Now let’s talk a little about the resourcefulness of the Thai people. For four straight years we would spend two weeks on what is known as PhiPhi Island (see above), which became famous after the horrible Tsunami of 2006. We always rented the same beachfront bungalow that sat right on the beach a short walk away from the restaurant. Every morning, as we finished breakfast, we would walk back to our bungalow and sit on the front porch and write postcards, do some reading or catch a snooze. That was always around 10 AM in the morning. The year of Tsunami, we were scheduled into our regular bungalow exactly ten days after the tidal wave hit. It struck the island at approximately 10:15 AM. Yup, we would have been right there and as we found out later, the inhabitants of our bungalow, as all the bungalows along the beach were swept away and either confirmed dead or are still listed as missing. When we went back to the island to visit with surviving friends and to view the devastation, the only thing left of our bungalow was ONE cement block that had been part of the front porch. Everything else was completely gone. Over 50% of the island inhabitants were killed, and that included both tourists and locals. The Scandinavian countries alone lost over 3,000 citizens as it was a very popular destination for them. On a very flat island, especially when everyone is thinking of fun things leaves very little time or places to run to for safety. The remarkable thing we found after this tragedy was how the Thai’s took the horrible hand dealt to them. We were there roughly 2 weeks after the catastrophe and with all their losses, both material and personal, they stood up straight, said to themselves “ok, we have had our mourning period, but now it is time to get back to work and start again” and they did just that. No waiting for handouts, no one being sent in to help them, just themselves their neighbors, and a few small groups of foreign volunteers, getting together to help each other, and starting with the first boards and nails they could find. The loss of hundreds of traditional Thai Long Tail Boats was catastrophic, as these are very labor intensive to build and a major source of income for many of them. They are a work of art, and costing over $20,000 American dollars to build one, they are a prized possession for those fortunate enough to have owned one. While we were there, we found ourselves going out into the village to buy supplies, and instead of going to one store as we usually would, we would make a stop at almost every little shop and buy two cans of soda here, two bottles of beer there, some cookies here, some candy there, we even found ourselves buying some things we didn’t even need just to help them out. The looks on their faces of pure gratitude was unforgettable. Each time we did this, it cost so little but the returns to ujs were so high. They had so much to complain about, but we never heard anyone complaining. It was a memorable visit, and we will deeply miss what the island once represented and the people we knew and cared about, laughed with and talked with, that were not spared.
So, that’s about it. We have tried to cover everything that we felt was important, but like in any writing I am sure that once I finish, I will remember even more things I would have liked to put into this blog. However there is just so much you can reasonably expect people to read, and I hope I knew when to stop. Thailand is just so much more than simple words can convey, and if you decide to go you will also find the magic that this country and its people possess. I miss it already and even though it is unlikely for us to return there again, I am still holding out hope, that things may allow us once again to explore its cities, enjoy its people, and find the peace that it brings over me. “Pope gunn mai” or in English till next time, or see you later.

              Unlike the last 6 years, this year we decided not to take another around the world journey, and concentrate on a single country, with a minimum of stopovers. Number 1, it is a lot easier and number 2 it affords you a much greater opportunity to truly discover the “real” place you are visiting. In all our travels, we had yet to head south, and visit South America. As there are many wonderful countries to see, it was hard to decide which one. Probably the one that generates the most interest with visions of beach life, beautiful scenery, attitude, fun and what the media has built up to be the world’s mecca of beautiful, exotic and scantily clad women is Brazil, primarily Rio De Janeiro. Yup, we settled on that and made the necessary flight arrangements and studied the internet to find two bases of operations, one for two weeks in Rio itself, and another outside Rio. After a long and sometimes frustrating search, we decided to see and taste Brazilian life for two weeks in a small fishing village that the Brazilians now call the St. Tropez of Brazil, Buzios. This little town approximately 120 miles north of Rio was “discovered” by the French actress Brigitte Bardot, when she visited it with her then Brazilian boyfriend in the 1960’s. What once was a very sleepy little fishing village now is a booming tourist destination. We found a wonderful 2 bedroom apartment in the Leblon section of Rio, just a couple blocks from the beach and an absolutely fantastic Pousada (Hotel) called the Pousada Beach Hibiscus Hotel in Buzios.  We set out to gather as much information as we could on various elements of our planned visit such as some useful phrases in the local language of Portuguese, types of transportation available, restaurant and food types, local clothing habits etc. You always try to kid yourself into thinking if you plan hard enough prior to your arrival, you won’t have “TOURIST” stamped on your forehead when you arrive. Don’t kid yourself, it ain’t ever gonna happen! We were as ready as we were going to be, and anxiously looked forward to our departure.

