After 24+ hours of travel, E and are safely home in San Francisco. We spent the last week in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. K and I did 4 days of training for Globo.com, the big media company in Brazil. We had a great time. The training went well. We got to explore (at least a little bit) of the city.
I have so much to say about the trip, I don't really know where to start. Brazil is not a country that I ever thought about visiting. My (mis)perception about it before the trip were based on what I had read about the rainforest being burned down at alarming rates and that Simpsons episode when they go to Rio. I'm not exactly an informed American, I know. *sigh*
But having been there, I must that my fears and trepidations on the plane were unfounded. The place is a beautiful combination of Europe and Mexico, with the feeling that the jungle is going to take it back at any moment. The city is pretty clean (you see street sweepers in orange all over the place), though there is graffiti on almost every surface. The people are so friendly. I think I have a crush on the bartender at the pool bar in the hotel &mdash he was SUCH a sweetie.
E, K, B and I had a lot of fun. The boys got to explore more than K and I did, since we were doing training each day. But E and I did make it to Petropolis to visit Sormany (good friend and former chef of his mother) and his resturant and had by far the best meal of the trip. It made for a very late night, but as we wound our way out of the mountains back to Rio I was able to see the stars out of the back window of the truck. So very pretty. I wish I knew what the Southern Cross looked like so I would know if I had seen it or not.
I really wish we had had an extra day or two to explore the city a bit more. We were able to make it to the Carmen Miranda museum, Corcovado mountain to see the Cristo statue, Sugar Loaf mountain (Pão de Açúcar) where I got dizzy from riding the tram to the top, a Samba show, and the Hippie Fair in Ipanema.
Many photos were taken, but per usual mine have yet to be processed. E and K have both been better at getting their photos online.
It was a good trip. It feels weird to be home now, but it's so nice to sleep in our bed and snuggle with the kitties. I'm rather jet-lagged, but not from the time difference (it was only 4 hours) but more from just how long the travel took to complete.
