It was a great trip. I stayed on Copacabana beach while in Rio, which was awesome, and saw some of the main sights including the giant statue of Jesus in the hills above Rio. I will forever be a fan of the caipirinha, the national drink of Brazil made of lime, sugar, and sugarcane liquor. Nothing beats drinking either a caipirinha or a fresh coconut while watching the beach life at Copacabana. Even though it was the middle of the winter in the southern hemisphere, it was still really nice weather and there were people everywhere.
Among other things, I was a bad vegetarian on this trip and indulged at one of the all-you-can-eat grills called churrascarias, where you pay a fixed fee and they bring around skewers of grilled meat (generally beef) and feed you until you can't eat any more. I was happy to find that my stomach was still able to handle it. It was damn good, but I don't think that it was enough to turn me back into a carnivore.
Enjoy the photos...
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Copacabana! |
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Copacabana again |
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Copacabana with the giant statue of Christ on the hill in the background |
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One of the many stands on the beach where you can get a fresh, ripe coconut or a drink and pass the time watching the beach scene. It was pretty impressive to watch the people open dozens of coconuts in a row with a machete and not chop their arms off. |
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View towards Sugarloaf mountain at the northern end of Copacabana. |
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Sugarloaf |
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The pool/bar area where the conference was held (Atlantico Buzios) |
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Chapel at the hotel |
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The beach behind the hotel, and a few shots of the street. || || \/ |
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Sculpture in the sea behind the hotel || || \/ |
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Road leading from the hotel to some of the other beaches. Directions were lacking on many of the roads, so I got a bit lost at times |
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Praia Brava, the first beach I got to || || \/ |
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Praia Foca || || \/ |
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The dog in this photo followed me from the time I left my hotel to the time I got back. More to follow... |
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After walking along the rocky coast, I saw this beach (Praia do Forno) and figured that I could get to it if I continued to walk. I eventually reached a place where I would have had to jump over a number of wide gaps in the rock and decided to turn back. The dog that was following me jumped into the water and swam to the beach. |
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Leaving Praia Foca |
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Looking back at the road from the beach. As I was walking back along this road towards the hotel, the dog that left me and swam towards the other beach returned, and followed me back to the hotel. |
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Beach soccer field in front of the hotel, where we had a number of northern vs. southern hemisphere matches. |
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Statue of Brigette Bardot, along the beach near the hotel || || \/ |
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The conference sponsored a free boat ride along the coast || || \/ |
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Street in Buzios |
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I have my own restaurant! |
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More Buzios streets || || \/ |
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Sign at the statue of Christ at Corcovado. The next group of photos are shots of the statue and the view from Corcovado, which is something like 600 m above the coast. |
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Ipanema beach and the big lake behind it |
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Several shots of Copacabana || || \/ |
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Shots towards Sugarloaf and downtown Rio || || \/ |
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The "Christ the Redeemer" statue || || \/ |
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This seems to be a dedication plaque for the statue |
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This commemorates a visit by John Paul II |
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This commemorates the Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi |
