Rio

---

---

Rio....football, samba, beaches, crime, pollution, beauty, traffic jams, poverty, wealth: it's Buenos Aires on crack, New York in a bikini, Vancouver on speed, Istanbul on illi. All superlatives apply.

I went to a football game in the world's largest stadium, able to hold 200 000 people, to watch Botafogo and Flamengo battle it out to a draw.

I hung out on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches where bikinis and silicone rule, where buff guys swagger and pose.

I went to pre-Carnaval beach parties where everyone wandered along the street drinking beer as girls and boys kissed passionately, their faces grafted together.

I wanted to go to a samba school to watch Carnaval preparations but didn't make it.

I wanted to do a lot of things but didn't have the time.

I want to come back.

---

Photos

Rio
Copacabana beach on the left side.

Rio
With Christ Redemptor on the hill.

Sugarloaf
Known in Portuguese as Pan d'Azucar.

Giant flag
Fans stretched this out at the football stadium.

Ice-cream seller
Really sweating it out in the heat.

Copacabana Beach
A slow day.

Ipanema Beach
Just one of the dozens, possibly hundreds, of itinerant vendors on Ipanema, all of them shouting out their wares.

Ipanema Beach
View to the right.

Ipanema Beach
View to the left.

Farah
A bikini professional, I met her on Ipanema Beach.

Comments

[dennis farah]

she is soothing to look at