IMG_5184 Very elaborate grafitti in Sao Paulo and Rio IMG_5185 As we were driving by I think I understood this is the governors house (of the state of Rio de Janiero I would assume) IMG_5187 Yes, it's a VW but in little letters you can see the "Total Flex" there just below the transrio website. That means this car can take 100% gasoline, 100% alcohol (ethanol), or any custom mixture of those. People often find a good mixture for their vehicle given the current prices. The price of ethanol is evidently rarely stable but often too high or too low, but at least with decades of investment into ethanol production and an easier less energy intensive method of conversion for the plentiful sugar cane (versus corn in the US) some energy independence is possible (however, Brazil does have a large amount of oil reserves) This was taken on the way into a nice shopping mall in Rio - the shopping malls in Brazil that we went to were all very high end with designers like Dolce and Babbana, Christian Dior, and others taking up much of the shop real estate. Many of the luxury goods were of course very high priced and aimed at the female population. Also, many stores had designer goods but looking for a nice (and reasonably priced) present made in Brazil was difficult, but not impossible. IMG_5189 Next we visited the famed Copacabana beach where people more lounged and stood near the waves than swam (the currents appeared pretty dangerous at least near where we walked) IMG_5191 IMG_5192 IMG_5193 The white and black pattern along the sidewalk is the signature of Rio de Janiero and I would guess representative of it's laid back lifestyle compared to the business hub of Sao Paulo where I saw similar patterns made of square-ish bricks instead IMG_5198 We stopped a bit past the beach at a wonderful overlook and nice restaurant IMG_5199 IMG_5203 IMG_5204 IMG_5205 IMG_5214_Pano IMG_5219 IMG_526 IMG_5231 The favelas (shanty towns) were present on the outskirts and amongst Sao Paulo and Rio and were stacked right up steep hills and with a very high density, about 25% of the population lives below the poverty line in Brazil IMG_5234 Before leaving, we headed up to the Sao Bento Monastery, which features a wonderfully guilded interior - too bad it was under rennovation...the altar and sides were at least exposed IMG_5235 A worker clearing away centuries of soot/dirt I assume IMG_5238 IMG_5241 It was just about closing time and here one of the church employees walks through a photo IMG_5251 The front door was richly carved IMG_5254 A color-shifted photo of the ironwork above the main door IMG_5256_Pano Sao Bento Monastery, Rio de Janiero IMG_5258 Back to the airport and just as we were boarding it started to rain - here are some photos from the flight back IMG_5259 IMG_5261 IMG_5262 A cruise boat IMG_5263 A refinery (complete with natural gas flame - tough to see in the photo though) Return to Features