Brazil Blog
About this blog
Thrill of Brazil is a travel blog all about Brazil written by Moon Brazil author Michael Sommers. Michael blogs about Brazil travel, culture, and more. He welcomes questions, comments, and story ideas.
Recent Posts
- Care for a Drink with your Film? (or a Film with your Drink?)
- Brazil’s Homegrown Tourism Boom
- Brazil's Best and Write-est
- Making House Calls in Rio (Part II)
- Making House Calls in Rio (Part I)
- The Dawning of Brazil's B&B Age
- Rio's Alternative Points of View
- Taxi Trouble in Santa Teresa
- Obamas Take to the Campaign Trail in Brazil
- Plans and Punctuality
- Reliving Tropicalismo - On and Off Screen
- Food and Lodging that Make the Grade
- The Making of Moon Living Abroad in Brazil
- U.S. is Number One Source of Immigrants to Brazil
- Best English-Language Blogs about Brazil
Care for a Drink with your Film? (or a Film with your Drink?)
Although it’s more famously known for its beaches, music, and Carnaval, Rio de Janeiro is also a great city for film lovers.
This isn’t just because Rio is home to dozens of movie theaters, many of them housed in alluring edifices – ranging from the streamlined Art Deco splendor of the Roxy, in Copacabana, to the intimate 45-person hipster haven of Cine Santa, perched on Santa Teresa’s Largo de Guimarães.
Or because every year, for two weeks in early October, the city plays host to one of the biggest film festivals in the Americas, the Rio International Film Festival . more >>
Brazil’s Homegrown Tourism Boom
Brazil’s economic boom of the last few years has had significant impacts on the country’s tourism industry. While prices for food, accommodations, and transportation have risen considerably, at the same time, the emergence of a new lower-middle class with more disposable income (and more access to credit) than ever before has resulted in an unprecedented number of Brazilians traveling, both abroad and at home.
Although none of this is news, this week I came across an article, by Vincent Bevins, on beyondbrics – an insightful blog devoted to emerging markets – that offered some surprising details about these recent tourism trends. more >>
Brazil's Best and Write-est
There has been a lot of ink spilled in recent times about all the enormous and myriad changes taking place in Brazil; from the swelling of the middle classes and the pacification of favelas to the behind-the-schedule-ness of Brazil’s preparations for the upcoming 2014 World Cup.
Far less newsworthy, but just as interesting are the changes taking place in Brazil’s robust literary scene.
Recently, when I was in Rio de Janeiro browsing through books at one of the few remaining livrarias that once littered the Zona Sul neighborhoods of Ipanema and Leblon, I came across (and actually purchased) a book entitled Os Melhores Jovens Escritores Brasileiros,” launched by Granta literary magazine in July of this year. more >>
Making House Calls in Rio (Part II)
Whenever I travel to Rio de Janeiro I’m always seduced by the idea of living there. For this reason, I always love visiting homes of people who actually do live there.
Recently, I visited two fantastic Rio de Janeiro homes – both of which are located in leafy residential parts of the Zona Sul and both of which are open to the public. Mysteriously, and erroneously, both are also off the radar of most foreign tourists. more >>
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