ihpguy

MVAN1. Stop the cut and paste shit already. I've eaten there more than once. The question is have you? If anyone thinks that when dining at Casa Urich, they will enjoy food at all similar to what one will find at a German, Polish or Czech restaurant back in the States, they are in for a major disappointment.

MVAN1. Stop the cut and paste shit already. I've eaten there more than once. The question is have you? If anyone thinks that when dining at Casa Urich, they will enjoy food at all similar to what one will find at a German, Polish or Czech restaurant back in the States, they are in for a major disappointment.

Casa Urich is terrible. Colombo is better for the fin de siecle decor than the food. TomCal knows his food.

The new Metropolitan Cathedral is an interesting bit of modern architecture. From the outside it looks to me a bit like a nuclear reactor dome. When entering, I find it a marvel with the four stained glass windows stretching up to the roof. One per side. I find Jesus on the suspended cross something I look to every time I visit. No matter how hot it is outside, it is always quite cool inside a definite respite from the tropical heat. Candelaria at the end of the church row is the largest of the seven. I think the carved doors themselves at the entrance are worth a stop. Also the two towers with the ceramic decorations for the clock and weather. Santa Luzia at the start in Castelo used to be on the waterfront before the mountain was taken down and used as landfill for the neighborhood as well as Santos Dumont airport. It was just recently rehabilitated by IPHAN, a government organization dedicated to preserving the national patrimony. The did a very nice job on a cute little church The other four are all about the same size but totally different inside. I like the preserved tiles in Carmo, Santa Cruz dos Militaries is a rococo knockout with some interesting artwork of different groups of military officers, Sao Jose was where the emperor attended mass even though the old Metropolitan Chuch is directly across the street from where the first palace, before Quinta da Boa Vista was constructed, Paco Imperial is located.

Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil Casa Franca-Brasil Centro Cultural dos Correios Take a tour of the churches down the Rua Primeiro de Marco Igreja Santa Luzia Corner of Ave, Pres, Wilson and Ave, Pres. Antonio Carlos Igreja Sao Jose Igreja Catedral Metroppolitana (OLD) Igerja NS do Carmo Igeja de Hermandade dos Militares de Santa Cruz Igreja de Candelaria Your prize for finishing is Meio Mundo just across the street - great for a Friday Saturday at the street vendor/art fair on Rua do Lavradio - less than a block away is the new Catedral Metropolitana Museu Art do Rio (MAR) on the Praca Mau Corpo dos Bombeiros Castelo/ Firehouse and Museum across from the Praca da Republica/Campo de S'antanna - then just across the streets are the cruisy johns on the lower level of Central train station Cheap afternoon BJ's at the Cine Iris Do see the art at the Casa Daros across the street from Rio Sul Shopping before it closes in a few months Climb up to the top of Fort Leme at the other end of Copacabana or visit the fort at Arpoador Take the ferry to Ilha de Paqueta for a look at the past and the famous Pedra da Moreninha Take the ferry to Niteroi and see the MAM and the views of Rio from the other side of the bay

I could have sworn I read somewhere, but could be wrong, that are the first two trains, the rest are to be assembled in Brasil. Interior of SP state. I think a bigger question for me is why all of the iron rails for the VLT/Tram are being imported from Belgium? And with all of the new VLT systems being installed here in Brasil, including Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Cuiaba and Macae among other, why were all of the train sets built in Brasil? The nine new fast ferries that are going to be traveling the bay are all being imported from China. Just goes to show you about Brasil, the first one, The Pao de Acucar between Rio and Niteroi is too big to load and unload at the docks. So they can not use all of their boarding entries/exits for the passengers. It now takes longer to load and unload than it does for the crossing. It would have been easy to extend the docks. A bit tougher to build a two-level boarding structure. So, so Brasil

I have my permanent visa now so I hope no further worries. But last spring while in Chicago, I did need a new tourist visa. The Chicago consulate was absolutely packed with Americans getting the free World Cup visas. If memory serves, all that was needed was a receipt for ticket requests for WC games and for lodging, receipt request, not even for monies paid, to get the free visa. It would make it much easier if Brasil switched to the Chilean system where a visa is purchased and paid for on arrival in country.

