City of God

I just can't get over how silly it is that 200,000,000 South Americans speak Portuguese.

Anyway......made it safely to Rio last Tuesday and have spent the past seven nights in the Sheraton relaxing and enjoying my final days in relative luxury before starting up three back-to-back-to-back tours which promise lots of pretty stuff and interesting people, but also way too much time in cheap hotels and overnight buses. (that's right...a 56-word sentence...not including the five-word hyphenated phrase)

Aside from catching up on loads of Hollywood-made, but not U.S. released films on tv, I've done a little of this and a little of that. Here's the this:

-Hit both musically inspired (or is it the other way around) beaches...Ipanema and Copacabana. Both are gigantic and lovely and full of pretty people and RIGHT in the city. Crazy in a city of 6 million.

-After walking my rear-end off in an effort to get a feel for the city, I visited the Botanical Gardens, which were a royal disappointment. Oh well. Not sure exactly what I was expecting, frankly.

-Took the cable car up Pao de Acucar or Sugar Loaf. Snapped off lots of scenic shots from this stone behemoth right in the city.

-Took South America's first electric train (with Samba musicians within) up Corcovado (Hunchback) where the statue of Christ the Redeemer stands. Made of reinforced concrete, this "Wonder of the World" was as disappointing as I'd been warned it would be. The Statue of Liberty is SOOOOO much better. Of course, it does have an altar in it's feet...so I guess it has THAT going for it.

-Made an unsuccessful visit to the Bolivian Embassy in an effort to secure a travel visa. They were closed when I arrived. One more shot tomorrow. Evidently the agents at the borders don't treat Americans so nicely.

-Met my upcoming tour guide, Carla, and had lunch with Victoria who is also on the tour. Diligent readers of this blog will recall Victoria from the first African adventure.

-Answered another couple dozen questions about "our new black President" from locals.

-Took full advantage of the free Club Lounge amenities (cocktails, breakfasts, tea, foodstuffs) at the Sheraton each day.

-Attended a futebol match that was....well......everything I expected a soccer game to be. Points of interest: One player wore #100, the goalie was taken off on a golf cart due to injury, one female linewoman was REALLY hot, bottles of urine were not thrown at me (as I was warned about in my Lonely Planet), and the game ended in.....a tie...naturally.

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Well, that's mostly it. So far, I've chickened out on the hangliding that many folks participate in when visiting Rio. I'll be back in February for Carnival. Perhaps then.

Killing me not to be able to watch the 8-0 Cats beat Texas tomorrow night. Enjoy Eric, Dlug and Jim.