Day 10/11/12/13 – Rio

These four days were all about the beach. Every day was sunny and between 85° and 93°, the water was clear & blue and the big waves kept the kids enthralled for hours on end. Every day, we had a leisurely breakfast and then sauntered down to the beach, rented chairs and umbrellas and then whiled the hours away just relaxing.

Cariocas seem to do everything on the beach, so it's interesting just to see the many vendors walking up and down the sands selling just about everything. In addition to beach volleyball and paddle ball,

it's very common to see guys kick a soccer ball around on the beach. Rio's municipal government has upgraded the city's tourism infrastructure, particularly at the beach. Every 200 yards or so, you can find one of these kiosks (see below) that provide all sorts of information about the conditions at the beach, including the recommended SPF for that day depending upon your skin color. It would be unheard of to see such a thing in the US, but not so in Brazil. The attention to SPF is relatively new in Brazil, so sun screen is annoyingly expensive, but the blunt differentiation by skin tone was still surprising.

Tourist Safety on the Beach
For security reasons, we always walked a half block over to be in front of the Marriott Hotel. The tourist police, the Polícia Militar and the in-house security staffs of all the large high-end hotels all watch the sand by the big hotels very closely. In Copacabana, look for the Meridien, Copacabana Palace, Marriott, Othon Palace and Sofitel. In Ipanema, look for the Caesar Park.

On Day 10, I had to go downtown to get a new set of copies of my mother’s birth certificate since they misspelled our family names on the last set I requested in 2007 (ugh!). As a result, I ended up missing a half day on the beach, but it gave Djanira and me a little time to catch up about my grandfather’s estate (she’s our lawyer). We also seized the opportunity to have breakfast at the Confeitaría Colombo – an elegant turn-of-the-century coffee house that could easily fit in on the Champs Elysées or anywhere in Europe.

Large-Size Shoe Store
On the way back to Copacabana, I happened upon a store that specializes in large-size shoes, (Ding-ding-ding!) so for the first time in all the times I’ve been to Brazil I was able to buy a pair of Brazilian shoes for a souvenir. How about that? The name of the store is "Summerville." Check it out at the corner of Barata Ribeiro and Figueiredo de Magalhães (tel: 2548-0836).

Lunch consisted of caipirinhas (and guaraná for the kids) and aipim frito (manioc fries), which brought it all full circle with our Amazon trip for the kids. The aipim frito brought back memories of the times I would down to the beach with my friends when I was at PUC and we’d order beers and aipim frito and watch the world saunter by.

The Wine Store
We ventured into the little wine store downstairs and discovered a treasure-trove of great wines from all over at amazing prices (Pata Negra from Spain for about $15). Here’s the scoop: “Deu la Deu” Vinhos at Rua Domingos Ferreira, 66-B (near Figueiredo de Magalhães), tel: 2235-7287.

We took the Pata Negra to Djanira’s house for dinner, and along the way we caught the full moon rising over the water as we took one of the roller-coaster buses along Avenida Atlântica to Ipanema. We headed back after dinner and then played Rummy 500 until bed time.

Brazilian Gemstones and H. Stern
On day eleven, we had lunch at Habib’s (on the beach, of course) and then after 4:00 we took quick showers and headed over to H. Stern for a tour of their gemstone processing facility. It’s way cool, and of course labor-intesive. It was impressive to see just how many gemstones and precious metals are mined all over Brazil. Of couse, they tried to sell us the high-end jewelry, but we held strong and then spent a bunch of time buying trinkets and handcrafts in their gift store. That picture to the left of Lilly and the carved eagle was taken at the Amsterdam Sauer store (biggest competitor in Rio to H. Stern jewlers).

Churrasco – Brazilian Barbecue
For dinner, we took the plunge and ate at Porcão – the granddaddy in Rio of all Brazilian barbecue restaurants (called Churrascarías). Meat on skewers whisked through the restaurant and then skillfully sliced with a large knife onto your plate. The key at a Churrascaria is to sit at a table near the doorway to the kitchen so they stop at your table first and you get the hottest meat off the grill. If you really want to work it, grab the seat that faces that doorway and then make eye contact with the guy who has what you want. Needless to say, we overindulged but decided that it was worth it. There are cheaper places to have churrasco, but Porcão is considered the best (IMHO). Check them out in Ipanema at Rua Barão da Torre, 218 (Tel: 3389-8989).

Renting Furnished Apartments in Rio
On our last day in Rio, Andréa came by and I paid her for the apartment. It was $750 for 9 days in a 2-bedroom apartment a block from the beach in Copacabana. That just can’t be beat. Here is her contact information and if you call her, tell her you know me and I referred you:
Andréa Kelemen, tel: 011-55-21-2235-6657 / cell: 011-55-21-9643-6850 / fax: 011-55-21-2547-0537. She is the daughter of one of my grandfather's old fishing buddies, and they rented an apartment to me when I lived in Rio in the 1980s, so naturally I called her first when I knew I'd be in Rio for a few days with the whole family.

For our last dinner in Rio, Djanira pulled out all the stops and made Brazilian beef stroganoff (with tomatoes) and champagne. We stopped at the wine store and got a really smooth Portuguese red wine called Periquita for $6 a bottle. Amazing – both cheap and good.