Feb 14 - Rio de Janiero

SANDY SHORE : This has been a highly anticipated destination. It’s Rio by the Sea-O! We’ve been looking forward to spending time in Brazil’s most famous city for months now… to take in the sites of Ipanema, Copacabana, Corcovado, Sugar Loaf Mountain! Plus we have been really excited to spend some time with one of our favorite Brazilian guitarists, Torcuato Mariano!

Rio was raining when we arrived. I was rather relieved by this... we had received reports earlier in the week that the city had been experiencing highs upward of 100 degrees. Coming from the Monterey Bay area in California, we just don’t survive well in extreme heat and humidity… we wilt. So I gladly accepted 75 degrees with 75% humidity – it was totally tolerable.

Torcuato and his lovely wife Monica picked us up at the pier and we zipped off to Samba City where we saw the Carnival floats in the making in enormous warehouses one week prior to the nation’s biggest celebration, Carnival… this was the last day to see the floats in their warehouses before Carnival. We weren’t really supposed to snap any pics as the floats are in competition with each other, but fortunately, I was able to get a few shots. The workmanship is so impressive, along with the enormity of the floats! Nothing like I’ve ever seen before!

From Samba City, we scooted around Ipanema, Copacbana and drove passed Sugar Loaf which is just an amazing geographical wonder… mountains jetting straight out of the sea. I was also very intrigued by Corcovado with one of the 7 wonders of the world positioned high atop… The Christ the Redeemer statue (Christo Rendentor)… we saw that statue from everywhere in the city, including from our ship stateroom balcony.

Torcuato and Monica are two of the nicest people you’d ever want to meet… they were generous with their time, interesting and diverse and absolutely adorable together. They look way too young to have two grown daughters (20 and 24), but they do and the girls called Torcuato’s iPhone while we were lunching at a fabulous restaurant called Quadrucci. We were grateful to the Marianos for taking us to a health food store called Mundo Verde to stock up on tea, granola and vitamin supplements!

Following lunch, the four of us headed to Ipanema where I was able to have a recorded chat with Torquato to discuss his upcoming release on NuGroove Music SO FAR FROM HOME (due out in March). Interview coming soon!

I am resolved to come back to Rio… we spotted a Golden Tulip Hotel right across from Copacabana Beach and I’m sure we’ll definitely be back to stay here! ~ss

DONNA KAY PHILLIPS : Rio is too much city for one day in port, even our fair-minded Captain Pagano agreed. His bus returned over an hour late with 4 more buses of passengers and crew coming in even later. It appears that the Carnaval energy is burdgeoning into the streets and all of the Policia in Brazil cannot stop it enough to keep the roadways clear. Fortunately the laid back Brazilian vibe has affected us all to the point where we don't really care when we depart.

As we disembarked and made our way through the busy cruise terminal, we shunned the aggressive taxi drivers and faithfully waited outside the Port Terminal looking for Torcuato. Having designed marketing campaigns for his Record Labels in the past, I had only seen headshots; I hoped that it would be enough to recognize him when he arrived and it was. However, his smile and hospitatlity was far more than pictures could ever convey. We were greeted by him and his lovely wife, Monica, and whisked away to Samba City to learn about the competing schools that work year round to build some of the floats for Carnaval.

Monica was a student of one of these schools, where she learned every aspect of float design, construction, decoration and performace. This is my type of school. I was very impressed at the level of craftsmanship and quality put into these floats - I could not stop going over every fine detail. Also, from what I saw, the floats are being built with very basic tools, nothing that would be available in the U.S. for the Macy's ThanksGiving Day or Rose Bowl parades. This is a truly inspiring notion for me.

Monica told me that a lot of the students at the schools live in the favellas (ghettos) and even though they are not paid for their work, they receive great hope and pride from it. The notion that it is "better to give then receive" appears to be at work here in Brazil, something that I hope the U.S. re-experiences as we move forward into this next challenge of rebuilding our country. We have actually heard from Americans on this ship that don't like the neglect of infrastructure in their home towns but on the other hand don't want to pay to change it - what is left but volunteerism? I have seen this all over Brazil - throwing loads of money at something doesn't always create the best solution.

I was also surprised with the great similarities between Rio and San Francisco, also with the Italian influences. I figured Rio for mainly having a Portuguese influence, but it is quite European in it's architecture and feel.

The massive beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema were virtually empty due to the rain, but I could imagine the throngs of tanned almost naked bodies glistening in the hot sun with the backdrop of those distinctive rounded mountains jutting straight out of the sea. Between the scenery, the people and the culture it is clear why Rio is one of the world's must visit destinations. The only thing I missed out on today was a plate of local black beans, rice and plantain - a mere reason to return. - dkp