As an American, I was disappointed that Chicago didn't win the 2016 Summer Olympics, but I've got to admit that Rio looks like a pretty spectacular choice. I've never been, but watching their official candidate commercial yesterday moved it to the top of my list of dream trips. Today I happened upon the city's master plan pitch, and it really looks like Brazilian officials have thought this thing through. I'm not surprised the I.O.C. believed that South America in general, and Rio in particular, would be the perfect host for the games. ]]> Victor Ozols 2009-10-03T12:34:35-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/10/2/123035/794

It's time to break out the Mardi Gras beads and barely-there bustiers and learn how to spell "Rio de Janeiro" without hesitating, because Rio is indeed the host city of the 2016 Olympic Games. All this morning and early afternoon, the world was glued to their TVs and Twitter as the Olympic Committee first heard final pleas from the delegations from Chicago (Prez Obama was there), Rio, Tokyo and Madrid and then announced their decision in favor of the first Olympics to be held in South America.

While people rush onto Copacabana and Ipanema beaches to celebrate, we can already imagine the tour operators and airlines brainstorming their deals for travel to Brazil in 2016 and even these next few years as the city strengthen its infrastructure and emerges as a true hot destination. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-10-02T13:16:48-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2009/5/7/7522/04911

If cities like Milan, Shanghai, and Mexico City can enjoy successful bike rental programs, then we've been wondering when a South American capital would climb aboard the eco-friendly trend. As it turns out, Rio de Janeiro quietly launched their own bike sharing program last November, which welcomes tourists with open arms (or handlebars).

Appropriately named Samba, which in Portuguese conveniently means "Alternative Mobility Solution though Bike Renting," Samba is using this spring and summer to build up to 42 stations with 500 total bikes by the end of the year; it's a small number compared to Paris' Velib and its 20,600+ bicycles, but nonetheless a great start. ]]> JetSetCD 2009-05-07T09:16:50-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2007/7/8/163654/8570

Live Earth coverage dominated the airwaves on 7/7/07 (Saturday). Keeping with the date's theme, 24-hour concerts took place in seven cities -- New York, London, Johannesburg, Rio de Janeiro, Shanghai, Tokyo, Sydney, and Hamburg.

Star spectacle and earth loving abounded. While Kanye West joined Sting and the Police at the show at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., it was the concert in Rio that drew the most attendees -- an estimated 400,000. Lenny Kravitz, along with a host of Latin American pop stars performed. At the same time in London, Madonna sang (we use that word loosely) to a crowd of 70,000.

Cold weather and general apathy toward the environment caused a disappointing turnout in Johannesburg. Planners anticipated 10,000 people, and 6,000 showed up. To their credit, UB40 headlined the show. We thought they were playing casinos in Iowa, not Live Earth. From the Police and Madonna to UB40? Red Red Wine was catchy in '94, but come on. South Africa got the shaft on this one.

Related Stories:
· Where to Stay in London [HotelChatter]
· Disappointing Attendance in Johannesburg [News24]

[Photo: Jason Rosenberg] ]]> ced138 2007-07-09T09:01:59-05:00 http://www.jaunted.com/story/2006/11/10/11145/562

Opening December 1st is the horror movie, Turistas, starring Josh Duhamel and Melissa George.

At first glance, this movie looks like Hostel, Part II but instead of tourists being tortured in the basement of a hostel, this group of backpackers/surfers get lost in a Brazilian jungle near Rio de Janeiro, which just happens to be holding an ominous secret like an organ thieving blackmarket or something.

Instead of focusing on the gnarly parts of the movie like someone waking up in a tub of ice with suspicious scars around their kidneys, we'll tell you where to go in Rio and stay alive.

Where to Stay:
Seeing as this movie may turn you off about backpacking, why not check out the Rio Internacional Hotel which is ranked #1 on TripAdvisor. The place has great service, an English-speaking staff and supreme views of the beach. But it is a costly trip at around $250 a night.

Where to Surf:
There are a bunch of good places to surf in Rio. Who knew the place was akin to California and Hawaii when it comes to hanging ten. Sidestep has the list of beaches worth checking out. May we suggest surfing at Arpoador Beach in Ipanema which is closest to the main part of Rio?

Where to Avoid:
According to Fodor's Travel Wire, they particularly recommend  avoiding the downtown area, especially Saara, after dark because it's deserted.

Walking on the beach at night is probably not a good idea, and although many tourists like to wander off the beaten path when they're traveling this isn't always a good idea in Rio---stick to the well-populated areas.

If you can't get enough, then visit the Turistas MySpace page where you can look at pictures of a shirtless Josh, read his character Alex's lame-o blog and predict which backpackers will die first.

Related Stories:
· Rio Internacional reviews [TripAdvisor]
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