Rio de Janeiro - December 11-15, 2009

We arrived in Rio de Janeiro late on December 10, took a taxi to the hotel and went right to bed. We got up bright and early on the 11th and headed straight for Ipanema Beach. Above is one of the many kiosks which line the beach, where we had numerous caipirinhas throughout our stay. The caipirinha is the official drink of Brazil.

Here's a view of Ipanema Beach, about one block from our hotel. The beach is beautifully maintained. Anyone caught sleeping is arrested and hauled away to jail.

Each beach has their own distinctive black and white tile pattern. Ipanema's is above and the Copacabana's tile is below.

We waited for our tour guide, who never showed up. But it didn't stop us from seeing the sights on our own. We left our hotel, walked half the Ipanema Beach and the entire Copacabana Beach. After a much needed lunch, we continued walking to the base of Sugar Loaf Mountain, where we took two cable cars to the top.

Here's a view from the midpoint stop on Sugar Loaf. We continued on the second cable car, but before reaching the top, we were enclosed in fog. Needless to say, there were no pictures from the top.

Saturday and Sunday are big days for the beach, as you can see from this and the next two photos. Unfortunately it poured all day Sunday, so we only had one beach day. We think that only beautiful people are allowed on the beach, since there were hardly any overweight people. Also, most of the men must have been born with perfect bodies. I have many more pictures to share. Just let me know, and I'll send them.

Since Eric has been out of work for a while, he considered running one of the beachfront kiosks. However, I'm sure he would have either consumed or given away all the caipirinha profits.

Every kiosk was doing a booming business in coconut sales. The standard price was about $1.50. It was interesting seeing them opened bare handed with a machete.

There were many sand sculptures, which you could photo for a fee. This was the best one on the beach. I had to be held back from jumping on top of it.

Since I was in Rio for Hanukkah, we had a special menorah placed on the busy street in Copacabana.

On our final day in Rio, we went to one of the local fruit and vegetable markets, as seen in these two photos.

Since our flight did not leave until 11:35pm, we had to plan a full day. We did some shopping in the morning, but with the current exchange rate, the prices were worse than New York City. We arranged for a city tour before returning to the airport.

Here we are at one of the new seven wonders of the world - The Christ Statue. It looms high above Rio.

Eric just couldn't wait to shake hands with Jesus.

This is a panoramic view of Rio from the roof of our hotel.

And who knows if we will be back again for the Olympics in 2016. We already have our reservations for the 2012 Olympics in London.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures from Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. I'm already planning another around the world adventure for 2010.

Buenos Aires - December 6-10, 2009

Here I am, back at my favorite city in South America - Buenos Aires. Its like being in Europe. This is the famous obelisk in the center of a 26 lane street. It takes at least two light cycles to cross the street, or you can take the underground walkway.

We arrived early on December 6 so we had to do some sightseeing before our hotel room was ready. Every Sunday there is a huge street fair in the San Telmo barrio, which was where we were staying. My friend Julie told me about the seltzer bottles that they sell there - pictured above.

Look who's sitting outside the Casa Rosada, where Evita cried for Argentina. I've never been inside, but for some reason they were allowing visitors today. Built in 1850, this was the city's first fort. Only one side of the building is painted pink.

And what better place to spend Hanukkah - a Jewish temple in BA.

Although it looks like a theater - this is one of the city's most famous bookstores. The balconies and main floor are loaded with books - almost all in Spanish (what a surprise). Our goal was to find a monthly calendar with pictures - the kind they sell at every mall in the United States. During our five day stay, we were unable to locate any.

We took a day trip to Tigre - named after animals the settlers thought looked like tigers - but were not. Its about an hour train ride from Buenos Aires - at a cost of 2.70 pesos, round trip - or about US$.70 - what a bargain. It was a local holiday, so the train and attractions were crowded. We took a short boat ride through the waterways - there are no cars to most of the islands. Above is the grocery boat - they come to your dock, and for a 30% surcharge, delivery your groceries.

We saw this beautiful steamship on the ride, and will be booking an around the world cruise on it in the near future.

For lunch, everyone was ordering these dishes with a mountain of meat - so we took our chances. Well bad, horrible and disgusting are not even close to describing what we tried to eat. With the overcooked ribs, there was liver, kidneys, tripe, and sausages (filled with mystery meat). This is what we left on the grill, along with the most of what still remained on our plates. Despite this one bad meal, we did manage to have fantastic Argentine beef at every other meal.

After lunch we walked around the waterside market, which was doing a booming business in wicker and straw items. Who knows what I took a picture of, but it was colorful. Tigre also had a pretty large amusement park, with two modern roller coasters. We listened to people scream, but passed on entering the park.

Here we are back in my favorite train station in the world - Retiro. Who knows, it may inspire me to paint another picture.

I don't think you'll find any bargains in Harrods - which is now only a shell of a building. There is absolutely nothing inside.

Florida is a very popular shopping street, closed to traffic. There are also many interesting street performers - see the invisible man above. There are also many familiar shops, including McDonalds, Burger King and KFC. Burger King purchased a beautiful historic building to flip their flame broiled burgers. Que lastima.

Here's the Duarte tomb, resting place of Evita Peroa. Its a very modest tomb in an enormous cemetary in the Ricoleta. You wander around and can actually see the exposed coffins in many of the tombs. The materials used to build the tombs were mostly imported from Paris and Milan.

This huge metalic flower automatically opens in the morning and closes at night.

Some interesting artwork.

On our final day in BA, we visited the Caminito, which was named for a tango. This pedestrian alleyway was build over an old railway, in the heart of the vibrant La Boca neighborhood. Its known for its colorful dwellings and artwork pictured above and below.

Here are Evita and Juan Peron waving to the crowd below.

Walking back to the hotel we came upon a street demonstration. The workers of a major retail chain were protesting the impending arrival of Wal Mart.