                Departure day came and we had a comfortable uneventful flight to Rio, and envisioned all the wonders we would find there, during our 9 hour flight from Washington DC. We arrived in the early morning, and were greeted by a light rain and cooler than average temps. We had arranged for a private pickup, and as we would later find out, this was a wise choice. Buzios is about a 2 1/2 hour drive from the airport, along a mostly modern highway, and with the rain, it didn’t afford much of scenic drive, so as I can never get a good sleep on the plane, I caught a few zzzz’s on the way to Buzios. Upon approaching Buzios the scenery and area was kind of dismal, and my wife and I kept giving each other those “where the hell is this place” and “this place couldn’t be here” looks. We found the approach to Buzios very unexciting to say the least, as it goes through a lot of little sections of the area, overflowing with everyday Brazilian life, with no fancy shops, beaches or anything touristy. Buzios is actually a decent sized peninsula, similar I would say to what we call townships, with all the beautiful little beaches (there are actually 23 of them) down both unmarked or poorly marked small roads, and the now famous city center towards the end of the peninsula. We finally got to an intersection, turned left and started seeing what all the buildup was about. A beautiful narrow street along the waterfront, a city center that is all cobble stoned and loaded with little cafes and shops and dozens of Pousada’s, big ones, small ones, expensive ones and less expensive ones.  We got to ours and found a charming small resort, built into a hillside with 12 very comfortable looking bungalows.  We checked in with the owner’s wife and had our introduction to Brazil’s national drink called a Caipirinha, which consists of at least one to two whole limes, sugar and the rest a Brazilian version of sugar cane liquor called Cachaca. They are refreshing, and have a very subtle relaxing effect, no worries in no time.  One of the great benefits of this particular Pousada, which helped me decide on it in the first place, was that English was the spoken language.  We were to find out during the next four weeks, that this is something of a rarity and the instances of finding anyone or anyplace that speak English are very few and far between.  That fact is one of the few major negatives about Brazil.  We felt that once we got to the big city of Rio this problem would disappear, but we were dead wrong.  In fact, strange as it seems, more people (and the numbers were very small) actually spoke English in Buzios than did in Rio.  

