Tastes and Sights of Rio de Janeiro

Our journey recently led us to the colorful, eclectic country of Brazil and our first stop was Rio de Janeiro to see Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The sun was blazing and people were loud, friendly, and vibrant. Personally, I was looking forward to finally getting a really good selection of seafood and seeing the Christ the Redeemer statue on Corcovado mountain. Well neither one of those disappointed me! The massive statue of Jesus Christ with his armed outstretched is just as impressive as we'd expected. We kind of went picture crazy and also bought a small replica of it for memories sake. And I promptly began stuffing myself with sole, shrimp and other stuff from the sea.

Another treat was seeing Sugar Loaf with its amazing views and the excitement of riding so high above the ground in cable cars. We were hot as anything in those cable cars in the jungle weather but it was really fun. When you find shade up on the hilltop it brings a nice breeze along.

Oh, and Ipanema Beach...what a busy, crazy mix of locals, tourists, and salespeople everywhere. You can basically lay on the beach all day and at the same time be fed caipirinhas and shrimp skewers, buy a whole new wardrobe, and get amazing shiatsu massages where they make your joints crack in places you never expected. Who doesn't love the beach?

We're now in Natal up in northern Brazil for 2 weeks and we spent most of yesterday watching Inauguration Day at our beach house! More about Natal later...for now, take a look at our Rio slideshow.

A Day in Tigre on the River

Welcome to Tigre!

One of the primary reasons that we love Argentina is because the country is full of interesting and beautiful places to visit and to see new things. Just when we think we've hit a good chunk of the most raved about spots, someone is sure to start talking about some other place that they've been to that sounds amazing. Well, today we hit yet another of the destinations on our list, a place in the northern province of Buenos Aires called Tigre. The main draw is to take a boat tour of the delta and inlets and see the various islands. A couple we met who owns a nearby restaurant had recommended that we visit a particular island that houses a delicious restaurant named Gato Blanco. We were lucky enough to arrive and just look around until we found a boat company that would offer us a private tour, drop us off at lunch, and then take us boat to the main port. It was a fantastic day on the water. People were kayaking, jet skiing, taking motor boats, and even floating in the water on plastic recliners. We had a spectular lunch...the grilled black hake was the best I've had here in Buenos Aires. All in all, a successful trip, a beautiful day, and another destination checked off of our list!

On the boat ride traveling along the delta:

Our fantastic lunch spot:

Watching visitors lounge at a resort on the river:

Happy New Year!

It's 2009! Don and I brought in the new year with a few friends and we are so happy to have Butch visiting from DC. He's been our Buenos Aires companion for the past week and we've been wining, dining, and dancing all over. One of the best parts about having a visitor is that you get a great excuse to make reservations at all of your favorite restaurants and so far they have not disappointed. Last night we were at the Faeno Hotel dinner and tango show because you just can't come down here and not see a tango show. So that's one major thing checked off the list but now we're on to shopping for leather and visiting Tigre in the north to sail through the Delta...

Here are Butch and Don at Asia de Cuba in Puerto Madero having a nice relaxing Sunday afternoon:
The boys leaving brunch at Olsen's: