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Being in my mid-50's now and having the blessing of being able to travel broadly from my late 30's until my early 50's, it may seem strange but I had never attended a Gay Pride Celebration. I even had a BF in Chicago during this time and never got to Chicago Gay Pride which has one of the largest Gay Pride parades in the world when we were together. Well that has finally changed this year. I was able to attend Chicago Gay Pride in June and attend the parade that had always been on my to do list. I must admit I did feel much pride as I noted the politicans, Local TV coverage and local celebraties in the parade. The major corporations (even Walmart) as sponsors or having floats in the parade. My pride came from realizing how far we as Gay people have progressed from the time of my youth until today. I also found that pride lost upon my younger 20 something companions who could not seem to appreciate anything beyond the Party aspect of our trip. I found myself, as one who has always loved history anyway, lecturing them with stories of Gay History such as NYC's Stonewall Riots, and how 30 years ago it was common to be arrested for just entering a Gay Bar in our own city. Sure they still see some Gay bias and discrimination but their starting point in their view is so far down the scale of the past. Atlanta has changed their Gay Pride Celebration to the fall, this coming weekend, and again my 20 something companions will travel with me to my second Pride event. One has even been asked to march in Sunday's Parade. So as I again feel a great sense of pride at attending the South's Gay Celebration, an area were Gay Sex was still illegal just a decade or so ago, my friends will have to put up with my lectures again. This as I put up with their all night parting,hang-overs and stories of the hot guys they chased all weekend and maybe the couple of guys they actually caught. LOL.

Too bad you didn't ask for recommendations. Before heading to 117 last night, we had a very nice lunch at a "por quilo" for 2Reais/100grams -including churrasco of alcatara, fraldinha, filet with garlic, beef/chicken sausages and chicken hearts. I think when it comes to restaurants in Rio de Janeiro, you really need to know where to go or for a foreigner, how to order. A bit difficult without knowledge of the language. Restaurants almost always have pratos executivo or feito. For 10Reais or less usually. Besides many with a full galeto special. Right now for around 17-19. Depends what one is looking for. You can also easily find fancier por quilos with prices in the 4.50-5.50/100gram range. I've posted here before that in my opinion, the best cheap meal in Rio is the full kafta meal as Rotiseria Sirio-Libanesa on the Largo do Machado either before or after a visit to 117. And around the corner is authentic, pure acai at a lanche that only features products from Para.

On transportation, as mvan1 stated, piece of cake to reach Lagoa via metro. As a first time visitor to both RIO and SP, taking buses are a bit overwhelming. Also Lagoa is so good, I didn't bother try Fragatta, which is supposedly easy to reach with several buses going there from republica. From airport to city, SP's express bus is more expensive (35). But stops right at Republica, half a block from the hotel I stayed in. Can pay by credit card and no stops in between. Also tried the regular bus+metro on arrival thinking it should not be crowded at 6:30 in the morning. Vow, in the mega city of SP, rush hour starts pretty earlier. 7am on metro is like back to china outside rush hours, not too bad. they have a much more extensive metro than Rio. Takes a bit to get used to, but easier than Paris for example. Although both Rio and SP should have a tourist pass so we don't have buy tickets more than once. Overall, I felt very at ease as a first time visitor to SP, almost feels like Toronto except i don't speak Portuguese. Much less so in Rio.

I also read somewhere São Paulo ranks in the top 10 most expensive cities in the world. But that's clearly not my experience. The hotel park republica I stayed in, at 50 us$ a night (closet, huge bathroom, large terrace, decent mattress) beats the 72$ a night 'cheap' love hotel (no closet, futon mattress for action, not sleep) in centro rio hands down! There are also tons of shops and restaurants at very reasonable prices in SP, about 50% more expensive in RIO. For example, there are many sit down quick meal restaurants around park republic, about 10R for either some brazil dish or pseudo Japanese. Around gloria, where I am staying now, similar plate runs into 20R, in centro, difficult to find a restaurant where you feel comfortable walking in not speaking their language. Lurker, If you are into twinks as your posts suggests, you are really missing out not hitting SP. give it a try next time! Coming from Canada, I have to say Iguacu beats niagara hands down, just as Sauna wise, Lagoa puts MM and 117 to shame. The only western standard sauna among the three, both facility and staff, very professional.

Since you have never been to Sao Pauo, I heartily recommend that you consider a visit to the city. Sao Paulo is quite different than Rio. There are many more things to do and see in Sao Paulo. If you like museums and other touristy places you will find more than eighty museums. You do not need to take taxis to the sauna. The metro is more than sufficient to get you to Sauna Lagoa. You must walk about four blocks from the Metro to Lagoa but that is nothing for Brazil. With respect to Sauna Fragata, you can take the Metro to the stop near Avenida Paulista and walk the difference which is about twenty minutes of a walk. On the other hand, taking the bus to Sauna Fragata is cheap and easy. The buses run often. All you need is ANY bus that says on the front of it "via Reboucas" and you take it as far as MacDonald's. From there, you cross the street and walk two blocks to Fragata. Rio is fun but Sao Paulo is huge and has much more to offer. Try it, you'll like it.

A friendly reminder: ihpguy--appreciated your most recent post, but remember most of us do NOT know Brasilian Portuguese; thus some of your post here today is not very understandable since we, unfortunately, are not conversant, knowledgeable, or reasonably fluent in the language!

Sorry guys. It has been a really hectic week here for me. Trying to get an apartment ready and everything has kept me busy with mundane things. However, as Firecat can tell you, I have been a bore for a week. I hope when my BF's go away this weekend, I'll be out to play a bit more.