               We were exhausted, and took a little break to recharge before heading off to the city center.  When we did we found it to be a wonderful walk of about 20 minutes, and that would bring you to the harbor side of the village.  The city center is about another 20 minutes further down the promenade.  Transportation is also available in small van type buses at anywhere along the route for the measly sum of $R 2 Reais (pronounced Raw-ice) The one we mostly rode actually started its roundtrip journey of the peninsula at the bottom of our Pousade street.  The City Center section is great and consists of 2 long cobble stoned streets that run parallel to one another.   Total length of each is probably around 300 meters and each is loaded with bars, restaurants, shops, ice cream shops, and yes even McDonald’s, which is one of the busiest spots in town.  It seems the locals love it, and each night we passed it, there was actually a queue of 30 or so people.  Quite expensive by our standards, as the $1 menu there is actually $2 and change.  Their “Big Mac” runs $R 12 which is about $6 and change.   The first major problem we had was finding money.   The one ATM that was findable and in the main square was not working most of the time we were there, and the one night it was, is programmed to only give a maximum of $R100 after 10 PM at night.   Here was the first of many times we would have traded our kingdom for someone to ask directions, but the lack of anyone speaking English took care of that,  and during our first couple of days,  a lot of exploring was required to find a bank with a ATM that did something other than make local deposits or withdrawals.    Finally located the 4 banks in town and two of them would not read my Visa card, so we were down to two.  The farthest one out of the City Center also gave you $R20’s instead of larger notes, and that was a definite plus.  Another exploration mission involved the traditional mailing of the stack of postcards that are a requirement of any notable trip.  You think “no problem” we’ll drop them in the mailbox, and then find a nice place to eat.  Wrong…….. no mailboxes.  In Buzios, the local Post Office (called Correios in Portuguese) is the only place to post mail.  Since almost no tourist material is available, and the local Chamber of Commerce or tourist information center is nonexistent, we were fortunate to have our wonderful night manager Alejandro at our Pousada find us a map and mark an X where the Correios was.  As with any small tourist map, they are dreadfully out of scale and after about five separate trips down the main drag where the map showed its location to be, we finally found it.  Next problem, it seems the folks there think nothing of waiting in line forever for anything and everything and simply take it in stride.  That visit to the Post Office took almost an hour in line for one dozen stamps.  The restaurants were great, the Caipirinha’s got stronger with each vendor, the number of bikini shops was mind boggling and the prices for the items were great,   very little money for very very little material.    Beaches were very nice, but very narrow and on weekends very very crowded.  A sea of umbrellas and chairs, with vendors traversing the beach with every conceivable commodity to sell, from raw oysters or shrimp kebobs, to ice cream to beer to Caipirinha’s (no restrictions of alcohol sales over here) woven blankets, sunglasses, corn on the cob, kangas (ladies wraps) soccer T-shirts of the two local Soccer teams (did I mention that soccer or football is a religion here, held almost above everything) jewelery, cashew nuts, bikinis, and probably a few other things I forgot to mention.  The other major form of amusement that is sort of a “must do” while in Buzios, is renting a Sand Buggy.  They are mostly old, have long ago seen the last of their shocks or muffler systems and ironically are NOT allowed on the Sand.  They are allowed on all the streets of Buzios and are a great way to do some serious exploring of the peninsula, since rental cars are very expensive.  Since the roads in Buzios are in very bad shape and offer an ample amount of serious potholes, most of which are  fully capable of swallowing any sand buggy,  (I think I mentioned the lack of shocks)  two or three days of this is more than enough.   Most have NO working turn signals, are very loud, no doors so one must hop in and out, and since all of them are stick shift, they offer an additional form of entertainment at any of the hilly intersections in town.  It seems being able to drive stick shift is a disappearing art form.  I do however guarantee a night long bouncing sensation after spending the day in one of these beauties.  Had some great meals at restaurants called David, Lorenzo’s and Parvati’s,  some great pizzas and one little ice cream shop in town called “Sorveteria Trento”  has probably some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever tasted.   You wash it all down with the almost required Caipirinha’s, which the first ones can be had gratis (and believe me you’ll have more than one) as the pousada’s offer little restaurant business cards that offer a complimentary one for eating at their establishment,   or one of the many decent Brazilian beers such as Skol, Bhrama or Itaipava which are all good.  The ones on draft or “chopp” as it is known locally are the best. 

