Rio De Janiero, Brazil

click here to check out a full panoramic view of Rio - courtesy of Microsoft's Expedia Site
 

The view from the place we stayed at in Rio. It is in an optimal spot, right between Ipanema and Copacabana beach - which are parallel and a mile apart from each other.  I am sure you all know the song "The Girl From Ipanema..... goes walking .. and when she ......"

   

Hans relaxing in the living room while he enjoys the view out the front window.  We spent 3 weeks in this apartment and could not have asked for a better arrangement. It was especially great for Tiff because she had internet access.

 

Yvonne Campos with her Grandchildren, Carolina & Marcelo. The kids were absolutely adorable, especially when they spoke Portuguese.  Yvonne owned this wonderful apartment.

 

Yvonne with her son Romualdo in the office part of the house. This is where Tiff was able to do quite a bit of Tiff.Com work for clients.   There is something great about being able to do your job from anywhere in the world. Gotta love The Net.

 

This is Hans (left) and his dad with Romualdo sitting on his lap. It was taken 30 years ago in Rio in front of the apartment where they lived.

 

A modern version of the picture in the same location. Hans (left - same position), his dad in the middle, Romualdo on the right.

 

Hans waving from the beginning of Copacobana beach on one of the cool days there. Most of the time it was very hot and humid, making it difficult to sleep without air conditioning. Yes, we have gotten a little spoiled by San Francisco's cool weather. Though we didn't miss the rain back home.

 

.	In Rio they play an unusually form of volleyball here. It is more like soccerball: instead of using their hands to play, they can only use their feet and head to get the ball over the net. This is what happens when a country is obsessed with soccer.

 

The surf can get pretty strong. Notice how the waves are crashing right on the beach. Some days the ocean is completely calm - you could waterski on it. But other days, it is suicidal to even think about surfing in it.

 

At the end of Copacobana was the Men's World Tour Volleyball. The Norwegians versus the Brazilians. It was the semi-finals and a close match. The Norwegians won 15-13.

 

Yes, real volleyball this time.

 

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We decided to take a cab ride home since we walked 3 miles down Ipanema in the  morning and then another 2 miles down Copacabana beach. Rio cabs are the craziest you have ever seen - much, much worse than New York or Boston. Street signals and pedestrians are mere obstacles which they pay little attention to. Their second favorite sport in Brazil is race car driving, so many of the cab drivers like to pretend they are on a race course instead of real streets with real people. They seem to forget they have passengers also.

 

Tiff fell in love with a few puppies (toy poodles) at a pet store next to the apartment. She went back and visited that pet shop at least 5 times while we were staying in Rio.

 

-- Sleeping beauties.

 
Once we got home, Yvonne told us there was one this same restaurant we wanted to go to right next store to our apartment. Imagine that. It is call Marius - and is one of the finest, most popular restaurants in town.

AT Marius we ate, filet mignon, frog legs, seabass, salmon, pork, wild pig, crab, shrimp, palm hearts, asparagus, all with sangria, and some awesome dessert and coffee at the end. Afterwards we gave birth to twins.