Our last two weeks in Rio have started and we have dear friends visiting – time to revisit all the great spots that we have seen over the last year as well as visiting those that we always were about to visit but thought we would have ample of time doing so.
Saturday started with a visit to the Santa Marta Favela located just besides the kids school. Santa Marta is famous for being both the first Favela pacified years ago as well as the on Michael Jackson visited and had the video for his song “The don’t care about us” filmed.
From the top of the favela you have a wonderful view over Botafogo, Lagoa and Christ. We took the community tour into the favela, a project supported by the municipality of Rio to generate income for the people living in the favelas as well as creating awareness about their problems and challenges. Santa Marta has an elevator that takes you on top of the hill from were we walked down back to the entrance of the favela, not missing the Michael Jackson square:
The favela currently is under way to be painted in the brightest colors – a project by some dutch project and a brazilian paint company. The first houses are ready to be followed by all the houses in Santa Marta:
Sunday’s visit led us for the first time to Christ Redeemer – the number one sightseeing spot in Rio – what a spectacular 360 degree view over Rio and beyond:
Followed by a wonderful lazy lunch in a great restaurant in Santa Teresa – Aprazivel – serving typical brazilian fare in the most amazingly beautiful setting. Best of all the palm hearts cooked in their natural cask:
Today it was beach day at Prainha, a lovely surfing beach spot out south of Barra and Recreio again followed by a lazy seafood lunch of grilled fish and prawns overlooking the beach – it hardly can get better than this:
The fish and seafood super fresh as some of it just caught by a diver such as this octopus:
makanandcomida 
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