            Another “must do” while in the area is to take one of the many tours offered that take you to the area of Cabo Frio and Ariele Cabo.  It is an all day affair and a real value.  They bus you down to Cabo Frio which takes about 45 minutes or so, than you transfer to a ship for about a 3 hour sail to Ariel Cabo, which offers some of the most magnificent pure WHITE sand beaches we have seen outside of Australia. It is the kind of sand that stays cool, even under the brilliant and very hot Brazilian sun.  They make 2 stops and let everyone swim or go into the beach.  At one, they actually have a “ski” board slope with snow boards for rent, so you can test your abilities at skiing down a pure white sand ski hill.   All the while, they offer snacks and drinks and of course some very good Caipirinhas.  They then take you to a very nice late lunch at a typical Brazilian BBQ restaurant, and then to a surprise shopping mall.  All during the trip, the guide kept repeating the days schedule and the last item always was that we could go shopping at the last stop, and maybe buy a bikini.  Well when we got to the mall,  it was hidden behind some local shops, and consisted of probably 100 or so shops,  where at least 90 of them sold bikinis………… that’s it    bikinis.   Most of them were what you might describe as rather skimpy, but then on the plus side, they left almost NO tan lines.  All this for around $35 US …… truly a real bargain.   So we were almost done with our two week adventure in Buzios, and it was now time to hit the big city. 

                 As I said earlier in this report, it was a wise decision to book the private car transfer, versus the big bus.  The big bus makes all kinds of stops at various hotels, the driver speaks no English, and if you are going anyplace other than the airport, how do you give or take directions.   Our driver was a nice guy named Marco, and although we were now tanned and doing our best to look like locals, he informed us that our foreheads almost had neon signs saying “tourist”.  Thankfully he spoke good English, and it turned out to be an informative and interesting 3 hour drive down to Rio.  As with any big city, as you approach it the air gets smellier, the traffic more congested, and a whole different world approaches. It took some doing, but our driver finally found our apartment, and as everything is gated and locked and security enabled, we were again fortunate to have the private driver who talked the talk.   The apartment was a wonderful surprise, as it was much bigger than the internet pictures showed it to be, and was very modern with all the necessities.  It had two separate balconies and even 2 ½ baths.  We were expecting our son and his wife to join us for a week, and this was going to be an ideal place to call home base.  As the next two weeks would again show, the one major drawback was once again the lack of anything English, from the guys at the security desk, to the instructions for the TV, etc.  The apartment was in an ideal location, about three blocks from Leblon beach, a huge 24 hour supermarket a half a block away, a taxi stand on the next corner, four or five restaurants within a hundred meters, a large local fruit and veggie market across the street and a school with screaming kids next to the market.  We have come to the conclusion that from a very very early age, Brazilian kids are taught the basics of screaming, whether that is to prepare them for getting attention in later life or getting ready to attend soccer matches I’m not sure,  but they are very good at it.   The apartment also had a magnificent view of the newly selected modern Wonder of the World, the Christ the Redeemer statue (or Corcovado as the locals call it) high atop the mountain overlooking Rio.  We started each day and ended each day gazing upon this wonderful and relaxing sight. The city itself is a big city.  It has an old section, has modern rapid transit, is very crowded, has a huge problem with poor to well off ratio,  has tons of restaurants, is very dirty away from the beach and has a diligent and very hard working street sweeping crew, that tries their best to barely stay ahead of the slobs, but fights the good fight. The Beaches are a different matter. They are magnificent.  The avenue that runs alongside the three major beaches, Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana is wide and offers a wonderful walkway, a bicycle lane and is closed to traffic on holidays and Sundays.  Refreshment kiosks every 100 meters or so, offer a little bit of everything consumable, from tasty local treats to fresh coconuts to cold beers and of course the mandatory Caipirinhas. (One little tip,  you must do some comparison shopping on these little beauties, as the prices run from $R7  on Leblon beach all the way down to $R4 at Copacabana beach.)  The beach life is active and the Rio people seem to dwell on fitness as you see everyone or so it seems,  jogging, power walking working out on the beach, and dozens of volleyball courts, where mostly they play by soccer rules, or in other words “no hands allowed”  it’s all played soccer style. It is awesome to watch. Another delightful way to spend time on the beach is to watch one of the many volleyball games being played by the ladies, sporting Brazilian thong bikinis.  It generates a brand new appreciation of the game. The beaches offer very soft sand, some very strong surf at Leblon and Ipanema, and a little gentler one at Copa. The beaches are filled with vendors, again as in Buzios selling everything and anything.   All along the beach, thriving little businesses under tents rent you the beach basics of chairs and umbrellas and even provide drink service for a very reasonable price.   At the end of the day, it is great entertainment to watch them close up shop and pack all their gear into VW buses.  I’m talking dozens of chairs, umbrellas, three or four large ice chests, tables, tents and tent poles etc.  It is all very well orchestrated and puts the buses so far over their legal weight limits its amazing.  Talking about VW buses, we have come to the conclusion that most of the entire worlds leftover VW bus population is located right here in Rio. They use them for everything from local buses, to vendor’s mobile warehouses.   

