“At night, after the exhausting games of canasta, we would look out over the immense sea, full of white-flecked and green reflections, the two of us leaning side by side on the railing, each of us far away, flying in his own aircraft to the stratospheric regions of our own dreams. There we understood that our vocation, our true vocation, was to move for eternity along the roads and seas of the world. Always curious, looking into everything that came before our eyes, sniffing out each corner but only ever faintly - not setting down roots in any land or staying long enough to see the substratum of things; the outer limits would suffice.”
We landed in Brazil at about 5:30 pm after our long flight. Usually June is low season in Brazil since it is winter but it happened that Rio de Janeiro was sold out in all its hotels since the city was hosting the 3 day "Rio + 20" environmental conference sponsored by the United Nations. Therefore, we had to get a hotel in Barra da Tijuca which is about 35 minutes outside of the Copacabana/Ipamena area of Rio. Barra da Tijuca is sort of a bedroom community for people who work in the city. It is very clean and full of shopping centers and large condominium complexes. It has very beautiful beaches and many people say that it reminds them of Miami Beach. We would stay in Barra da Tijuca 3 nights until the hordes of diplomats, businessman, environmentalists and protesters associated with the conference left and then move to a hotel closer to the action.
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| Praia do Pepe na Barra da Tijuca, Brazil |
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| I can't make it to the "surfing" class at 9:30am |
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| The palm tree lined streets of Barra |
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| The promenade in Barra |
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| This is one of the most beautiful beaches in Rio (you usually only hear of Copacabana and Ipanema) |
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| Street front vendors sell fresh coconut water, fresh juices, even bikinis. |
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| It is winter in Brazil (the winter temperature is usually from 60 -78 degrees) |
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