I've been there more times than you can count. The big problem is that Benfica is not the nicest or safest of bairros. Within spitting distance of Sao Januario, the home stadium for Vasco football club here. One of my friends here was the national champion in the butterfly for Brasil and came up in their swimming program. The fruit, vegetable, foodstuffs, plant and flower vendors close between 9AM and Noon pretty much. Then it turns into a yuppie dining place. The 472 and 474 buses stop within a block of the front doors. The Triagem metro stop is about a three block walk. This walk is definitely not for the first-time visitor to Rio de Janeiro, except for the adventure tourist.

I also had my ATM cloned at HSBC. The location in Copacabana near Figeuredo de Magalaes had cloning occur many times. An American can get an account in Brasil but a CPF(Brasilian SSN) must be obtained first if the laws have not changed. I checked with Citibank when I was back in the USA last November and there were no accounts that did not charge the exchange or withdrawal fees. The only way to avoid the fee was I think had a brokerage account with 75K or like TomCal, have them service your mortgage. I am very confortable with Bradesco and an 800Real daily limit and Banco do Brasil with an 500Real daily limit. If worse happens, Santander charges 12Reais to withdraw 1000Reais. In any event, I use my Mileage Plus Explorer for almost every purchase possible with no exchange fee and earning miles. Years ago, HSBC had a savings account which offered no exchange fees and no withdrawal fees at their ATM's in South America. That ended. I had an account similar to that at Citibank as well, I think in 2007, but they ended that offer.

I was waiting for a taxi today and I was looking for a credentialed or credenciado and was having a heck of a time finding one. Almost all of the taxis had lights on top and few had their locations on the rear quarter panels. I hadn't been aware of the changes taking place in the taxi business. This afternoon for lunch I took a friend via taxi from Copa to Ipa. We were talking in the cab and I asked the driver about the lack of credentialed cabs this morning. He told me that the drivers are going to apps on cell phones. I've heard of Uber but never used them on my infrequent visits to the States. He informed me that Uber has been banned in both Rio and Sao Paulo. But most of the drivers here are going away from the credenciado stands and using a site called EASYTAXI.COM It is downloadable from GooglePlay. And it shows you the three closest cabs available to where you are at. It has all of the driver's information on file. My friend has it and uses it when in Sao Paulo where he spend about half his time. Also when he was in Porto Alegre this past April. When I was in PoA in April, we had waits at times both at Mezanninu and back at the Qualty Hotel. This App would have certainly come in handy.

It is a bit of a walk, but not too far to the Metro in Botafogo. If anyone has heart issues from the stress of having sex with too-hot Brasilian hookers, it is only about a block away from Rio's best heart hospital, Pro-Cardiaco. And in cases of rectal damage from being impaled by enormous Brasilian dicks, the best ICU in Rio is not much further at Hospital Sao Jose in Humaita

I happened to walk by the new location of the sauna today by coincidence. I've actually been there once. And would not go back again. It was kind of smallish. Not sure it was even larger than the old Estacao. Definitely smaller than Pointe 202, Clube 117 or Meio Mundo. They had some kind of problems with venting of the toilets when I was there and the second floor smell like a sewer. I assumed it was eventually fixed but didn't want to waste money going back when the two in Ipanema and the one in Flamengo on Rua Correa Dutra were so far superior.

Just this past week a female Chilean tourist was stabbed in the neck. She was sitting in the Praca Paris near Cineladia catching some rays when a mugger came up to her to steal her purse. I assumed he was attempting to cut the shoulder strap and instead forced the blade into her neck. She lived. The same thing happened the Friday afternoon before Dr. Jaime Gold was murdered on the shore of Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. A woman from Taiwan was catching some rays when a mugger came up and attempted to slit the shoulder strap on her purse. Instead the point of the blade went into her neck and she was killed. To an earlier poster, with the new bus patterns in effect, the area around Meio Mundo is definitely safe until 10 PM Monday-Friday. Saturdays much less so. Just past the Metro entrance at Uruguianna at the Mercado Popular ans Sa'ara it can get really scary. My biggest concern at the moment is walking anywhere and dodging all of the street vendors with no jobs that are clogging the sidewalks. It makes it difficult to transit/escape any danger in the city quickly. Anyone who looks like a gringo/estrangeiro/foreigner becomes a sitting duck for any manner of robbery/mayhem.

And Pointe 202 is closing as the building has been sold.

