A Visita dos Pais

So I don't update here often. I've kind of turned those duties over to my very capable wife, as she's a bit more sappy and enjoys the rehashing and reliving of recent memories more than I do...on a regular basis anyway. But last Sunday evening, I drove my parents back to the airport after a great visit, and I've been wanting to share at least a few moment from that visit.

I guess the best place to start is to mention that their visit constituted several "firsts" for me here in Brazil. See, before they came, I envisioned their arrival as an opportunity to display my adeptness at adapting. I thought I might even impress them with my shaky ability to converse in Portuguese and show them how deftly I've adapted to life in a foreign country. So imagine my dismay when, 20 minutes into their arrival, I had my car parked precariously between 6 lanes of 100 km/hr traffic changing a flat tire on our way home from the airport. My first flat in Brazil. Nice start.

We recovered quickly though, and we were able to spend 10 mostly wonderful days in Sao Paulo,
nearby Embu,
coastal Paraty
and infamous Rio de Janeiro (this was the tamest photo that I could find....thanks, Dad).
None of us had been to Rio before, so this was not only a first for me, but an eye-opener for all of us.

We arrived in Rio last Monday, after about 5 hours of driving up the coast from Paraty (thanks again, Dad - for real this time). We drove through about 20 km of slums before entering the city proper, and within 20 minutes of that we found our hotel, the Arpoador Inn, nestled between Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. Here's the view from the hotel:
The problem was that there was no parking at the hotel. No parking garage, no lot...not even a place to stop safely in front. So we drove around for another hour. I hadn't planned on that, but eventually we left the car at a nearby hotel garage and forgot about the car for the next 48 hours as we resolved to cab our way around during our stay.

That evening was perfect. We walked on the boardwalk, went to a nearby Churrascaria a few blocks from the beach, and let the kids play in the lapping ocean as we walked back to the hotel.
Like I said, perfect night.

Until my wallet was lost in the ocean.

Another first. I'd never lost my wallet before. At least the ocean took it, and not some criminal. Oh well.

So anyway, we spent the next day touring the historical district of the city in a cab and on an old trolley. But the real highlight was traveling to the top of the Corcovado Mountain - the site of Cristo Redentor, or the Christ the Redeemer statue. The views from the top were amazing, as was the statue itself.
Of course, we went on the hottest day in Rio in over a year, so we didn't last as long as we might've on another day. But the kids were pretty tough and the crowds didn't drive us too crazy....except for Noah at the end.