ami

It took over a month of careful planning and plenty of help from family and friends. On February 22, I left snowy Colorado to visit Brasil. The plan was to surprise Raquel and ask her to marry me. It was an exciting adventure that took me through five different airports (including Venezuela where I was held up by the military police) and then finally 104℉ Rio de Janeiro 24 hours later. Had a brief talk with my future family in law, ate the most amazing feijoada and then sat quietly in Raquel’s room before she walked in the door for our “planned” video chat. Everything worked out beautifully for what became the greatest day of my life. What followed was two amazing days in Rio meeting with family, enjoying delicious food and taking in the scenery. Click the gallery above for a closer look

The time has come. Only three days left on my visa and less than two weeks until school starts in Tokyo. Colorado is waiting but before leaving had to finish up a few last minute details. The day started with hang gliding over Tijuca national park and lunch at my favorite rodizio Porcao. After eating too much we walked over to Rio Sul and the Botofogo futebol store for some shopping. The evening led us to Zaza Bistro, a quiet romantic dinner for two. Continue reading to take a look at what I was up two and videos hang gliding.

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Today was Pedro’s birthday and we celebrated at his parent’s beautiful house in Niteroi. Like Prainha it took a long time getting there but the views were worth it. My first party in Rio with mostly college students, I saw many similarities with parties back home. Mostly good music, plenty of laughs and of course a good supply of beverages. Continue reading to see the festivities.

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Prainha is by far one of the most beautiful beaches in Rio. The challenge of reaching Prainha is it takes a good hour or two just to get to Barra da Tijuca and from there no public transportation. The rest of journey should be made by car or taxi in order to reach the beach. Luckily we took grandpa’s car and shortly afterward headed to an amazing churrasco hosted by Marcio and Carla in celebration of Raquel’s grandma’s bday. After plenty of fun and good food we headed back to Copacabana and rested up for some funky Chinese food and live Samba in Lapa. Continue reading to see a gallery of beautiful views and the party that followed.

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A nice quiet neighborhood nestled outside of Lapa. Lots of winding roads, good resturants and art. The best way to get there is by taking the tram. The excitement of riding an old tram over the aqueduct arches is well worth the 60 centavos. Continue reading to check out the gallery for a look at Catedral Metropolitana on the way, a delicious feijoada lunch and video of the ride.

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