Rio de Janeiro Travel

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana beach erupted in Samba dancing and joy on Friday after the Brazilian city won the vote to host the 2016 Olympic Games, bringing the world's biggest sporting event to South America for the first time. The decision in Copenhagen kicked off a Carnival-style celebration on the sand as thousands of Cariocas, as Rio residents are known, danced and shouted in delight in front of a big stage and screens that showed the vote live. The decision... Read Full Story

The 2016 Olympics are going to Rio de Janeiro, putting the games in South America for the first time. Rio beat surprise finalist Madrid in the last round of voting. Chicago was knocked out in the first round — in one of the most shocking defeats ever handed down by the International Olympic Committee — and Tokyo was eliminated in the second round. Rio had played heavily on the fact that South America has never previously hosted the games, while Europe, Asia and North America have done so... Read Full Story

Brazilian search teams on Saturday recovered two male bodies, a plane seat and other remains from an Air France jetliner that went down over the Atlantic nearly a week ago with 228 people on board, officials said. The finds -- the first from the crash -- were to be taken to the Fernando de Noronha archipelago, the closest inhabited spot to the zone they were found, for initial inspection by five Brazilian forensic police. From there, they were to be flown to the mainland city of Recife for... Read Full Story

The Favorite Movie Period/Place Meme By Marilyn Ferdinand A few days ago, Daniel Getahun at the glorious blog Getafilm challenged me and several other bloggers to come up with a post for a meme he dreamed up. We were to choose a place (real or imaginary) and a time (past, present, or future) depicted in one or more films that we'd most like to visit and explain why. Here is what I chose. Place : Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Time/Period : 1959 As Seen In : Bossa Nova (2000) This movie... Read Full Story

From 13 February to 3 May 2009, the Kunsthaus Zürich presents ‘Hot Spots’, an exhibition devoted to the artistic avant-garde of the 1950s and 1960s in Rio de Janeiro, Milan and Turin, and Los Angeles. The show features outstanding works of art, photography, architecture and design by such world-renowned figures as Hélio Oiticica, Lygia Clark, Lucio Fontana, Piero Manzoni, Mario Merz, David Hockney, Ed Ruscha and James Turrell. The postwar period saw Paris and New York, the... Read Full Story

Three days after the tragic crash of Air France Flight 447 in the Atlantic Ocean and officials are still in search for clues detailing just what happened. What went wrong. While the crash site and some aircraft debris was found yesterday — around 400 miles north of the Fernando de Noronha archipelago in Brazil — authorities are still looking for the airplane’s two black boxes , hoping they would find some answers there. However, finding these boxes will be no easy feat. Leaving earlier... Read Full Story

The French agency investigating the crash of the Air France jet over the Atlantic says automatic messages received from the plane have failed to show exactly how fast the aircraft was flying. The Accident Investigation Agency says only two findings have been established. One is that the series of automatic messages sent from Flight 447 were "incoherent" regarding the plane's speed. The other is that the plane's route Sunday night was spotted with stormy, unstable weather. The agency warned... Read Full Story

2009 Chicago International Film Festival Beyond Ipanema (2009) Coproducer/Director : Guto Barra Coproducer/Music Director : Béco Dranoff By Marilyn Ferdinand If you thought Brazilian music in America started with Carmen Miranda and ended with Antonio Carlos Jobim—not far from my previous belief, though I go as current as Flora Purim and Airto— Beyond Ipanema is just the pulsing primer for you. David Byrne, Devendra Banhart, M.I.A., Os Mutantes, Caetano Veloso, Gilberto Gil, Tom Z... Read Full Story

  We are pleased to announce that we have lowered our pricing for both the Rio de Janeiro Reveillon and Rio de Janeiro Carnival trips!  Due to the US Dollar’s strength against the Brasilian Reais, hotels and excursions in Brazil are now more affordable for US travelers.  We are dedicated in passing these savings on to our loyal travelers. Click Here to book your trip to Rio de Janeiro today! Rio de Janeiro Reveillon: December 28, 2008 - January 4, 2009 from $2,780!   Rio de Janeiro has... Read Full Story

Editorial Reviews The handy pocket-size guide is packed with useful information, tips and recommendations, accompanied by color photographs, charts and maps for the first-time traveller who wants to experience the major highlights that Rio de Janeiro has to offer. This travel book surpasses other guides in that it incorporates essential information in an easy-to-carry and easy-to-read format that is attractive and useful at the same time. It provides a visitor with an invaluable... Read Full Story