Long, but not a bad ride. I was actually able to sleep for several hours so I wasn’t terribly tired upon our on-time arrival at 8:00 AM today. Customs and immigration were a breeze and my driver was picking up seven other people who are on my tour. And, as it turns out, that group is from Philadelphia, two graduated from Temple, two from Drexel, and they have a house in Sea Isle at the Jersey shore!

Rio de Janeiro is a study in contrasts. The drive from the airport took us through several favelas (that is what Brazilians call their slums or shantytowns). They look like houses built on top of other houses, open to the air with few outer walls. Some do not have running water or electricity.  The picture manages to look somewhat charming but it is not.  Also, these favelas take up a wide swatch of Rio.  Many, many people live there.

I learned that Brazil has the largest population of Japanese people outside of Japan. Also, Brazil has the largest number of Catholics in the world with over 60% of its population Catholic. Brazil is the world’s fifth largest country by both population (approximately 210 million) and geographical area (3,287,597 square miles). It borders every other South American nation, barring Ecuador and Chile, and makes up 47 per cent of the continent.

As we drove, we could see Sugar Loaf Mountain which sits at the entry of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic as well as Christ the Redeemer which is at the peak of Corcovado Mountain. Our driver pointed out that there are no skyscrapers in Rio as they would obliterate the natural beauty surrounding the area. I agree. After going through several tunnels, we emerged on the coast to our hotel overlooking Copacabana Beach, right down the street from Ipanema. The hotel has a magnificent rooftop bar from which I took these pictures:

In addition to the bar, the rooftop features a fully-equipped gym, sauna, an endless pool, and many lounges for sunning. I immediately took advantage by ordering a double cappuccino to enjoy while waiting for my room to be ready for check-in. As I waited, I perused the map given me by our tour guide, an Argentinian woman named Carol.

My room is very large, more on the order of American hotels rather than European. Two double beds, a desk, gigantic flat screen television (no Fox news), table and chairs, two large closets and a very well-appointed bathroom, including a telephone in the bathroom.

Later, I strolled along the beaches people watching. I wasn’t really surprised to see both men and women clad in very skimpy bathing suits (and it was not always attractive). Also, there seems to be a vast variety of visitors, hailing from around the world. I have deduced this by listening to the languages being spoken around me. So far, besides Portuguese and Spanish, I’ve heard French, German, Dutch, Russian (well, what do I know—it sounded like Russian), Japanese and other oriental languages.

We went to this most awesome place for dinner–Churriscaria Palace.  This place has a salad and appetizer bar that is so extensive, I cannot even begin to describe it.  I took tiny bits of many of the items and there were still a lot I didn’t even try.  Then, as you are eating your “apps” (by the way, you can go back as many times as you like), one of the chefs comes out and gives you meat off a skewer. We were given filet as wells as about seven different cuts of beef), lamb, pork, different types of fish.  And, this goes on and on until you say ENOUGH!  After all of this, homemade ice cream over fresh fruit bits and a cappuccino.  HEAVEN!