The “must see” tourist sites are few,  so that can be accomplished in a day or at the most two,  and that leaves a lot of time for exploring or just kicking back and enjoying the beautiful and relaxing Brazilian beach scene. No Nudity, no topless, and not near the number of itsy bitsy teensy weensy bikinis as the tour books lead you to believe.  Yeah the bikinis are a lot skimpier than in the States, but that just helps you relax and enjoy your beachside Caipirinhas more.  They are by no means self conscious of their bodies, as many of these little numbers are being worn by people who wouldn’t be caught dead in them back home.  But here………. No problem.  While here you MUST do the tourist thing and see the world famous Christ the Redeemer Statue,  take the ride up to Sugarloaf and treat yourself to a truly spectacular view of Rio and possibly see the old Aqueduct that is also quite impressive and offers a tram car ride across the top.  The shopping is not nearly what one expects, and outside of a few items, there isn’t much to entice you into the shops.  The old town market streets are great to explore with their narrow streets and hundreds of shops selling mostly stuff you have absolutely no use for.  If you didn’t get your bikinis in Buzios, there are a few shops that sell them here, at good prices, but not nearly the selection as in Buzios.   Then explore the subway, which is very good, very clean and very cheap.  Take a bus ride with the locals and be able to say you did, but if it interferes with anything else, skip it.  The restaurants along the beachfront a very few by Leblon or Ipanema, but offer a much bigger variety up at Copacabana.  One very good one we found, right across the street from the night markets in Copacabana was named Alcazar, and it served extremely good food, and the as most of them , the eating area is outside and the wait staff is very friendly but again non English speaking.  The Filet Stroganoff is excellent and the Spaghetti Marinara or Calibrisi were great. We stumbled into a large group of pimps and their “stables” one evening by accident at a local café, and it was great entertainment.  It seems a lot of African American gentleman have brought their pimping profession down south and set up shop in Rio.  Although I can’t say we sampled the night life or at least we didn’t see any to speak of while we were roaming about at all hours.  From what we understood however, there are plenty of Samba clubs around, we just couldn’t find any and certainly couldn’t ask anyone for directions. The one very large discotheque called “Help” which is located in the Copacabana section is said to house dozens of prostitutes, waiting for lonely looking tourists to sample their wares, and then do nasty things to.  Help also charges a $R35 cover charge, so have one more  reason to avoid it.  Another “must do” is to take in the Samba/Cultural show at the Plataforma night club, located in the Leblon section.   They also serve a great Brazilian BBQ dinner prior to the show which is truly fantastic. If it doesn’t totally entertain you, then you have no hope anyway. It’s a little pricey, but still a “must do”.  Eating out is an experience, as almost none of the eateries offer menus in English.   That can get a little frustrating, but quickly solved or at least helped, by learning the local lingo for the basic food groups you want, such as the word for chicken would be  “Frango”, or beef which is “Filet”, or fish or octopus or whatever, and get them down pat and then when you attack the menu, you’ll have a fair chance of getting what you think you ordered or at least close to it.  It is an adventure, so treat it as such.  Make it fun and believe me with a few Caipirinhas, it won’t make much difference what the main course is anyway.  Most of the local food is NOT spicy, and the better restaurants offer beef from Argentina which is super, and surprisingly not a lot of seafood is offered in restaurants.  Plenty of it is in the seafood section of the supermarket, but not tons of it while eating out.  Ice Cream or any desert for that matter is not a huge section of the menu, and ice cream itself, other than the ice cream bars they sell on the beach, is not readily found in Rio.  Lots and lots of fresh fruit juice cafes and the Brazilian version of fast food restaurants are plenty.  The public transportation is abundant,  but the only problem there is you don’t have a clue as to where they are going, and don’t think you can ask the driver as odds have it, he won’t speak a single word of English.  Make a note to also definitely take in the market that is held every night of the week along the Copacabana waterfront.  It opens at around 6 PM and stays open to midnight on weekdays and 1 AM on Saturdays.    On every night but Sunday they offer well over 100 stalls selling a little bit of everything from Amazon blow guns, to local musical instruments, to bikinis and on and on.  On Sunday nights they change the assortment of merchandise to Art only goods, and some very talented local artists display their wares.  Haggling over the price is expected, and it’s a win win situation for all.  It is perfectly safe to walk the water front promenade, as it is extremely well lit, and there is something magical walking along the ocean and taking in all the twinkling lights on the hillsides of Rio. Many nights they have local bands playing, with the standard “open guitar case” in front for donations,  but they are really great to listen to, and generally you will have a few locals that let the rhythm take control and show their steps.  The beautiful twinkling lights are generally the poor or slum areas of Rio called “Favelas”. It is ironic that the people with the ultimate views of the oceanfront are the poorest people in Rio.  Rio de Janeiro is experiencing a huge increase in population growth. This increase has come mostly in the form of the rural poor coming into the cities to find work. Because of the very high land values and the enormous demand for space, these poor are forced into illegal squatter settlements known as favelas. Although illegal, they are mostly ignored by the police as most are unsafe for even the police to enter.  The living conditions are horrific, with little to no sanitation facilities, electricity  only if a few hundred extension lines have found their way  into power supplies of houses at the bottom or unknowing businesses , and water only available at the bottom where people have tapped into the nearest water main. They got their name from the first such settlement that was started a number of years back on  the hill Morro da Favela

