Rio De Janeiro, Brazil!

Ryan and I got back from Rio De Janeiro, Brazil on Wednesday... We left last Wed about 1130am but didn't get to Rio until 6am Rio time (2 hours ahead). It was ONE HECK OF A long long LOOOOONG flight. We flew XNA to DFW to MIA to RIO. That last leg was 9 hours long so needlesss to say, for a 5 1/2 mo pregnant woman, not too comfy! However, when we arrived to Barra (the area in Rio we stayed in), it was SO worth it!!!! Ryan's uncle Alex has been working/living there for about 15 mos and was kind enough to let us stay in his suite for free.... This is the view from his 13th floor suite!


On our first lunch, Uncle Al drove us to this amazing location where their were surfers surfing right next to us!!! Brazilian food is SO good too!




Ryan and Uncle Alex


The farmers' market the next morning proved to be very fresh and yummy!




We went to Sugar Loaf Mountain on Friday - the highest point in Rio and a "must see." You have to take the cable car up the 2 mountains to get the full view!



That point in this pic is the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) - we were going to go there but they were doing maintenance on it so it has all these steel beams all over it. It's one of the "new" seven wonders of the world.










On the mountains, there are marmosets all over the place! They come right up to you!

Rio must be known for it's incredible graffiti artwork... it's everywhere!

This part is sad - this is what I called the "shoeboxes" - these are abandoned buildings on top of each other - w/ no windows in most of them. 1 million people live in these things. It's unreal. Very very sad.

Barra Beach!!


Our hotel

Ryan in the lobby of the hotel...He keeps me laughing!!

More of those buildings - the Rocchina.

Of course, we had to stop in H. Stern. He actually started in Rio so there are stores everywhere. We got the whole tour of the factory where they make the gems. I even picked up a few blue topaz!!

Foot volley - a sport in Rio. This is Imanema Beach.


Too funny. These people do not care at all what they look like.

Lunch at the Sofitel - looking out onto Copacabana Beach.


The farmers market has a bit of different regulations as far as refrigeration. It was in the mid 80's this day.

Street performers.

Hippie Fair!!



The beach has coconut water... pretty yummy!

I had a non alcoholic drink at the pool. At least I can feel like I'm drinking.

At the hippie fair, I got matching "Brasil" (that's how they spell it) shirts for my 2 boys (Jackson and Ethan).

At Wal-Mart.

Our new friends! Uncle Alex's co-workers treated us to a TRUE Brazilian dinner and it was incredible... good food and even better company!!!

At the Brazilian steakhouse...

This was another dinner place we went - it was AWESOME! We had to take this boat over to it! It was outdoor and so peaceful!

Ryan LOVED the ocean!

YAY for our last trip before we are a family of 4!!!