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If visiting Brazil doesn't amaze and put you into a sense of awe at the incredible beauty of this place on Earth, your vision needs checking!  Riding the aerial tramway up to the top of Sugar Loaf (Pao Azucar) initially was a bit daunting ... I couldn't stop thinking about that 007 movie where there was fighting on top of the swinging tram car!  But amazingly, the ride was smooth and nonfrightening even though the tram is almost 100 % glass.   The view is just so amazing it overwhelms the senses.  At that moment I thought nothing could be more beautiful.  That was before I traveled up a mountain on a streetcar to Corcovado to see the Cristo.  Oh my gosh! 

Corcovado is higher than Pao Azucar which can be seen below along with an incredible vista of Rio de Janeiro, the harbor(s) and Copacabana!  Seeing the view combined with the enormous and amazing statue of Christ overlooking it all, arms widespread to encompass the entire world, was inspirational to say the least.

I definitely recommend this as a vacation destination!

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WEDDING IN BRAZIL -

July 12, 2008, 7:30 p.m., Rio de Janeiro, at the Igreja do Nossa Senhora do Bonsucesso, BERNARDO TAVARES and LUCIANA BABO were married in style!  What an extremely happy and gracious couple!  Friends and family filled every possible space in this historic Catholic church in the center of Rio de Janeiro.  The lights glowed softly with a golden sheen and the bride was brilliant in her mother's wedding gown, trailing several feet of lacy veil.  The church orchestra and wedding choir made music that was indeed heavenly.  There was not a dry eye as Lu walked by holding her father's hand, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.

One moment of humor occurred as the small cousin walked in alone after the wedding had started just asked (she'd been bribed with a promise of chocolate) holding a small statuary of the Virgin Mary.  Her lovely dress was actually a bit too long and she stumbled several times before solving the problem by wadding part of the skirt into her mouth!  As promised, chocolate was traded for the Virgin Mary and she promptly sat down on the stairs to eat it.  Sitting up close as we were, the wedding party had a chuckle over this. 

The lovely ceremony was both familiar and slightly different than here at home.  There was lots of hugging, many smiles, and joy at this marriage!  The party afterwards was 5 hours of nonstop dancing and music at Clube dos Cicaras, a private country club on an isle in a lagoon in Copacabana.   When the Samba band arrived Bernardo and Lu lifted joined hands up in the air  and lead the musicians into the ballroom with huge smiles.   Best wedding I've ever attended!  The happy couple will live Copacabana.