Yes that's right. My parents came to visit me in Brazil. After 7 long months of reading and hearing horror stories about Brazil, and listening to me complain about the hardships of living here, they swallowed their fear and trepidation, and boarded a plane for Rio de Janeiro! My dad had the impossible task of trying to organize our family vacation to include things that every family member would enjoy. The final itinerary: Rio de Janeiro, Iguassu Falls and Buzios. And I have to say he did an excellent job planning the trip. It was a fun-filled, great Brazilian experience for all.
The trip started off in Rio. I had never been to Rio. All I knew about Rio was that it had awful slums called Favelas, that it could be dangerous, that many Fulbrighters were in Rio and that it had the famous Copacabana beach, which is featured in the most amazing Barry Manilow song ever "Her name was Lola...." But other than that I didn't know much about it. Everyone had always told me, Rio is so beautiful and I thought yeah, right. But after having been there with my family, I must admit I was wrong. Rio is indeed beautiful, a city between the sea and the jungle.
Highlights of the family trip from Rio included seeing the statue, Jesus Cristo Redentor, {who knew it was on a mountain overlooking Rio and that you can see it from many locations when the sky is clear?...... ok so perhaps the answer to this question is that many people know....obviously I was not one of those people.} going to the top of Sugarloaf (famous place with Gondala and great views), and eating at the Churrasqueria with my parents.
My dad, in his frivolity at discovering Brazil's all you can eat meathouse (churrasqueria) and enjoying a delicious bottle of Tannat (Uruguay's best wine) decided to make friends with the waiter and was brought back into the kitchen for a special tour!
With a successful and enjoyable time in Rio behind us, the family flew off to Iguassu Falls on the border of Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina. I will write another blog about Iguassu because it was that awesome, but needless to say it was amazing.
Finally we finished off our vacation in Buzios, a trendy little beach town about 3 hours up the coast from Rio. Buzios was made famous because of some actress....I still don't quite know the full story except that her name was Bridgette Bardot and she was a heart throb...... Anyway here is her picture, you can judge for yourself......
........fun filled adventures in Buzios, included a ladies night in the Jacuzzi with champagne, a cold scuba dive where I saw the biggest seahorse ever, and THAI food!! Or at least those were the highlights for me, for Buzios, my parents would probably say a lovely little town on the water with great restaurants, great views and great shopping (oops sorry Dad, did I let the cat out of the bag that Mom and I did lots of shopping while there?)
Ladies Night in Buzios
I had a blast trying to teach my parents some portuguese.....my dad could almost never remember the word for check......(hint: it's CONTA dad..) almost like he was purposefully trying not to know.....sadly he never could get me to pick up the check. My mom learned that acai (a type of fruit) is now her favorite type of juice, ata (pronounced ah-ta) is a deliciously sweet fruit, and that otimo is indeed a fun word to say. It was a great Brazilian family vacation with memories to last a lifetime!
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