So,  I‘m going to spend the next page or two  sort of giving you a rough tip sheet on all the things we found to be different, our observations on life in Rio and Buzios and  things to look for or things to look out for.  It won’t be fancy or loaded with bells or whistles, just what we observed and hopefully pass on a little information to help out some future visitors to Brazil

 So here goes:

         Local Currency:    The local currency is called the Real or Reais pronounced Raw-ice.    Try not to have large notes, as vendors DO NOT LIKE them.  $R 10 & 20’s should be the note of choice.  ATM’s are tough, a lot of them don’t like our credit cards for some reason, and spit them back out at you.  When you find one that likes you, get a few days worth and then leave most of it in your room in a safe place.  Almost everywhere accepts VISA MC American Express, even Diners Club.  

         Converting Money:    If you do insist on converting money, just convert very little at the airport or any other money changer as they will surely take you to the cleaners.  Very high fees and very low exchange rates make it a very poor choice.  Instead of this, use ATM machines, you actually get a fairer rate and the fees are 1/3 of money changers. With the current rate of exchange a little under 2 to 1, it is sad to think that only three years ago, the dollar exchange rate was 4 Reais to 1 of ours.  What a time you could have had then!

         Electricity:   No need to bring voltage converters as the local current is the same as our 120v, with two prong plugs.  Makes using the hair dryer or electronic gadgets from home much easier.

