BARRA DA TIJUCA SUNSET WITH ENGLISH VISITORS

I was working for  two couples from England who came to Rio to see  the beauty of our city when we were passing by the Barra da Tijuca they wished to stop to take pictures of the sunset when we came out of my car we saw that  beautiful sunset, was  stunning, and they asked me to take pictures of them at  beach

                                                             

INTERNATIONAL SEMINAR ON TOURISM IN RIO DE JANEIRO

 

As a tour guide in rio  it´s required in my profession that  I participate in conferences and seminars in the city of  Rio  and other states of Brazil , I'm always up to date  on what is happening in the Tourism Industry nationally and worldwide  this seminar happened to be in  Rio de Janeiro

 

The  seminar was held  in a nice and large Auditorium inside the Fundação Getúlio Vargas

and the speakers talked about various topics including main challenges for developing sustainable tourism in Rio from the  view point of local Government 

 

 

 

Youcheng  from China talked about destination marketing the main topic was Achieving succes through Collaboration and networking

 

Ian F.Wilkinson and his wife Marina  talked about the role of only one bussiness relations and networks in the tourism performance  

 

 

 

During this  seminar they had a full day tour and chose me as their tour guide  so we went to visit the  Taunay waterfall inside   the Tijuca Forest Park located in the heart of Rio de Janeiro It is considered the largest urban forest in the all world this  picture was taken inside the park in front of the Cascatinha , a beautiful waterfall .

 

 

we visited  Christ the Redeemer and my guestes took this nice picture with a stunning view of the beaches of Rio de Janeiro and the Lake Rodrigo de Freitas

 

After visiting the statue we went to an amazing place called Gigóía´s Island  . It´s only accessible by boat but right  in the middle of Barra da Tijuca  . The Island has approximately 2.000 residents

 

 

everywhere we look in  this wonderful and wild Island we can see different  species of birds , crabs and even  caymans  !

after this nice and pleasant tour we went to a Restaurant located up the hill to eat a delicious seafood brought in crock pot with gives a better taste to the dish .

PETRÓPOLIS

Petrópolis is a municipality in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro. It occupies an area of 774.606 kilometers ², with a population of 312,766 inhabitants  . The mild climate, historical buildings , and lush vegetation ,  are major tourist attractions . In addition, the city has a bustling trade and services, and agricultural production especially of fruit , founded on the initiative of Dom Pedro II ,it´s always has been  called the Imperial City.

Quitandinha Palace

Quitandinha Palace store was opened in February 1944 and came into operation as a casino and hotel . The grandeur and  rococo holywoodiano style "attracted presidents, famous artists, business leaders and the cream of Brazilian society, who  were up until dawn at the casino tables the room was where the casino is. It has one of the largest domes in  the world  30 meters high and 50 feet in diameter, and whose architectural features had an architectural features ha a  sound effect  fourteen times, is undoubtedly one of major attractions of the place. The ceilings of some rooms are  8 feet high, and the lobby ,  lit with  huge chandeliers and a large star of Carrara marble floor . These are some of the luxury features . The  grocery store has a theater with three revolving stages, desks, boxes and stalls for 1,600 people, which hosts conferences, plays and concerts. It also has reading rooms that allow the installation of a computer system and simultaneous translation.

it has 50 million square feet and six floors, divided into 440 apartments and 13 large rooms with up to 10 meters. The dome of the hall ranks as the second largest dome in the world possessing 30m and 50m in diameter. In it´s construction there was a lot of sand  used from the beach of Copacabana. The lake in the entire length of its imposing facade has the format of the map of Brazil and was built as the only viable support in the event of an unexpected fire ,  stars like Errol Flynn, Orson Welles, Lana Turner, Henry Fonda, Maurice Chevalier, Greta Garbo, Carmen Miranda, Walt Disney, Bing Crosby and even a king dethroned (Carol II of Romania). And politicians like Getúlio Vargas and Evita Peron, when the American Conference of 1946. In its office was the signing of the declaration of war of the American countries to the Axis Powers during the Second World War. Is was where the 16th World  Conference Bandeirantes,held in 1957, which had representatives from 23 countries associated to WAGGGS (Word Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts)

The Restaurant  inside the building

                                               IMPERIAL MUSEUM

This is me with my guests from Texas

The Imperial Museum is located at the center of the city of Petropolis 80 km from the city of Rio de Janeiro

Particularly important are the imperial jewels  with the crown  Dom Pedro II  created by Carlos Marin especially for the consecration and coronation of the young emperor, then 15 years old, and the crown of Dom Pedro I  and many other rare pieces and precious as safe gilded bronze and porcelain offered by the King of France Louis-Philippe to his son Franz Ferdinand d'Orleans, Prince de Joinville, on the occasion of his marriage to Princess Dona Francisca, the gold necklace with emeralds and rubies insignia of the empire that belonged to Empress Leopoldina, and the necklace of amethysts the Marquesa de Santos, by Dom Pedro

CARNIVAL MUSEUM OR MUSEUM OF SAMBA

Museum of Samba, located in the Sambadrome - Apotheosis Square, entry by Rua Frei Caneca - Centro - Rio de Janeiro. Designed by Oscar Niemeyer and built in conjunction with the Sambadrome in Sapucaí .

this is a nice phot taken by me with the Venezuelan mom and her child using a nice and dress that belongs to one of the school samba this Museum  is adjacent to the Sambadrome and  when you  visit  the museum you can try on  and use costumes to take pictures.

you can see videos of samba dancing schools  at the museum

You can also see several different costumes of Samba Schools

Every year carnival takes place in Rio de Janeiro in February or beginning of March  when we receive many  tourists from all over  the world ,  who come to joy the festivities with us.

