Ipanema Beach — amazing even on a cold, cloudy day!

Rio blew me away.  I was excited to go to Brazil, but I didn’t really care if we visited the big city.  While I’m a big fan of the movie City of God, it, as well as articles and documentaries about street kids, favelas and drug gangs, made me think the city would be an overcrowded, filthy quagmire of pick pockets and violence.

It shines despite all that.

And, while we were warned by locals to watch our valuables and not stray into the bad areas (which we decided wasn’t meant for us to see), crime did not come our way.  Vendors and passersby were fun, polite and busy with their own lives.

Rio is, by far, one of the most beautiful cities I have ever had the luck to visit.

OMG that view!

We spent two days in Rio, so there’s plenty we didn’t get to see.  We did get in some highlights:  Ipanema Beach, drove by Copacabana beach, Christ the Redeemer, a colorful tiled stairway, and Sugarloaf — plus a few cafe restaurants.

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I loved all of the street art.  I could spend a day just walking the streets to admire all of the urban paintings.

On our last night in Brazil we took the cable car to the tippy top of Sugar Loaf and sipped bevies to toast our time here and just sip and stare at its glory.  We will be back to tour this land again.  Next time we’d also like to see more of other parts of the country.  Until then Saude, Brasil!