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Rio Field Trip / Rio Travel / Olympics Travel / Street Art / Grafitti Travel / → All Tags

It's All About the Graffiti Art in Rio, Not Bikini Thongs

If you're Brazilian, or, a Cariocaphile (a Rio lover) then you've already started the countdown for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Back in October, we were down in the "Marvelous City" and right smack in the middle of Copacabana Beach with the rest of Rio for the world announcement. Don't worry, our writer Shira Levine cased the joint to check things out for those of you considering getting your Olympic Games on in, uhhh six and half years. Questions or suggestions? Let us know.

Brazil is home to two legit and exciting graffiti artists. Meet Os Gemeos which is Portuguese for The Twins.

The artists: Otavio and Gustavo Pandolfo are in fact twins and responsible for the mural on the corner of Houston and Bowery streets in Manhattan, that replaced the now whitewashed famed Keith Haring mural.

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Rio Field Trip / Rio Travel / Olympics Travel / Pizza Shops / Ipanema / → All Tags

The Girl From Ipanema Goes...To Eat Pizza?

If you're Brazilian, or, a Cariocaphile (a Rio lover) then you've already started the countdown for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Back in October, we were down in the "Marvelous City" and right smack in the middle of Copacabana Beach with the rest of Rio for the world announcement. Don't worry, our writer Shira Levine cased the joint to check things out for those of you considering getting your Olympic Games on in, uhhh six and half years. Questions or suggestions? Let us know.

Forty-seven years ago, Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote the famed bossa nova song "Girl from Ipanema" about the tall and tan and young and lovely Heloisa Pinheiro at the restaurant Garota de Ipanema (which means Girl from Ipanema in Portuguese). Watch the video here.

It's a way touristy place to go complete with cheesy details like blown up lyric sheets hanging from the walls and the sale of t-shirts with the lyrics scribbled across.

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Rio Field Trip / Rio Travel / Olympics Travel / Samba / Carnival / → All Tags

Where to Samba in Rio de Janeiro

If you're Brazilian, or, a Cariocaphile (a Rio lover) then you've already started the countdown for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Back in October, we were down in the "Marvelous City" and right smack in the middle of Copacabana Beach with the rest of Rio for the world announcement. Don't worry, our writer Shira Levine cased the joint to check things out for those of you considering getting your Olympic Games on in, uhhh six and half years. Questions or suggestions? Let us know.

In Rio you can samba anywhere. (The clubs, the beach, your mom's house.) Here are a few places we shook it Carioca style. (Save the classy fist-pumping Jersey Shore-style samba for stateside Mardi Gras celebrations.)

Off-season (as in not during the February month of Carnival)is a much tamer and less expensive way to to channel your inner Carmen Miranda. While it might take two nights of sweaty samba dancing for non-Cariocas to catch onto the double time quick steps, once you nail it you'll be shaking your moneymaker as if Jesus Christ the Redeemer himself was en route from Corcovado Mountain for the second coming. (Our first observation of the samba was that it looked like someone desperately needing to use the bathroom.)

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Rio Field Trip / Rio Travel / Olympics Travel / Hotels / 2016 Summer Olympics / → All Tags

It's Not Too Soon To Plan For The 2016 Summer Olympics, Is It?

If you're Brazilian, or, a Cariocaphile (a Rio lover) then you've already started the countdown for the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Back in October, we were down in the "Marvelous City" and right smack in the middle of Copacabana Beach with the rest of Rio for the world announcement. Don't worry, our writer Shira Levine cased the joint to check things out for those of you considering getting your Olympic Games on in, uhhh six and half years.

Based on how utterly psyched Brazilians, tourists in Brazil, and everyone on Twitter responded to the news that Rio would be hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics, it might be wise to get samba steppin' now to book that hotel stay and flight.

And good news to Southerners! As of Dec. 15, US Airways brought it with the Brazil-bound convenience and began direct service to Rio from its hub in Charlotte, North Carolina. So now you have a flight option, but what about a hotel? Never fear, we've pulled together some options below.

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Travel Deals / Rio de Janeiro Travel / Travelzoo / Labor Day Travel / → All Tags

Head To Rio's Copa, Copacabana Over Labor Day For $599

This is how we want to spend our Labor Day weekend: kicking it in Rio de Janeiro and staying only two blocks away from the famous Copacabana Beach. And only $599 for a four-day trip with airfare, hotel and breakfast included? We'll be there with yellow feathers in our hair and a dress cut down to there.

Vacation-planning/tour-guide company Gate 1 teamed with Travelzoo to run the holiday special, which includes round-trip airfare from New York City to Rio (other departure cities are available, but you have to check with Gate 1). The airline that will swoop you off to Rio depends on availability; we tried booking the package several times and both American Airlines and Delta popped up as our carriers. With taxes and fees (and a "package airfare" charge of $362.44), the final price is $1,068.14.

To take advantage of the deal, you have to start your extended Labor Day vacay on Sept. 3, though you can opt to leave Sept. 10, 17, 24 for an extra $50.

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TV Travel / Brazilian Beaches / South American Travel / Búzios / → All Tags

Television Travel: MTV's The Duel

Once again, it's Real World/Road Rules Challenge time, aka The Duel.

This season the cast and crew, which has grown on us like a fungus, heads to beautiful Búzios Brazil. Lucky stiffs, literally, we are starting to think these folks have the life. Show up to some exotic locale every six months, make a fool of yourself, call it "the magic of editing" on the reunion show, rinse, sometimes wash, repeat. C'mon, you are telling us you wouldn't sign up for this gig? It isn't as bad as being on the Bachelor or something, that's for sure.

In any event Búzios Brazil is located 105 miles northeast of Rio, and used to be home to pirates and slave traders. These days Búzios, along with the two dozen beautiful beaches there, are home to a constant churn of jet setting travelers. It isn't St. Tropez or anything, but a wealthy beach town nonetheless. A quick rundown of some of the beaches: Joao Ferndandes has numerous beachside bars, Brava beach is where the surf is at, and Olho de Boi attracts the nudies. Trust us.

Related Stories:
· The Duel [MTV]
· Búzios Photos [Flickr]
· Búzios Travel Info [Yahoo!]
· Búzios Map [Google]

Travel News / Postcards / → All Tags

Rio's Saucy Postcards Over

Apparently Rio thinks its postcards that tourists buy in stands along Ipanema and Copacabana are too racy. The photos of women scantily clad in bikinis that are sent home every year have been banned by the state assembly. The governor hasn't ratified the ban yet, but many say that the images contribute to the city's image of cheap sex and prostitution.

Um, ok, we totally see where they're coming from, but wouldn't this mean a ban on Brazilian bathing suits also? After traveling to Rio this year, we noticed that um, the postcards, they don't lie. It wouldn't take much for a tourist to whip out a camera...

Related Stories:
·   Sexy postcards won't have stamp of approval? [Reuters]