2009/07/22

FULL DAY TOUR IN RIO WITH HERNAN AND HIS PARENTS

Since 1950 with the World Cup The Maracana Football Stadium has been used for Club games with four major Clubs in Rio de Janeiro such as Flamengo , Botafogo , Fluminense and Vasco with football matches it has also many Concerts and sporting Events , In 1980 Pope John Paul II perfomed masses at the Stadium on more than one ocasion . Great Musical Productions have taken place there with celebrated International Idols such as Frank Sinatra, Paul MacCartney , Tina Turner , Rolling Stones ,Madonna , Prince , Gun´s and Roses , George Michael , INXS , A-HA , perfomed Shows there .


The tour includes Hall of Fame , side walk of Fame , Historical Photographs and Panoramic views, Pele was the best Brazilian player in all times with 1000th career goal The Maracana is a special place for all brazilians and special for me that adore to show you this marvellous Stadium Family and I in the middle of the lawn



The Maracana Sports Complex can hold up to 114.145 spectators and occupies a total area of 304.284m2 that includes Maracanazinho ( a small maracana in size ) where you can see games and competitions , now Brazil is applying for the 2012 Olyimpic Summer Games where plans are made to use the Maracana as grounds for football , voleyball an waterpolo.


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An Spetacular view of Rio de Janeiro from City Park , a Municipal biology and Forest Preservation located at Viração Hill with 270 meters hight , it occupies a 149.390 m2 area
has been inaugurated on 21st , 1976 and it has a belvedere where we can see panoramic views of Piratininga , Itaipu Lagoons , Camboinhas Beach , this is a view from Guanabara Bay and Rio de Janeiro , there are two ramps propitious for the practice of the hangliding and parapente



This is the best Restaurant that I´ve ever been in my life , it´s a all you can eat , with differents kinds of food for all tastes , and of course we stopped by to have a great lunch between our tour .




Guanabara bay is the second largest bay in area in Brazil , at 159 sq mi ( 412 square kilometres ) with a perimeter of 143 kilometres (89) mi , the name Guanabara comes from the Tupi - Guarani language it´s translated as the `Bosom of the Sea ´ the Bay is 31 kilometres long ( 19mi ) and 28 kilometres wide ( 17mi ) and it is crossed by the Rio-Niteroi bridge with 13.29 kilometres long and there is a heavy boat and ship traffic including reguar ferryboats lines .






The fort Santa Cruz ( 1565 ) is inside a Military area it guards the narrowest part of Guanabara Bay , it is the main defensive installation of Rio de Janeiro in the Colonial Period it is now occupied by an air defense unit , some parts of the structure are the Chapel , the Prison and the Cova das Onças ( torture chambre ) dated from the 17th century , and has a stunning view of Sugar Loaf and the Bay .











At the Restaurant Zéfiro inside the Fort the main food is grilled fish they have Lobsters , Shrimp , Crabs and Contemporanian Food , it´s delicious !








That´s me wondering how it was in 1565 when the invaders tried to enter the sea in our city of Rio de Janeiro




Hernan was impressed with the beauty of the place and how the Fort is well preserved





If you want to know more just contact Diana . cel :005521 - 92184610

2009/07/15

THE BEST TOUR WITH TWO GUYS FROM ISRAEL


A well known beach in Rio de Janeiro is Pepino Beach ( in São Conrado ) near the Intercontinental Hotel , it´s the most beautiful place for take-off for hangliding and paragliding this beach it´s the best spot for extreme sports in Rio de Janeiro


Gigóia Island it´s accesible only by boat but right in the heart of the beautiful Rio !! has approximately 2000 residents
In Gigóia ( a very special Island ) there are many houses some of them big and small ones















Caiman are everywhere on the Island





Marcos loved to see all the nature and it was a memorable day






we could see many different species of birds

















The boat driver has the ability to go in hiden places to show we all








Marcos and Tafell loved the tour in the Island

2009/05/17

TWO CANADIAN GIRLS AND THE REALIZATION OF A DREAM

If you want adventure you are in the right place , this is the city that you can have so much fun !






the girls decided they wanted to have this experience once in their life , so they took pre-arranged lesson on how to fly

Jackie waiting for the flight
me and Jackie at the ramp

Located within the largest Urban Forest in the world , inside the Tijuca National Park , the free flight launch ramp on Pedra Bonita rock reaches out over the Forest at an altitude of 1600 feets

The mountain is 820 meters high , dipping into the Atlantic Ocean it is the highest coastal Mountain in the world voted by the Lonely Planet guide as one the five obligatory activities in Rio de Janeiro hang gliding is also one of the 1000 that we should achieve in our lifetime

The sensation of hang gliding can be compared to a type of dinamic meditation, and in an arc of 360 degrees , you can see the Corcovado , Sugar Loaf the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon , the multi-colored Forest , the Rocinha Favela and on the other side the Barra da Tijuca Beach and Gavea Rock , their flight was very safe and the landing was awsome .

The plans for our day with Diana were to go to the Statue of Christ Redeemer and also go to hike in Tijuca Forest Park .However we ended up doing so much more ! she was so enthousiastic and encouraged us to take every oportunity .It was the most amazing experience and we would have never been able to do it If she had not been so encouraging Jackie and Janelle

While we were going back to the Hotel in Copacabana we saw the Pilots hang gliding so we decided to stop at São Conrado to have a look at the guys and to take some pictures here you can see the Pepino beach and the landing area


2009/05/16

THE FLORESTA DA TIJUCA PARK

Tijuca forest in the Municipality of Rio de Janeiro it is one of the biggest Urban Forest in the world covering 3.200 hectare it harbored a large indigenous population untill the 16th century the original florest was destroyed to make way for coffee farmers on the second half of the 19th century later on it was replanted to protect the Rio water supply because in the middle of the rivers of the city or Rio were drying up



The guard at the entrance gave us many rules about the Park and how to behave with the little animals and how to do the track up to Pico da Tijuca














Eduardo it´s experienced in Mountains so he went to the Pico da Tijuca ,with the girls it´s about 1 hour walk till the top you need to have lots of water , a backpaker on your shoulders , sunscreen , sunblock and a repelent then you are ready to go























The monkey is watching Jackie from the top of the pole and she was looking at the other ones around














When the girls contact me for some adventure they never imagine how fun it was going to be !!!!!!!!!! we saw on our way up some species of Nail Monkey ( Macaco Prego )

Many species of little animals like the ` Guati ´ are seen at the Forest crossing our way



                            It´s amazing how they are so sweet with us and very curious

2009/05/15

THE CHURCHES IN DOWNTOWN AREA


Downtown Rio de Janeiro has many churches , some of those churches took almost over a 100 years to be built , there are convents and monasteries and brazilian barroque , rococo, neoclassic and ecletic masterpiece are all everywhere you look it is a travel through the time , it doens´t matter what belief you may have you will be impressed by the skill of the constrution , criativity and devotion of those temples named São Bento Monastery , Metropolitan Cathedral , Candelária Church to name a few
This famous church is a good example  for the opulent , Neo Barroque Archiqueture






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