         Tourist demographics:      Almost none from America, or at least they aren’t out exploring, or mingling.  A huge percentage of their tourists are from other South American countries, with the bulk coming from Argentina & Uruguay

         Ice Cream Shops:    Plenty of great ones in Buzios, even make your own dish as they sell it by weight.  As mentioned above, some of the best homemade ice cream I have ever had.

         Souvenir Shops:   Almost nonexistent.   Most of the stuff you find in those kinds of stores is crap anyway.  Surprisingly, most of the few souvenir type items you do find are made in Brazil, and NOT in China.

         Bikini and Halter top shops:    Abundant in Buzios, yet other than the old section side streets where a few can be found, none.

         Openly Affectionate:    If you get embarrassed by folks that like to openly kiss and nuzzle and damn near consummate their love in public, Rio is NOT for you. They have no hang ups on this type of behavior.

         Risqué Post Cards:  If you were thinking you would send one of those very R rated post cards back home,  showing those very sexy thongs, and lots of skin, forget it………….nowhere to be found.

         Public Transportation:  Very close to being the city with the most we’ve encountered.  They have buses going everywhere, and no long wait between runs.  A subway that is expanding and covers most of the Copacabana section through City Central and beyond is very clean and very fast.  Taxis are plentiful, and very reasonable.  Just make sure you get ones with meters.  As in any city, there are those that will try to con the naïve tourist into paying triple fare, don’t buy it        just say no thanks     and find a metered taxi.  ALL taxis have red license plates.

         Tipping:   It’s in the bill already as a 15% or more service charge.  Only people to tip are taxi drivers, where you simply round it up a $R or two and they are very happy. 

         Fuel for rental cars:    The gas station experience is great.  A lot of cars run on Natural gas, and to fill up at the pump, you open the hood and treat the engine like large refillable butane lighter.  You plug the wand into the receptacle and wait for it to stop.  When done it pops and squirts just like a lighter.  DON’T SMOKE AND FILL UP AT ONE OF THESE.

         Supplies at the Super Market:   Prices vary greatly.  You can find ice cream but it is very expensive.  Cereal and chocolate likewise, while beer, wine, soda, and the main ingredient for Caipirinha, Cachaca is very cheap.  Meat and fish in the market is reasonable, and baked goods like cakes and cookies and bread and rolls are plentiful and inexpensive.  Likewise with a wide selection of veggies and fruit.  If you are a Cashew Nut fan, you can get very fresh and very tasty ones for ¼ of what you are used to back home.   Eggs and cheese are very cheap.

         What the locals wear:    Don’t worry about dressing up.  Almost no one wears a button front shirt except the tourists, almost no dresses were seen, Tee’s and shorts are the uniform of the day anyplace and anywhere, the men or the ladies.

         Shoes:     Sandals, sandals, sandals and more sandals.   They are worn by everyone and everywhere.  Few fashion ones either, mostly good old flip flops. With the many cobble stone streets it is an obstacle course for high heels.  Sneakers are only worn by the locals it seems to church services.  I think the number of “Crocs” we saw could be counted on one hand.

         Pizza:  There are a never ending amount of Pizza places, and they are all mostly very good and very big.  The prices vary from cheap to downright expensive for a Pizza.  Check the menu first, as you don’t to read Portuguese to read the $$$.  They are easier to order than the regular menu, as cheese is cheese, and most of the toppings although not pronounced the same, are spelled pretty similar to our toppings.  Sardines, pepperoni, champignon, fungi, spinach, tomato etc., pose little problem to understand.

          Street and sidewalk repair:   Keep your eyes open.  Cobblestone sidewalks can be very menacing when not watching your step.  They tend to be a little lax in repairing the many loose stones and missing stones in the walkways. 

         Coconuts:    With all the South Pacific countries we have visited where the Coconuts main use is to fall from trees and hit unsuspecting tourists in the head, Brazil uses it to its fullest.   All the kiosks sell it for a drink at $R2.  They are at room temp but they are very refreshing and a whole lot healthier than soda.  They eat the meat for snacks, and burn the leftovers for fuel.  The kiosks have huge amounts delivered in huge piles by their stands in the early morning, and it is all cleaned up and the rubbish taken away by the very hard working sanitation crews at night.

