I posted the following last month, but it is more topical than ever. There are no fast food chains in Rio now. The people are therefore innocent. This won't last much longer!!!!

One thing I left out of the post below: THE best street food of all time is in Rio. It is the "queijo e banana sanduíche, grelhado." The cheese and banana grilled sandwich. To die for.

You have to find a really good sandwich stand. They are NOT all created equal. The cheese is mild and when grilled it is soft and stringy. The bananas are grilled in butter, brown sugar and canela (cinnamon). The bread is grilled too. You will remember it the rest of your life.

Here's my previous post:

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 let Rio charm in it's brilliant way.

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

Tony already came to Rio!! There's a holl episode about it! As I already said he needs to step out the turistic places of brazil and visit the real life here!

When was the Rio show? I've only seen a Sao Paulo show. My point about Rio is that it should not be handled like a "touristic place." The real Rio isn't "touristic."