Brazil, nós te amamos

After some beach time, we headed to the main cities in Brazil:  Salvador, then Rio, then Sao Paolo.  We arrived in Salvador late.   As a testament to how friendly the Brazilians are, a lawyer we met on the plane offered to give us a ride to our place.  It was super nice of her and her husband, and we were especially grateful because the neighborhood we were in was a bit sketchy.   Salvador overall is a bit rough, we definitely felt that we had to be alert at all times.  We did have a nice two days exploring the city by bus, going downtown and seeing the historic district, which was still decked out from Carnaval (Brazilian’s second largest celebration!), and going up the coast to a beautiful beach called Flamingo Beach.

Fruit stands in Salvador

Museum of Catholic art in Salvador – really cool stuff, and beautiful building

Old colonial architecture in Salvador

The elevator in Salvador that connects two parts of downtown together – ride is less than 20 cents!

Buildings in downtown Salvador

Main plaza in colonial old town, Salvador

Jen enjoying Brazilian coffee

Old town Salvador decked-up from Carnaval

Old town Salvador decked-up from Carnaval

San Francisco Church, one of the most famous in Salvador

Old town Salvador decked-up from Carnaval

Old town Salvador decked-up from Carnaval

Old town Salvador decked-up from Carnaval

Gorgeous Flamengo beach just outside of Salvador, near the hotel where we were staying

Flamengo beach, Salvador. Jen actually took this picture, realized afterwards she captured the traditional women’s Brazilian beach attire 🙂

Cool reflections and light at Flamengo beach, Salvador

Rio was absolutely a highlight of our entire trip.  The natural setting of mountains, peaks, and ocean with a major city built all in-between is stunning.   Gregarious and fun loving Brazilian culture is the icing on the cake.  Although we were careful of our safety, we never felt unsafe and had no issues in Rio.  The first couple days we enjoyed hanging out in our neighborhood and on the stunning beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.   One day we went on a city tour to see the top sites (Christ the Redeemer, Saint Teresa and Lapa neighborhoods, the Metropolitan Cathedral, and Sugarloaf Mountain).   Our last day we explored the Centro, a few museums and the National Theater.  We had to sample the raucous salsa clubs in Rio, and they did not disappoint.   We capped off our stay at a Brazilian steakhouse with an incredible view on a peninsula in the Flamengo neighborhood.    We had so much delicious meat we needed a few days vegetarian days to recover.

Pic on Ipanema beach the morning we first arrived in Rio – it was a bit hazy…

Out on the Ipanema peninsula

Panorama of Ipanema beach in Rio

Botanic gardens in RIo

Botanic gardens in Rio

Monkeys playing around and eating bamboo in the Rio Botanical gardens

View across the lagoon in Rio

Christ the Redeemer as we approached

Christ the Redeemer up-close

View from Christ the Redeemer

View from Christ the Redeemer

Selaron’s stairs in Lapa, near Santa Teresa, cool art neighborhood in the hills of Rio

Posing at the top of Selaron’s stairs

The Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio – our guide explained the architect wanted to make it ugly on the outside, because “it’s what’s on the inside that counts”

The inside of The Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio was beautiful

View from Sugarloaf, looking across the bay into the Flamengo neighborhood

Monkeys playing around Sugarloaf Mountain

Sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain with Christ the Redeemer silhouette

Sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain

Sunset from Sugarloaf Mountain

Looking back at Sugarloaf Mountain at sunset

Lapa Arches – this area is so fun to go out in!

Samba club in Lapa – we had a blast

Enjoying sun at Copacabana beach

USA vs Brazil pro beach volleyball on Copacabana beach – Brazil was leading the series of matches over the 3-day period. It was really fun to watch.

Copacabana at sunset

Kids playing football on Copacabana – always see this on the Brazil beaches

Famous club in Rio in Lapa – The Rio Scenarium

Ipanema beach

Ipanema beach

Ipanema beach

Yum! Acai, berries from the Brazilian amazon. Juice bars, this one just for Acai, are delicious and all over

Old colonial buildings in Centro Rio

National Theater in downtown Rio

Kandinsky (Jen was originally an art major and he’s one of her favorites) exhibition at the Cultural Center in Rio

View from Porcau, a famous Brazilian steakhouse we went to for our last dinner in Rio

Our last few days we spent in Sao Paolo, enjoying the last of Jon’s Marriott points.   We only had one full day there.   We took the bus and metro into the city to see some of the main plazas and museums.  Sao Paulo is the largest city in South America; we heard the term “monster” thrown around more than a few times.

Cool art museum in Sao Paulo – the building was really cool, one of the oldest in Sao Paulo and beautifully restored

Old historic train station in Sao Paulo, nicely restored

Pool at the Marriott in Sao Paulo – our last of the Brazilian sun!

Brazil was one of our favorites, but it was time to move on to the last leg of our trip in Colombia.