May 17th Last night in Brazil...

Last night in Brazil! We were going to go the Museum of Modern Art but all the muesums and galleries are closed on Mondays... And the weather is cloudy so we cant get any sun. So we went to see the new Woody Allen Movie "Whatever Works" with Larry David. It was a great movie, very unique and funny.

That night we got a ton of her friends together and had a little send off party for me at this bar that served a "torre de chopp" which translates as "Beer Tower". There are no pitchers of beer here, you usually have to order small chopps which are just over half a pint. There are a few restaurants that serve this Tower of Beer which is either 2.5L or 3.5L depending on which size you order. You don't pour it but there is a small tap which you use to fill you glasses. Good times, good beer, good people.

The normal Chopp (300ml) and the small Chopp (200ml)...


The 2.5L tower of beer...


We approve...


The 3.5L tower of beer...

May 16th Beach Day again

Nothing much to report today. Just another day out at the beach. Also went to a Art and Craft show that happens every week in the park near the section of beach we go to. Lots of great local artists showing off their work. Pick up a few cool items, maybe a gift or two

May 15th Beach and Nightclub

This was only our 2nd day at the beach actually... The beach is a weekend place and last weekend was rainy. Most of out time in the sun has been at the Yacht Club. So we called some friends and headed to the beach.

That night (saturday) we decided we would go out the a brazillian night club.

May 14 Botanical Gardens

Today we went with Lu's mom to the historical area of downtown Rio. She was able to give us a great little walking tour of the area. Lots of the historic buildings have been turned into public spaces which are free to access. They have cafe's, meeting places, and art galleries in them and are huge beautiful buildings. I didnt take many images of these places since we were in the busy downtown core and many of the galleries of course dont allow images to be taken. We had a fantastic lunch in this amazing building with very old 30 foot mirrors linning the ceiling. It was great to see all the great history that the city has, mixed in with the modern buildings and the organized chaos of everyday business.

After this we did a 180 from the city centre and headed to the Botanical gardens again since we got rained out the last time we tried to go. This time the weather was perfect and we were able to see the elements of the park the way they were ment to be seen. Most of the trees there seemed to be older then Rio itself judging by their size. I will let the images speak for themselves. Remember to click on the image to see a bigger version.

May 12 The Rainy Gardens

Today we went to the Botanical Gardens, stayed dry for a half hour and then the torrential rain started. We ran into a greenhouse and advoided getting soaked but it kind of put a damper on the rest of the visit. So we are going to try again on our next sunny day. Stayed in tonight and watched a movie since the next few days we have a busy schedule of night time plans with friends.

It started out nice...

Had some fun taking pictures...

Then the clouds moved in...

Then the rain started...

And it stayed like the for the rest of our visit to the gardens...

May 10th

Nothing much to report today but we did go on a walk around town when the rain stopped. It was just the right time of day with the sun slowly setting so we got some good shots.

May 9th First Day of Rain

First Day of Rain but we managed to get out of the house for a bit to see some of Lus friends but just hung around the house playing Wii and chatting. Yesterday (the 8th) we went had a great lunch for one of her Friends Bday's at another all you can eat, meat on swords place. Then later that night went to a place called Devassa which is a Micro Brewery with some great beer with Bella.

But the exciting news is the amazing steak restaurant that Lus parents took us to on Friday the 7th. Best steak I've ever had. Not only was the meat flaourful and tender but the side of fried onions that came with it was enormous and they were the best steak topping a guy could ask for. See Below (half finsihed)