Our Adventure in Brazil: Rio de Janeiro: 1 of 2

After living in Brazil for a year and half, we finally made it to the famed Rio de Janeiro. We stayed in the "cidade maravilhosa" (marvelous city) for the first two weeks of December and now love Brazil even more. It's hard to say how Rio compares with Florianopolis, but here's our quick take:

Rio vs. Florianopolis

Language: Of course both cities speak Portuguese, but walking around Rio, you actually hear a lot of English. In Florianopolis, this would be like seeing a red head or someone Asian. Rare.

Beaches: Both cities have a pedestrian trail that separates the downtown hustle-bustle from the ocean. Both are constantly filled with bikers, runners, roller-bladers, etc., and the ratio of spandex-induced camel toes and scary-precancer skin moles seems to be about the same. However, in Rio, there's the famous beaches (Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon) and in Florianopolis, it's just water-front, as the beaches for recreation are elsewhere on the island and not downtown.

City: Rio is much more cosmopolitan and diverse than Florianopolis, but it is also much bigger and more crime plagued (incidentally, we didn't have any problems). Both have striking natural beauty, e.g., large mountains with pristine beaches and blue ocean at the base. And Rio, of course, has Sugarloaf and Christ the Redeemer.

Trip Highlights: hang gliding, Jesus, Geoff's 35th birthday, staying with fellow Olmsted-ers/Air Force friends (see Rio de Janeiro: 2 of 2)

Leo's first plane ride!

We're here and we've finally mastered packing light. No, no we didn't.

Girl from Ipanema. (Via Missouri.)

Geoff, fellow Olmsteder Mark and I all went hang gliding.
We were taken to the launch site via dune buggy. On the freeway.
However, this built confidence. After we didn't die on our way
to the mountain, I felt like we were off to a good start.

This is Mark and his instructor, running off the ramp about to be airborne.
(I closed my eyes for this part when it was my turn.)

Me being fitted in my harness. My instructor told me he understood I was
nervous and that I was not just another flight number to him. That's nice, but I did
clarify with him that I wasn't, in fact, number one.

Me taking flight. It was incredible.

Geoff mid-air. We flew above the city,
near the mountains, over the ocean and landed on the beach.

The cable cars at Sugarloaf mountain, where you can see all of Rio.

Little monkeys live at the Sugarloaf cable car stations,
where they dance to distract the tourists and then steal their wallets and jewelry.

The girls at the cable car station swarmed around Leo.

Later in the week, Geoff climbed Sugarloaf with a guide.

This is pretty much how I'll remember our side trip to
Petropolis, a mountain town near Rio. It rained. A lot.

Browsing through local art, clothes, toys, etc. at
Rio's Hippie Market. (This is its actual name, I'm not just being judgmental.)

Salmon burgers, fries and milkshakes.
Definitely summer although it's December.

Our Brazilian baby, patiently waiting for sideburns.

Curls for the girls.

Totem pole.

Graffiti art on a t-shirt.

Christ the Redeemer: The statue stands 90 feet tall and
overlooks the entire city. It's a 20-minute train ride to the top
of the mountain to the statue's base.