For once pure tourism

In my posts I usually try to link what we do to something historical/political/unusual/ funny, but today I don't really have a story to tell, unless it's that we went to two of South America's top tourist locations. I could highlight that the cable cars were from Switzerland, Luzern, to be precise, but that would be pretty pathetic.

So today was tourism, no ifs no buts. First stop sugar loaf mountain, 2nd stop Ipanema beach.

Sugar loaf surprised on the upside ( where Cristo was rather the opposite), with a fun cable car ride and stunning views of the bays, beaches, hills, and the city. I think the 1st time visitor will not expect Rio to be so big or to have so many hills/ mountains and such big beaches.

Ipanema is Ipanema, but maybe the song should if its rewritten should be called "The boys from Ipanema go walking", as this is the gay capital of Latam. That's probably a good thing as here the beach feels safe and calm, with no hassles. The kids had a great time with the big waves and the sand. I for my part hid from the sun, and I couldn't go in the water, as I had no swim shorts. The rest didn't tell me they had packed swim gear, shame since the beach did meet my three conditions for a good beach, namely (a) shade (b) showers (c) alcohol.Read more