Life of McGowan: Rio de Janeiro

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Life of McGowan: Rio de Janeiro

Written by Todd McGowan

As I boarded American Airlines flight 709 LAX to Brazil, I could feel the excitement, the anticipation, and the butterflies of knowing that I was headed to one of the most amazing places in the world. After a long year of work and no time off, I was determined to just think about life and the future. During my flight, I made the fateful decision not to make any plans upon my arrival. I would soon come to the realization that this would be the best decision EVER! No other place is better to gather your thoughts than “the happiest place on earth.” Rio is known for its beautiful beaches and gorgeous people.

After landing, I jumped in a cab and headed straight to Copacabana Beach. It took about five seconds for me to learn why so many people fall in love with Brazil. A harmonious union, of people living and thriving as one.

Brazil is recognized as having some of the most amazing tourist attractions in the world. I went to Corcovado, Cristo Redentor or as many refer to it as The Statue of the Christ”. Pictures do not begin to describe the scenery. You can clearly see the 180 degree view of the blue ocean waters, and the beautiful city that surrounds it. I am not easily impressed by tourism, but this place just blew me away. You feel as if you are only steps away from heaven when you are there. In my book, this is already the 9th wonder of the world.

I traveled through Lapa, the downtown area of Rio. Located about 30 minutes away from Copacabana and offering some of the largest selection of bars and eateries in Brazil. Large groups of tourists, commoners and entertainers regularly migrate to the busy streets, to watch street entertainers perform on a nightly basis.

Balcony Bar is located right across the street from the beautiful ocean. It is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and 365 days of the year. Fun never sleeps here, as they offer live music, a variety of music from Rock and Roll To Jazz, every night. They will even try to surprise you with songs from every genre, that will have you tapping your feet all night long. Needless to say, we spent a lot of time at Balcony. It also helped that the food and service was incredible, and most importantly, the view was out of this world.

I'd have to say it was an amazing experience and would hope for others to experience the beauty of this country. I recommend everyone visit Brazil at least once in your life. No matter who you are, where you are from, and what you have experienced in your life, I promise that if you have not gone to Brazil, you have not lived.

Obrigado

Photograph: ©iStockphoto.com/zxvisual

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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Chicago' for 'CDT/-5.0/DST' instead in /home/mateomag/public_html/modules/mod_jxtc_newspro/func_parserow.php on line 159

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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Chicago' for 'CDT/-5.0/DST' instead in /home/mateomag/public_html/modules/mod_jxtc_newspro/func_parserow.php on line 159

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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Chicago' for 'CDT/-5.0/DST' instead in /home/mateomag/public_html/modules/mod_jxtc_newspro/func_parserow.php on line 159

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Warning: date() [function.date]: It is not safe to rely on the system's timezone settings. You are *required* to use the date.timezone setting or the date_default_timezone_set() function. In case you used any of those methods and you are still getting this warning, you most likely misspelled the timezone identifier. We selected 'America/Chicago' for 'CDT/-5.0/DST' instead in /home/mateomag/public_html/modules/mod_jxtc_newspro/func_parserow.php on line 159

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