Rio de Janeiro 2005: Day 3
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Saturday, November 26, 2005: We were scheduled to go on a half-day tour to Corcovado in the morning, but we were forced to reschedule since it was raining. Not to worry -- our resourceful Ambassadair travel director Martha Ellen came up with an alternative plan to visit the local mall. I'm sorry that this is the only photo I got of our excellent hotel, the Miramar Palace. It's the building in the middle. |
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While waiting for the bus, we got this photo of Lucas Restaurant, where we enjoyed meals on Friday and Tuesday. Meals in Rio are a true bargain, with large portions, low prices, and great service. |
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Brave Martha Ellen kept an eye out for the bus for us ... |
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... as the rest of us took shelter under the kiosks. |
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Hooray! It's the bus! Hotel guests can ride the bus to and from Rio Sul for free by getting a voucher from their hotel. |
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It took us a little while to get up our courage to buy anything, but once we started, we were on a roll. We picked up t-shirts in this store. |
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We watched a mob of tiny Brazilian girls chatter in high, excited voices in front of the Barbie display at this toy store, but they had dispersed without violence by the time we got out our camera. |
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Our quest to find a Harry Potter book in Portuguese ended when we found this HP display in a bookstore. |
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The food court was overflowing by early afternoon, so we ducked into a buffet restaurant where you fill your plate and pay for your food by how much it weighs. We got to try many different foods this way, and each thing we tried was delicious. This was true of everything we ate in Brazil. |
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It continued to rain outside, so we decided to spend a few more hours at the mall by seeing "Harry Potter eo Cálice de Fogo" ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"). We had the option of seeing it dubbed or with subtitles, so we opted for subtitles of course. |
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Here's the Portuguese movie poster for the "Chronicles of Narnia." |
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After a full day of shopping and moviegoing, we returned to our hotel room and enjoyed a couple of beers and some take-out sandwiches from the mall on our balcony. |
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The rain had stopped but it was still quite overcast. |
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It didn't look good for hang gliding the next day as the clouds seemed to go on forever behind our favela. |
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The dreary weather made for a very cool nighttime photo of Copacabana and Sugar Loaf. |
Copyright © Deborah Schilling/Thomas Bundy