Recife

Next, it was on to Recife - Brazil's fourth largest city.
Recife's nickname is "Venice of Brazil" because of its many bridges and waterways.
A major port on the Atlantic Ocean, its name is derived from the coral reefs that are dotted along the shores.
 It just so happens that our Temple Recorder/Bishop is from Recife, so we were fortunate to have our own personal guide! Cleto and Ana Marcia Oliveira were great! 

We spent our first day at the beach.
 Porto de Galinhas is one of the most famous beaches in Brazil. It means "Port of Chickens" in Portuguese. In the late 19th century, "black ships" transported slaves from Africa to Brazil to work in the sugarcane farms around Recife. This, of course, was prohibited, so in order to get around that, when a ship arrived in town, the word spread as "there are new chickens in the port", hence, the place gained its name Porto de Galinhas. 

 There are a lot of vendors on the beach!

 Fish and shrimp for us!

But BEWARE! Recife is known as having one of the top 10 shark infested beaches in the world (according to the Discovery Channel). You'll find many signs along the water's edge warning about the dangers of swimming. 

This kind of keeps the surfers away, as well!

The Recife Brazil Temple was the second temple built in Brazil

Before the Recife Brazil Temple was constructed, the closest temple for members in Recife was the São Paulo Temple which was a fifty-hour drive away. The temple was dedicated December 15, 2000 by Gordon B. Hinckley. I think they said that it was a mango farm originally and many of those trees remain today. There are also towering royal palms at the formal entrance to the temple and, of course, beautiful gardens of flowers everywhere.

Recife has some great places to eat. The Oliveiras took us to one specializing in food of the northeast. 

There was so much to take in. And we couldn't have asked for better tour guides!

Moving right along...

Next...

Manaus.

Spring Break - Or, When in Brazil...Rio

We've just completed our two week spring cleaning break at the the temple. 

Not wanting to hang around Curitiba during this time, we planned a little get-away. 

Our adventure took us to 

Rio de Janeiro→Brasilia→Recife→Manaus→São Paulo→back to Curitiba. 

Then it was on to Foz do Iguaçu→São Paulo→Curitiba→back to São Paulo→then back to Curitiba→and finally Home Again for Real!

We chalked up over 7,300 air miles in our 14 days.

Sooooo much to cover!

Let's start with destination #1.

Rio de Janeiro

Rio attracts over 2.8 million tourists a year. We were just 4 of them! 

Rio is also known as having the "bluest sky" in the whole wide world! (The statement seems bit audacious, but it’s actually based on a survey done in 2006 by a TV researcher who travelled around the globe in search of the world's bluest sky.) 

This I didn't know...Rio has a nickname...Cidade Maravilhosa or 'the marvelous city'.

Rio de Janeiro has several gorgeous beaches, including world famous Copacabana and Ipanema. The beauty of Ipanema even inspired a popular bossa nova hit, The Girl from Ipanema.

The wavy black and white patterned sidewalks that run the 4-km-long distance of the promenade were completed in 1970. The black and white waves represent the White Europeans and the Black African slaves, whose history is intertwined in Brazil. Within the black and white lines, you will find pockets of red. This represents the indigenous peoples of Brazil.

 

 

Next time you’re strolling along the beach in Copacabana, look down and around you. Find those pockets of color in the sidewalk mosaic, and think about the history embedded there.

The Girl from...↓

The Christ the Redeemer statue (Cristo Redentor) is located on Corcovado mountain in Tijuca forest, overlooking the city of Rio de Janeiro. It is the largest Art Deco statue in the world. It stands 98 feet tall, not including the pedestal. The outstretched arms on the Christ the Redeemer statue measure 28 feet wide. The statue took 9 years to construct and was completed in 1931. Even though it is struck by lightning a couple times a year, it lives on strong, watching over the citizens of the Marvelous City and stands as an enduring symbol of Brazilian Christianity. 

The city’s famous Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açucar) is almost 400 meters high and supposedly resembles a heap of sugar. It has over 250 climbing routes, making it one of the world’s most popular urban climbing areas.

Favelas are Brazilian slums. They are often erected hastily and haphazardly to fulfill the necessity for immediate housing. The first recorded favela is believed to have been built in the late 1800s.There are more than 1,000 slums, or favelas, in Rio – and almost one fourth of Cariocas (locals) live in them. It was there, in the favelas, that former African slaves and their descendants first created the music style we now know as samba.

Nowadays, most of the city’s renowned samba schools that compete in the world famous parade every carnival are located in favelas, or close by.

(We didn't go in them - we just drove by them.)

We only had one day in Rio. We loved what we were able to see. We had a great taxi driver who took us all over. The new temple is being built quite a ways outside the main city - too far to visit.

Next stop-

Recife

...but that will have to wait until tomorrow.