the one downside to a city this big that is full of mountains. There are lots of people going every which direction all the time. We spent a good half hour only going two miles this morning for no apparent reason. Having said all that drivers are incredibly patient. People cut each other off all the time and do mildly crazy things but in general the only horns you hear are to warn someone of a close call or a little reminder that you are there. What would get a Canadian driver worked up and swearing a blue streak (not to mention flying the middle finger) is just business as usual here. In the US you would get shot at for driving like they do here.
The food is pretty good too. I thought heaven would have a few French restaurants and a seafood place in it but I am convinced they also have lots of Brazilian restaurants too. Brazilian for those of you who don't know is a mix of Portuguese and Native American, with some European and Asian thrown in for good measure. It also has a strong African influence to it. Anyway, the meat here is incredible. American beef is pretty good but the local stuff here is fantastic. We went to one of many steak houses where they serve it Brazilian style. Think of every cut of meat you could ever want (and some you wouldn't, like cheese infused flank steak) and they had it on a skewer, cooked to perfection, and walking around as a server was offering it up. The green and red coaster which is supposed to show if you want more or not seems to be irrelevant, you get offers either way. The salad bar was a combination of the best 20 salad bars I have ever been to, including sushi, and to top it all off they had a good selection of fish. The service was also very good as people pushed in your chair and wisked away your plate every time you got up.
Anyway, here are some pics to round out this hastily put together post. More later.
The view from Sugarloaf Mountain.
Ipanema Beach as we drove into the city.
The beach and little hummock out in front of our hotel.
The view from my room this morning as the sun rose over the mountains.
1 comment:
My gosh you are one lucky duck! Enjoy!
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