Brazil Blog

Brazil Talk!

Purchasing a Statue of Christ

Filed under: Ask Us - February 2nd, 2006

Your Question
Where can I purchase a small statuette of Jesus on the Mountain.

Our Reply
The Statue of Christ is one of the most popular places in Rio and for this reason, the statues are sold everywhere. From Corcovado Mountain, to local shops located throughout the city or feirinhas located along the beaches, you will easily find a place to purchase your statue. There are different kinds of Statues; some are made by wood, others by glass, and even by stone. There are also different sizes of statues that are purchased with different prices depending on where you buy it, the size of the statue, and the material with which the statue is made. If you want to get a fancy one, I would recommend that you purchase one at Corcovado Mountain, the place where the original statue is located. If you just want to buy a simple one, Feirinhas are the way to go. The prices range in between 10 reals up to 400.

Be careful because as a tourist, the street vendors at the feirinhas will try to make you pay more than what they would make a Brazilian pay. At the feira I paid 15 reals for a statue that was about 8 inches tall and made of wood. Most of the time, the initial price they say is more than what they expect to get. If they know you are a tourist, they will probably double the price, so be ready to bargain!
I hope you find it. Good luck!

Rolling Stones in Rio - FREE concert

Filed under: Brazil General/ Lisa in Brazil - February 2nd, 2006

As many of you may have heard, the Rolling Stones will be going to Rio de Janeiro on the 18th of February. This concert will be free for anyone to attend, and will be held on the Copacabana beach. I have recently returned from Rio de Janeiro as you may have seen from some of my pictures, and I had a wonderful time. I saw the location where the concert will be held. It is right out from on the copacabana palace.

The Rolling Stones have been to Brazil many times and they have chosen to come back again and put on a free concert because they enjoy the people and the country so much.

If you are interested in going, make sure you look into it right away, the appartments and hotels are getting booked up fast.

Another problem that you should solve as soon as possible is getting your visa and passport ready. There are many countries that require a visa in order for the citizens to enter Brazil. In order to get a visa, you must also get a plane ticket first in order to show the Brazilian embassy that you have a return date.

I myself am hoping that I will be able to attend this concert. I know there are going to be so many people going since it is free. The Rolling Stones are very popular here in Brazil. It is being very well advertised so I would also suggest getting here a couple days in advance, and the day of the concert, show up a bit early so you can at least get a glimpse!

Hopefully everyone who wants to attend this concert is able to go, if you have any questions, dont hesitate to go to the ask us section of this website, and we will answer to the best of our knowledge.

A Night at the Beach

Filed under: Lisa in Brazil - February 2nd, 2006

Recently during my travels in Brazil I was staying near Camburi. This is a very beautiful location with beautiful beaches, hot weather, and great night life. One night I decided to go to a night club called Galeao. I also walked around the downtown area which was crowded with people everywhere. There were many street vendors selling things from jewelery, to food, to alcoholic drinks. After walking around I decided it was time to go dance and have some drinks at the club. The night life at the clubs doesn´t usually start until around 12 or later.

Once inside Galeao I was so impressed. The bar isn´t completely closed off from the outside. Many places in the bar you can look up and see the sky. There was also a seperate room that I enjoyed a lot because they played popular american music.

Inside this club there were many beautiful people drinking and laughing. I also ran into many people who spoke english. The prices of drinks vary from bar to bar. Here, they were around $5 reals for a beer, and $6 for a Smirnoff Ice. They also serve tequila for $9 reals. To get into this club was one of the most expensive clubs I have been to. It is $27 reals for girls, and even more for men.

When we left the club around 3:30-4:00 am, the downtown was still just as busy. Since the club is located on the beach, we decided to go for a walk in the sand.

Once we got to the beach, we saw so many groups, each with 15-40 people. We joined into one of the circles where there was one guy playing the guitar and many more singing along.

It was an amazing time, and everyone I met was extremely friendly and open to meeting new people and trying their best to communicate with us.

New Years in Brazil

Filed under: Lisa in Brazil - February 2nd, 2006

This past new years from 2005-2006 I was lucky enough to have spent it in Ubatuba, Brazil. Ubatuba is a small beach town about 3.5 hours from Sao Paulo City.

The day of the 31st I spent soaking up the Brazilian sun on a beach called Tenorio. I was there with several of my Brazilian friends and one friend from home. We ate shrimp and fish, played volleyball and drank ice cold refreshing beer. Around 5 we packed up and headed back to the house to shower and have dinner.

At about 9:30 we decided to head down to long beach. We all walked along the sand to find a good spot as we were drinking and laughing. Since its legal to drink alcoholic beverages anywhere in Brazil, most people dont leave their houses without a cooler full of beer, wine and coolers.

When it starts getting closer to midnight, fireworks start exploding and everyone is on their feet. By now, the beach is pretty much packed with people, almost everyone dressed in white which symbolizes a new start to the new year.

At midnight, everyone yells HAPPY NEW YEAR, or FELIZ ANO NOVO as they say it in Portuguese. Everyone kisses and hugs anyone within range. After all the kisses we all run down to the water to jump 7 waves. This is a good luck tradition througout Brazil.