Corcovado....An incredible monument of Jesus Christ overlooking all of Rio--- the train up to the monument takes roughly 20 minutes but when you arrive, you can believe how high you are.
The next part of the trip was nothing but friends, food, sun, and beach. Rio might be one of my favorite places in Brazil so far. It is really similar to Miami and NYC. It has an electric energy. Everyone is extremely athletic, stylish, relaxed, personable....we were really impressed. Itau Bank has developed and sponsored a similar bike system to what they have in Paris, where all over Rio, you can use bikes for $5 a day, as long as you only use each bike for 1 hour. They have stations in all the different neighborhoods, so you can explore via bike. One of my students, who has become a good friend of mine, was also in Rio for Easter with her husband and another couple. The six of us had some amazing meals!!
First we went to Mr. Lam, Eike Batista's restaurant (wealthiest man in Brazil apparently)...delicious chinese food like Mr. Chow in NYC-- beautiful view of Corcovado (Jesus Statue), because the ceiling is glass. My friend Fernanda is wonderful--- she made all the reservations for Fred and I
Flavia, Fernanda, and Me
The Group
Copacobana Palace--- Fancy Fancy hotel on the ocean
Taking a nap
Saturday night we went to a restaurant called Aprasivel, 20 minutes from the beach in Saint Theresa. It overlooks all of Rio---Brazilian Modern cooking and lots of Caipairinhas!!
Fresh Palmito (Hearts of Palm)
Fernanda making us laugh:))
Party time after at Astor's
BEACH TIME