         Smoking in Public:  A lot less than expected.  It is allowed almost everywhere but again a lot less than we had thought there would be.  A very pleasant surprise.

         Alcohol:   No restrictions on its sale that we could see.  Possibly they are just ignored, as it is sold everywhere.  If you are in desperate need for a little hair of the dog, you won’t have to look very far.  First place we have been where no American or Canadian beers were found anywhere.  Not a Budweiser to be found.  The local beer is OK as mentioned above, but the “Chopp” or draft beer is the best, and that is found in almost any restaurant, fast food place, even the guys on the beach carry kegs around. 

         Solar:   You would think that a country like Brazil with all its sunshine would utilize solar power more, but during our entire trip and little side trips, I believe I only saw one array of solar panels. 

         Voice decibels:   The Brazilian people are just downright LOUD.  As I mentioned before, we think they are taught at an early age to let their voices be heard.  One interesting thing we noted was that if you were to take a group of males and females, any age group and put blindfolds on and have them talk, you would be hard pressed to tell which were which. They all seem to have low and very loud voices.

         CRIME:     I think that the crime stories and warnings they print about Rio are very highly blown out of proportion and highly overrated.  We walked around in just about every area of the city open to tourists, at all hours, and never once felt threatened or menaced.  Just like any big city, you have to use common sense and not flaunt anything that a huge poor population might find desirable, and keep the money carried to a minimum and stay out of areas that seem dark or foreboding.  Don’t flaunt jewelry and leave all the bling at home.  Yeah there are some beggars, but just ignore them or if you feel compelled to help them, give them something small and useful.  A few times we found ourselves giving some cookies we had from the store that we knew we would not be eating and they were truly appreciated.  One young man who we gave some small spare change to,  sat down and did a small painting on a tile he had, and actually found a person that spoke a little broken English to explain to us that the tile needed 30 minutes to dry.  He was very thankful, as was the family we gave our leftovers to from our meal.  I wouldn’t make a habit of it, but a few kind acts are always appreciated by those less fortunate.

         Beach necessities:    Another thing that is so enjoyable about the beach life in Rio or Buzios for that matter is that no one worries about what to take to the beach with them.   NO towels, NO sunglasses NO mats to lie on, NO IPods or cell phones, NO unnecessary stuff at all.  Just some sun lotion, the swimsuit under the shorts and tee shirt and that’s that.  Everything else that is a necessity can be found at the beach.

         Dinner hour:    If you are an early eater, you might have a problem.  Most of the restaurants don’t even start to set up the tables until after 6 to 7 PM.  We have been in many restaurants where people were still being seated at well after 11 PM.   Unlike here,  the busy hour is usually around 9 to 10 PM. Most of the restaurants in the Copacabana section are open until 2 AM

      Sand Sculpture:  If you have seen and loved sand sculptures on various beaches you have visited and appreciated the amount of work involved you would be   hard   pressed to  find another area to match their intricate and beautiful works on these beaches.  They are simply “sandtastic”

                   I think I have just about touched all the bases, and covered what I hope you have found helpful and useful if you are or even if you are not planning a trip to Brazil.  It is a great and challenging place to visit, one that holds lots of surprises and interesting new vistas   to discover.  The people I regret speak almost no English, and I feel that is one of the things I felt badly about as it didn’t afford us the chance of just shooting the bull with anyone and having a good old back and forth dialogue.  That was sad, but they are a happy people and a very confident bunch.  It is refreshing to be somewhere that “political correctness” is not deemed very important, races mix freely with one another and people feel that the local soccer match is much more important than just about anything.  Next to church services on Sunday, and possibly family, sport especially soccer is the most important thing on their menu.  As they say in Brazil,   Adeus