[09.08.2007] The São Paulo Marriott Airport hotel is situated less than 5 minutes from the International airport of Guarulhos and 19 Km from the city centre of São Paulo. Its pretty much cut off from downtown Sao Paulo so I wouldnt recommend it if you intend to explore the city. I was transported freely to the hotel from the airport one evening back in 2005. My my flight had been eventually cancelled after I had been waiting fo [more]

[20.02.2007] São Paulo is a never ending sprawling metropolis with some 18 million or so inhabitants. It is one of the big 5 cities that exist in the world. It is the business and commercial centre of Brazil and, of course, it has many of the down sides of any big city: pollution, crime, vagrants, traffic jams and from time to time, bureaucratic corruption. Being so big its quite easy to get lost especially in some of the more o [more]

[16.09.2006] I have stood at the feet of Jesus and looked down at the City of God. Many people will know of the famous statue Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) that overlooks the city of Rio de Janeiro but there are not so many who would be able to name the mountain upon which the statue is perched: it is called Corcovado, meaning "hunchback" in Portuguese and is 710 metres in height. The monument to Jesus was inaugurated on [more]

[11.08.2006] In my view Ipanema is in my opinion still a better stretch of beach than Copacabana and relatively cleaner compared to other beaches. There is all kinds of activity occurring on the beach such as games of football and volley ball, vendors selling drinks, food and coconuts, locals jogging or riding there bicycle and there is even a toddlers area were you can keep an eye on the kids. It is possible to surf in some part [more]

[11.08.2006] Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) is one of the many granite and quartz peaks that rise out of Guanabara Bay in Rio de Janeiro. The summit is 396 metres (1,300 ft) above sea-level and is believed by some to be named after the traditional shape of a local concentrated refined loaf sugar. Another story however is that the name comes from the Tupi-Guarani language and the word Pau-nh-acuqua (high hill). The summi [more]