Posts Tagged ‘brazil’
It was announced Friday that the 2016 Summer Olympics will spontaneously divert the world’s attention to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. This will be the first time the Olympic Games have been hosted by a South American city, which comes as hard-fought justice to those Brazilians who thought it unfair that the games can be held in North America 11 times but never once to their quadrant of globe.
Rio’s bid for the games beat out the three other finalists for the auspicious prize: Chicago (which lost despite an 11th hour plea from President Barack Obama), Madrid and Tokyo. I can’t help but applaud the IOC’s decision. It’s about time this level of recognition and respect is bestowed upon Brazil. They have a healthy tourism industry (5.2 million visitors in 2008 representing 3% of their GDP), an impressive Information Technology workforce and despite being heavily industrialized, many still do consider Brazil as a third-world nation.
I usually don’t start conversations telling people I’m “well-traveled”. Especially when I see websites like this around. I have however compiled a fairly good list of stamps in the passport, and because I interact with other world travelers both professionally and personally, I’ve got a pretty good idea of more amazing places I want to go.
This Friday, I thought I’d share a list of some of my favorite destinations in this wondrous world along with a few I still really want to get to. The list of course is abbreviated since I’d have to talk your ear off (perhaps over dinner?) to tell you all of them.
A two and a half hour bus ride west of Rio sits one of Brazil’s little treasures. Paraty (pronounced Pah-dah-CHI) sits on a tranquil little cove bedecked with fishing boats and squat colonial-style houses as colorful as a national flag.
First settled in the mid 16th century by Portuguese explorers, the town officially gained its independence from the neighboring state of Angra dos Reis after a complicated series of battles and subsequent treaties. It continued its rise with the utility of the Gold Road, a key starting point from locally mined gold on route back to Portugal in the 17th and 18th centuries. The town maintained its importance as a sleep-over point on the coast route between Rio and Sao Paolo, but with the opening of the inner road between the two cities, traffic effectively ceased, freezing it in time and untouched by development. It wasn’t until 1950 that Paraty was linked by road to the rest of the country and the modern world was let back in. In the late 70s it was rediscovered as a fascinating destination for tourists and history buffs alike where it remains today, well-preserved and stunning in its rich beauty.
More than 2000 years have passed since ancient Greeks labeled the Seven Wonders of the World. Now that votes are in check out the New Seven Wonders.
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