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RIO DE JANEIRO--Over 4,000 European travelers were taken into "Rocinha," Rio de Janeiro's oldest slum, so far this year. And that's just by one of several agencies specializing in the favela tour. Now, it seems, the city's official tourism office, Riotur, is including the favela in their list of approved tours for international travelers. It seems visitors want to see "all" of Rio de Janeiro.

And see they will. The favelas in Rio de Janeiro are famous for their incredible views. They are located on the choicest highlands overlooking the coastline. Dangerous as they may be for the uninvited, the official favela guides have been operating these chaperoned visits for over a dozen years without a hitch. Tourism, in fact, is a legitimate and promising source of income for the favelas and it doesn't hurt to have international visitors see, first hand, the conditions of the big city slums.

Marcelo Armstrong of Favela Tour is one such "official" guide and leads people into and around the Rocinha favela by van and on foot...through the street markets and all the way up to the highest viewpoint. It's more than worth half a day while you're in the marvelous city--if not for the eye-opening educational content, then for the panoramic ocean views.

Get the official timetable in English here
The Pan American Games are to begin in Rio de Janeiro in July of 2007. The city continues to publicize their participation as hosts in a continuing hope that their success with the games will help them win the olympics in 2016. Rio has continually been turned down as an olympic site because of its crime and security challenges. The city is literally surrounded by dangerous slums--areas into which police do not dare enter, except during massive raids. All major highways that enter the city go directly through these slums and the highways are often shut down by the crime lords.

Well, I'm sure the Pan American Games will go just fine. Most important national or international events have a way of escaping incident in Rio.

But if you are going to watch the games on TV, then I've put together a little translation of the official Rio2007 schedule. You can see it here

Contact me if you want the Excel version and I'll email it to you.

Boa Sorte (good luck) to all the athletes and may the games be safe and successful!

(photo courtesy of EMBRATUR)

Great works of Brazilian modern art remain hidden under our noses in Belo Horizonte
Article published in Portuguese in DestinoGeraes magazine
As I stood in the lobby of the Tribunal de Justiço de Minas Gerais, looking up at the incredible Cavalcanti mural radiating from a wall above me, the people around me, one by one, began to look up and ponder this huge allegorical work, painted by one of Brazil's greatest masters. Scenes of mining activities, the slave trade and images of life in the 18th century...then on the distant horizon: industry, machinery, and vague images of progress.

Although much of Brazil's modern art movement occurred right here in Belo Horizonte, the city has amazingly few museums dedicated to these masters and their works. But the city is without its great works. Here, you'll find plenty of Portinari's, Guignard's, and Cavalcanti's. But instead of hanging on the walls of museums, this city's master works are literally painted on the walls of the city itself, tucked away inside the private buildings and public edifices. You can see them. You just have to know where to look.

Inside the auditorium of the TJMG building is a second Cavalcanti mural, some 130 square meters of color, movement and meaning, a more ominous work than the one in the entrance lobby—a work that looms above the auditorium stage depicting justice with her decisive dagger. In fact, the halls of the TJMG are filled with master works, each one deserving a space in a museum. Start with the great iron staircase in the main entry, brought to Belo Horizonte from Belgium when the Tribunal was constructed. At the top of the staircase is a brilliant stained glass mural of Italian design. There are bronze figurines, huge painted paineis showing Justice in her many classic poses, and a rare portrait of Amilcar de Castro (father of a famous Brazilian artist) painted by Alberto da Veiga Guignard, perhaps Brazil's greatest artist.

Around the time Guignard was invited by JK to head up a fine arts school in Belo Horizonte, the artist painted a series of nine panels in the home of then senador Antonio Barros de Carvalho. The original building was since sold and in its place stands a tall, modern apartment complex, known as the Edificio Guignard. There, guarded inside the modern structure, preserved and protected, the original ceiling remains in place (now probably worth more than the building itself). The nine principal panels, along with nine smaller, side panels make up one of the artist's greatest works—known as Visão de Olinda, and seen by few.

