Day 11 -- Goodbye Rio

We have to check out in a couple of hours. The internet in the hotel is barely working so I'm not sure if I'll be able to upload pictures.

For now some general observations about Rio/Copacabana: It’s probably one of the most beautifully located big cities in the world. It’s a dog city – you see lots of people walking with happy-looking dogs large and small, and not just one dog -- often 3 or more, and they clean up after them too! Our guide told us that many older Brazilians when they retire, they move to Copacabana so you see a lot of older people here. Beautiful Brazilian girls – on Copacabana beach you can see some great looking young girls in scant bikinis, but you also see a lot of not so young women, not so slim either, also in scant bikinis. Actually, you can see quite a few half-naked people (only in swim suits) walking on the streets. Rio has a good public transportation system – metro and buses. Buses are nice, but they do get stuck in traffic. Another interesting thing is that buses going one way have a different number than buses going the other way, e.g. the bus from Copacabana to the botanical garden was #570 and the bus back was # 569. The routes are a bit different too because a lot of the streets are one way streets. Both Rio and Sao Paulo look prosperous, at least as prosperous as American cities and the costs of meals are similar to the US. Clothes, shoes and other goods may be a bit more expensive here. You don’t see beggars at all, but there are a few homeless people here and there. Not very many and not bothersome.