STAR PRINCE DIRECT FROM THE SHIP TO THE FULL DAY TOUR WITH DIANA

to go on a Cruise ship is a dream for many people but to  Cruise on the Brazilian waters is an even  bigger dream. that's my job ; to provide  passengers on a ship a  full day tour in  Rio de Janeiro.This  became  a reality  with the Keedy family  who arrived in Rio and had an unforgettable day at some of  the most beautiful places in our city

SUGAR LOAF WITH THE FAMILY

We spent pleasant hours visiting  Sugar Loaf and observing the beauty of the city from the top of the mountain we could see  Christ Redeemer, the beaches of Botafogo, Flamengo and Copacabana, the entrance of the Guanabara Bay, the domestic Airport of Rio de Janeiro and  the beauty  of  Niterói city , where we would go later

they all  enjoyed  that  sunny day

BOTANICAL GARDEN

me and the family posing for a picture

the Botanical Garden was created in 1808 to  show  the flora of the Eastern Indias by the King D. Joao VI . The first plants came from the Mauricias Islands and many more arrived  afterwards,the garden  has various species of bromelias, orchids, cactus, medicinal and carnivorous plants ,we can also go to the Garden's Library and see the many different collections of dried fruits, photographs and rare exotic Brazilian plants. The Botanical Garden it is a place where you  can go with your   family for a single day of leisure,it´s a place full of history where we find several species of plants, trees, seeds and flowers.

more than 7.000 plants species grow at the Park it is an ecological sanctuary and one of the most important in the world

The park contains 140 species of birds, many of which have become accustomed to humans and are consequently much easier to observe than in the wild. These include the channel-billed toucan, dusky-legged guan and slaty-breasted rail , howler monkeys and tufted-eared marmosets are also frequently seen at the Botanical Gardens.

                             CITY PARK -NITERÓI

the City Park is located on Viração hill  in the quarter of São Francisco with  an altitude of 270 meters above the sea , the Park offers tourism structure, two ramps for the practice of free flight and a panoramic view of the ocean region and  Guanabara Bay.

Mark Keedy and me posing for a photo at  the ramp where  people   hangliding  and paragliding  we saw  a stunning view of the Atlantic Ocean, Niterói, Guanabara's Bay and Rio de Janeiro.

FULL DAY TOUR WITH 3 TO 4 PEOPLE -U$300 DOLLARS IT TAKES FROM 6 TO 8 HOURS

RIO DE JANEIRO AIRPORT TRANSFER

Antonio Carlos Jobim International Airport -  GIG -  better known by its former name Galeão International Airport is Rio de Janeiro's major international airport and largest airport site in Brazil since August 2004, with the transfer of many flights from Santos-Dumont Airport, Rio de Janeiro International Airport has returned to being the main doorway to Brazil. According to data from the official Brazilian travel bureau, Embratur, nearly 50% of foreign tourists who visit Brazil choose Rio as their gateway, meaning Galeão Airport.

Besides linking Rio to the rest of Brazil with domestic flights, Galeão has connections to more than 18 countries. It can handle up to 15 million users a year in two passenger terminals.

Located close to downtown Rio, the International airport is served by several quick access routes, such as the Linha Vermelha and Linha Amarela freeways and Avenida Brasil, thus conveniently serving residents of the city´s southern, northern and western zones.

The first name of the airport (Galeão, meaning galleon in Portuguese) refers to the beach located in front of the old terminal (presently the passenger terminal

of the Brazilian Air Force) and close to the location where in 1663

the galleon Padre Eterno was built. The second name (Antonio Carlos Jobim) is in honor of the Brazilian musician Antonio Carlos Jobim and was awarded by Presidential decree  on January 5, 1999. It is located on Governador Island and  is currently administrated by  Embraer

On 31 August 2009, Infraero unveiled a BRL819 million (USD431 million; EUR302 million) investment plan  to up-grade Galeão International Airport focusing on the preparations for the 2014 FIFA World Cup which will be held in Brazil, Rio de Janeiro being one of the venue cities, and the 2016 Summer Olympics, which Rio de Janeiro will host.

I work with transfers  in and out of the International Airport of Rio de Janeiro . It doesn´t matter what time your airplane arrives in our city ,   I´ll be there to take you to your hotel or to take you from the cruise ship to the airport

transfers to the Airport     - U$55 dollars
tranfers to the Port of Rio- U$55 dollars 

TIJUCA FOREST PARK WITH SUSAN STOCK FROM CANADA

The Cascatinha Tunay is the first attraction of the Tijuca Forest - the largest urban forest in the world and  the green that dominates the landscape of Rio de Janeiro.Access is by road the  Barra da Tijuca, entering through the Praça Afonso Viseu  in Alto da Boa Vista . It has a parkinglot , bar, shop for handicrafts and ,  best of all, tranquility . Taunay was a French painter who was part of the mission of artists with   D. John VI in 1816 .His family owned the property where there is a waterfall down the road. Going left or going down the trail parking lot, you get to a garden where you can see the waterfall beneath a very beautiful old bridge .

After the waterfall you reach The Matrink Veiga little Chapel ,  very known by the Brazilian high society where they still celebrate nice weddings .

This is us inside the church.

Restaurante ¨Os Esquilos ¨ The Squirrels it´s a unique restaurant in the middle of the Forest preferred by  Rio´s Society . The building that houses the restaurant was formerly the home of the Baron de Escragnolle  , one of the administrators responsible for the reflorestation

FULL DAY TOUR FOR 1 TO 2 PEOPLE - U$200 DOLLARS IT TAKES FROM 6 TO 8 HOURS