Lately the CCBB has had nothing of interest, The recent shows here have been very disappointing. I was really excited to see the Kandinsky exhibition there earlier this year. I had my fingers crossed that the Russians might even let a few works of Malevich make it over to this side of the Atlantic. Nothing doing. The quality and quantity of the works by Kandinsky were a disappointment. The recently opened Casa Daros, almost across the street from Rio Sul is closing in December. They spent a ton of money and a few years rehabbing this colonial building. In existence for two years.

LOL!!! I had totally forgotten that time when I arrived here and the underwent the fingerprinting. The cleanup was a bit messy. I think it was when I was leaving Madrid this past March that they only made people not wearing tennis shoes take them off. One woman nearby in high strapped sandals even had to take her shoes off and send them through the x-ray machine. I still wonder why it would not be possible to hollow out the rubber sole on a sneaker for something dangerous

To MVan1 and anyone else, I don't know much about Sao Paulo taxis, but here in Rio de Janeiro, I can remember three times during the past five years getting into taxis where I had problems. Each had a light on the roof. Each had a meter, which all turned out to be rigged. None were credentialed. I cannot remember ever getting into a credentialed cab where I had problems. Besides the fact that the drivers happened to be much more professional. Do what you wish. But just having a crappy cheap light on the roof is not the Holy Grail.

MVAN1,even gypsy cabs can have a light on the roof. A credenciado taxí will have their originating location on each side of the car at the rear. Those are the only taxis to take.

Here in Rio make sure that you take a taxi credenciado. These are the yellow taxis that have the name of their base location on both rear quarter panels. The non-credenciados/gypsy taxis will still have the yellow color, but no names on the sides with telephone numbers, the drivers are not as professional, cars are older and in worse shape and from my own experience, frequently have rigged meters. And unless you want to be robbed, never rent a taxi from the the girls managing the booths.

A friend of my always.fills that. Line in with Rio Otho Palace, à very large hotEl, where she does not stay, and there has.never.been a.problem. It is a large. Hotel with which every is acquainted. No one checks Because It is the Othon Palace in Copa.as touristy as it gets.

Saturday night as I left MM it was not too empty as there was an event getting out at the BBCC. THERE were two 5 door police Blazers.with gumballs rotating and headlights flashing. Weeknights the sidewalks are crowded at 10pm. The.guy.next to me in bed got stabbed. On a Thursday at Midnight the.corner of.Rio Branco and Buenos Aires.is ses his lung. By about 2 inches. The.scary.part is that for 4 hours he was bleeding onthe street.and.lying down immobile. No one.wanted.to get involved.and.his. ell phone and money were stolen. No one.wanted.to get involved. Finally.an Bulan e.came.and.too him to Souza Aguiar public.hospital by the.Praça da Republica. He got quick attention with 5 pairs of Sutures and x-rays. They Kept.him there on IV.glucose.solution for an additional 5 hours It does sound a bit like being in a war zkne5

The final national employment figures are in and there was a net loss of 97,800 jobs for Brasilians in the mon the of April. I had great programas both Friday and Saturday nights at MM. The garoto Friday is.from São Paulo and out of work construction guy and Saturday a.barman from the Oceano Atlantico in Copacabana until February 2915 and his.abbreviated unemployment ran out. Now at the end of May.70 Reais.for each with an ejaculating. He rent is.coming down and.normally if.not.paid by the 5th, there is a 15 percent penalty.

The area around Meio Mundo is very safe. Directly across the street is the headquarters for Souza Cruz insurance company. And just across the street on Ave. Présidente Vargas are the Banco Brasil Centro Cultural with evening plays, films and other programming and the Fundação Getúlio Vargas with business night school classes. Walking to the metro on any weeknight should be fine. Right now it is just a city with more random violence. Desperate people in desperate situations. It can happen anywhere at any time.

Metro cars are really safe. I'd be aware of any jostling which indicates a pickpocket. Also keep in mind that a snatch and grab can happen right as the doors are closing. I would definitely not walk back to the metro from Meio Mundo on a Saturday night. Any other time it is fine there. I would be more afraid being on the beach in Copacabana if there is another band of juveniles. Ditto in Ipanema on the beach except when it is busy and lots of people are around.

Not to turn this into a crime central log. But.....today is my caseiro's day off so he was watching RJ/Journal of Rio. As I get ready to leave for MM and then a brithday party, he told me once more all of the news about the death of Dr. Jaime Gold yesterday. And today, a tourist sunning herself on the grass at Lagoa was stabbed in the neck, Nothing was taken. Somebody came up and stabbed her in the neck.