Yesterday morning started with a trip to Ipanema. Cab? Bus? Or something else. We chose the something else - a van with a pretty good looking guy hanging out the window and waving. We leaped in - the stop is pretty quick and you have to move fast. Despite dire warnings, we lost no major organs and were deposited right where we wanted to be - Ipanema beach. Unfortunately, I believed the books that said it was too cold to swim in the winter and did not bring a bathing suit, so we waded in and David got soaked. The morning was a success as he saw several of the vaunted ´dental floss´ bikinis but the thrill passed quickly as some of the buns were not worth looking at.
We took in the National History Museum and the center of town in the afternoon, a street fair in the evening and David ate fezuouada - the traditional Brazilian bean and meat stew. The waitress actually had to pull up a second table to serve it from a round iron pot. He liked it - but I stuck with chicken - which describes my attitude toward unusual food exactly.
Today we went into the mountains to Petropolis - the summer home of the emperors of Brazil. We visited the Imperial Palace which had the shiniest wooden floors you ever could see. Why? Because, as the throngs entered the museum, a guard puts a pair of slippers over your shoes. The bottom of the slippers was made of a chamois-like fabric and the effect of wearing them was a lot like ice skating. I was hoping to pick up a dozen pair in the gift shop for use at my house, but, alas, they did not sell them. The ride down the curvas peligosas (new Portuguese for me)in fog and rain was a little frightening, but we comforted ourselves by eating the candy we bought at the obligatory tour shop stop - a chocolate factory.
Time to go for a night time wander along Copacabana - they have kiosks every hundred feet that sell beer and these great limon ice creams. Everybody is happy!
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