Now, the next time you're walking along Av. Afonso Pena near the Municipal Park, duck into the Othon Palace Hotel and look to the right as you enter. There, above a stairway going down to the hotel's business offices, is a rare and fabulous wall hanging, painted by Burle Marx. Marx, known mostly for his landscape design, was also an accomplished cubist painter. The example in the Othon Palace is every bit as impressive as the works of his contemporaries in Europe. It's not a museum, so don't expect the employees of the hotel to take you on a guided tour. But it's worth a look if you're in the area.

Portinari blessed the city with many murals that still radiate from the walls of various pubic buildings around town. The building of the Secretário de Estado de Governo (Rua Prof. Francisco Brant, off the Praça da Liberdade) for example, is home to a Portinari mural (about 10 x 4 meters) that can be seen from the street outside. It depicts, in mild tones, the city's movement from rural to industrial foundations with symbolic references to the past, present and future. The next time you visit the Praça da Liberdade, walk over and check out this huge Brazilian masterwork.

Want more examples? Walk into the small lobby of the Promenade Guinard Hotel (Av. Tome de Souza and Av. Cristovão Colombo in the Savassi area) and you'll see one of the largest and greatest works of artista Mineiro, Carlos Bracher. The painting, which is about 100 x 200 cm depicts the church-lined hillsides of Ouro Preto, painted almost entirely in tones of red. It is dark, ominous and brilliant, and you can include it in your itinerary as you walk around the Savassi area.

There are many more rooms and corridors in this museum that is the city of Belo Horizonte. I've only just touched the surface. You could say that the works of modern art in Belo Horizonte are so well integrated into the city's day-to-day activities, that they are almost hidden right under our noses. Hidden, but not forgotten.

Rio de Janeiro no longer a haven for bunda
In an absurd, but valiant attempt to disassociate the Brazilian backside from Rio de Janeiro (specifically the near-naked female derriere so ubiquitous along Brazil's coastline), city authorities voted to prohibit the sale of postcards that are endowed with portraits of this particular Brazilian national treasure. Yes, postcards have been identified as the culprits. Authorities feel that postcards featuring sexy, scantily-clad Brazilians only encourage the association of sexual tourism with Rio "...which stigmatizes us with undignified labels," suggests state secretary Sergio Ricardo. Of course, one need only cast one's eyes to the sandy beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema to find an endless variety of sand-sprinkled lower halves, fanning across the sand like dunes along the waterfront. Reality is so much more interesting than postcards, anyway. But could bikinis themselves be the next target of censorship for Rio de Janeiro?

Without a doubt, sexual tourism is a problem in Rio, as it is in many of Brazil's coastal cities. It contributes to the country's astronomical HIV/AIDS statistics and adds a number of other problems to boot--problems that need to be addressed. But it's probably not the public relations effort from the postcard-buying public that is to blame--or the fact that so much moon shines along with the sun at Copacabana. No, sexual tourism is the result of neither promiscuity nor exhibitionism. Rather, it comes from that special mixture of poverty, democracy, and international tourism. Remove any one of these three ingredients and sexual tourism falters. Now that's something to write home about.

New fashions offer variety, economy and a touch of self-expression
Brazil's bikini fashions are always out in front and what's showing on the beaches of Brazil this summer is likely to appear in the northern hemisphere this June and July. So what's Brazil up to this year in beach fashions? Apparently, the hit of the season is a mix-and-match, combine-and-clash kind of approach. It's floral bottoms with checkered tops and unmatched colors. It's last year's bottoms with that top from three years ago that no longer has a bottom to match. It's economical, for sure, and it offers a kind of artistic self-expression. You get to demonstrate how you combine unrelated bikini parts to make a personal statement. Plus, in Brazil's beachwear shops, it's common to find barrels of unmatched bikini parts at blow-out prices. So you can appear on the sand with brand-new unmatched swimwear, if you like. Or buy three or four bikinis and start shuffling. When you think of it, it's actually a lot of fun.