The Adventure Begins

My time in Rio de Janeiro and Brazil was coming to an end. It was time to go home. I could feel it in my heart. And, I needed to figure out how to bring Emi, my motorcycle, with me. I was considering selling Emi in South America at the end of my trip. However, Emi had been such a good ride that I really did not want to leave her behind. I decided that I would take her back home with me.
I inquired with a few air cargo companies in Brazil to see what it would require and what it would cost to ship my moto from Rio to Houston. One company told me up front that they simply could not do it. A second company gave me a quote that was simply outrageous. The last company gave me a quote that was incomplete and could not promise a shipment date. It looked like it was going to cost over $2000 to ship my moto out of Brazil and there was still a chance that there would be some mystery fees at the port. It was not looking promising.
I looked into an alternative. I knew about a place in Buenos Air…

While living in Rio de Janeiro, I rarely rode my motorcycle around the city. To me, the roads often felt like a maze and the traffic felt oppressive. However, I did take a few excursions outside of the city by motorcycle. It always seemed easy to leave the city, but to return to the city posed problems. It seemed like there was always lots of traffic flowing into the city. So... when in Rio... I often found myself riding like the Cariocas... Splitting Lanes.
I do not recommend this. I probably will never do it again. But it does make for interesting video.
Take note at 35 seconds how cars change lanes abruptly and without signaling, at 45 seconds how challenging it is to be a street vendor, at 1:10 the truck pulling the mobile home during rush hour, at 1:50 the squeeze between two trucks and every so often you will hear a horn. That would be me tooting my own horn to warn the cars and trucks in front of me that a motorcycle is approaching. 

There was a film that I read about online that I wanted to watch. It was showing in an area called Cinelandia in the central area of the Rio de Janeiro. The film was screening at a place called the Centro Cultural Justicia Federal (Federal Justice Cutural Center). I ended up watching the film, but it is what I discovered inside the building that I found truly amazing. The best part is the last part. I thought that it was odd that a film was showing in a building dedicated to justice, but I decided to check it out. From the outside, the building did not appear to be anything special. In fact I had walked by this very building previously without noticing it. However, on the inside it was actually pretty ornate. And there were multiple floors beautifully lit up. I was early to the film screening, so I thought that I would stroll around the building. I came across this chamber, which was designed as a court or hearing room. From floor to ceiling it contained some intricate and complex pa…

While in Rio de Janeiro, I often traveled by the metro (subway)... and discovered this underground art.

My time in Rio de Janeiro was coming to an end. My friend Roxanne and I thought that it would be a fun idea to share a little taste of Texas with some of our friends. So... we hosted a TexMex dinner party.
It was a little challenging finding all the needed ingredients, but we made due. We decided to serve make-your-own tacos, both hard and soft, with filler ingredients like beef, chicken, tomatoes, onions, lettuce and guacamole. Also, a side of seasoned rice and some fresh pineapple for dessert. I think that most everyone enjoyed the meal, or at least they were very polite.

We have a saying in Texas... you can take the Texan out of Texas, but you can't take the Texas out of a Texan.

On a clear day in Rio de Janeiro one can look across the bay... and in the distance... one can see on the other side... the city of Niteroi. In Niteroi... there is a hill where people jump off the edge... and parapente (paraglide). I had to go check it out. A fellow traveler and friend named Philip joined me.
There are various ways to travel across the bay to Niteroi. One can take a bus, a car, a slow ferry or a fast ferry. We chose the fast ferry. We landed on the beach of Niteroi. From the beach we hired a cab to take us up a mountain to the Parque da Cidade (City Park).
Not such a bad view from the City Park. From the park, we could look to the right and see the city of Niteroi.
And, we could look to the left and see a fishing village.
And at a certain place within the park, there was a scenic overlook point... and a ramp to paraglide. We met a man named Luciano, who was a former military airplane pilot, but now is a paragliding pilot. He provides instruction courses and tandem fl…