Right now I'm enjoying the episode shot in São Paulo. It's very true to the place. I lived there when I was a kid, and it hasn't changed all that much -- just gotten bigger!

But Rio is amazing, and not in the tired old picture post card kind of way. It's REALLY an intense town, filled with varied districts of moldering richness. 100-200 year-old neighborhoods and colonial buildings that haven't been torn down because they don't have the money to do it. REALLY magical, like a huge South American version of New Orleans.

The music scene is fantastic. Great venues in the old quarters. And then there's the cantina-type restaurants with live music, over-flowing with Cariocas out for a good time -- an entertainment unto themselves.

Stay clear of Copacabana and much of Ipanema. It is very easy to do, and there is SO much else. Santa Theresa and Lapa are just the beginning.

Please do your research very well and give yourself plenty of time. It would be a mortal sin to not get Rio completely right.

But maybe I don't want you to. Maybe I like the fact that it remains a cliché in people's minds. I've visited twice, for weeks at a time and never heard an American accent. (And I even went to some typical tourist sites. Maybe Americans are afraid to come. Good!) There were Brit Commonwealth blokes, but no Yanks. I REALLY loved that! And no global chain stores/"restaurants" at all. Get it while it's still unspoiled by that!

I know a fabulous place to stay, a well-informed coterie of Canadian expats, and a great young woman guide who's enamorata is a musician. If you're interested in that info, contact the email address I gave in my profile.

Até logo! -jozla

OMG, my spelling is atrocious. It's Rio de Janeiro!!!!