Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world by land area and the seventh most populous. Portuguese is the official language.
The flight to Rio Janeiro took us more than 20 hours: Los Angeles to Dallas, Dallas to Sao Paolo, and finally Sao Paolo to Rio de Janeiro! Trini and I have been to Brazil before but only in the Iguazu Falls area which is much further to the east. Weather wise Rio is similar to most Asian countries – warm and humid!
After checking into our hotel around 5:30pm – a stone’s throw away from the world-famous COPACABANA BEACH – we went to eat a sumptuous buffet dinner at MARIUS DEGUSTARE, right beside the hotel! The exterior decor was impressive but the interior nearly knocked the socks out off me – it was filled with hanging “art” if you want to call them that – old full-size convertible car, a Samurai warrior armor, church bells, and other odds and ends very colorful items hanging from the ceiling! The waiters decked with colorful apron-like garments and loose decorated white tops! They were a funny bunch of guys too, making weird sounding giggles and chuckles while serving you steaming hot plates of steaks, prawns, oysters, lobsters and other to-die for platters!
We took our time savoring the different dishes served us and eventually we had to beg them to stop bringing us any food. The price of the delicious fare was a little pricey even for an American standard but it was well worth it!!!! When we settled the bill we gave them tip in dollars, the head waiter asked us to ring the hanging bronze bell denoting that we gave “propina” or tip!
The head waiter putting our tip in the Samurai warrior armor – we were told a nightly ritual same as the pealing of the bell!
We left the restaurant sated and will cherish the fun and fine dining we had on our first night in Rio de Janeiro!
Today we signed up for a one-day tour to take us to the highlights the city has to offer….
The Senior Travelers' Blog Site 