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"Brazil"Rio De JaneiroWe arrived in the beautiful city of Rio
and once unpacked at the Rio Copa Best Western, we headed straight
for the beach. Rio's beach is endless and is made up of three sections;
Copacabana, Ipenema and Leblon. We were nearest to Copacabana and
spent the afternoon walking along the sand and enjoying the local
sights of beach volleyball, sand castles and beach vendors. In the
evening, we took the bus to the far end of Leblon and leisurely walked
the 1 1/2 hour way back to the hotel, taking in supper at a restaurant
along the way and an evening craft bazaar.
We left in the morning for a mall nearby where we spent the next hour browsing the stores while we waited for Eduardo. Eduardo was already a good friend as he is a frequent visitor to Canada and to the States for the American National and Westminster. Once we found each other we went for lunch to an amazing Brazilian barbecue restaurant. At your seat, you will find a coaster that is red on one side and green on the other. Once you get your choice of side dish from the expansive selection at the salad bar, the main dishes start to arrive on giant skewers by the waiters. The idea is to leave the green side of the coaster up when you want the main dish and to turn it to red once you have had enough or need time to catch your breath, as when it is green, it is non-stop! All types and cuts of beef, chicken,sausage, fish and other delicacies arrive and are too tasty looking to refuse! We had totally given up on diets at this point.
On Friday, we were picked up by very
good friend Wagner Fernandez. Wagner had recently returned home to
Brazil after spending 12+ years in the US. He is a very well known
breeder and handler in the US and we had spent many US Nationals with
him. He was joined by Regina and Aderson and we were looking forward
to seeing the house and kennel where Fabiana was currently living
but what would soon become Wagner's new residence. As we would not
be doing any outdoor sightseeing, it did not matter that it was still
raining, as it was still 28 degrees outside.
Saturday was a lazy day for us and in the evening, we went to a local "must see" of Salsa dancing at Plataforma. Certainly worth seeing as it is non-stop dancing and fabulous costumes. Afterwards we joined Wagner and Aderson to do some nightclubbing and dancing of our own at a club called Mariuzin. We had a great time and crawled home in the wee hours of the morning.
Sunday morning was spent with local breeder Leonardo Pimenta of BR Pepper Shih Tzu who drove us to the top of Corcovado to see the world famous `Christ the Redeemer Statue`. Breathtaking. Then it was off to meet his wife Bianca and a tour of their lovely home in Barra da Tijuca and nearby kennel to see their dogs. Their hospitality was very appreciated and we enjoyed spending time with them.
We had a short time left to the day and headed for a quick stop at the beach as we had made plans to spend the evening with Eduardo for supper. We ate at well known Brazilian BBQ. Porcai with Cesar Hugo Barbano from Ecuador who had judges at the dog show just out side Rio on the weekend. The it was off to Lapa, a historical downtown district of Rio rich in history and architecture for an another evening of dancing, drinks and music. Eduardo was determined we would learn how to salsa and you couldn't help but get in the mood with the live band and wall to wall people. We had a great time and were sorry to say our goodbyes to Eduardo at the end of the night.
Brazil is a beautiful country and the
people are very friendly, welcoming and made us feel at home. We are
looking forward to someday returning and send a big "Thank You"
to everyone who made our stay so enjoyable.
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