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
To Give… Or Not to Give… (Is that the Question?)
I’m back in my adopted hometown of Salvador after close to 6 weeks in São Paulo, and as usual I’m suffering from a bit of culture shock. Although in some ways Brazil is quite unified, in other ways it’s so crazily diverse that traveling from one state, region, or even city to another is like traveling to another country (and often includes some time travel as well). more >>
Reacting to Black Orpheus
I'm ashamed to confess to that up until a week ago I had never seen one of the most iconic Brazilian films of all time: Orfeu Negro (Black Orpheus). Actually, the film was a Franco/Italian/Brazilian co-production. French director Marcel Camus' screenplay (with Jacques Viot) was adapted from the play Orfeu da Conceição by Brazilian poet/composer/diplomat and bon vivant Vincius de Moraes. more >>
Nothing Could be Piner
One of the things I was most looking forward to seeing when I made my recent trip to the Serra da Mantiqueira was the rare and unusual araucaria tree. A native of the mountains and high planes of southern Brazil, the araucaria angustifolia (to go by its full official name) is a species of coniferous tree that dates back some 2 million years – and it looks it (i.e. decidedly primitive) more >>
Brazil's Switzerland
One of Paulistanos' favorite getaways from the big city is Campos do Jordão (literal translation: Fields of Jordan). Only 2 hours away from São Paulo by car (3 hours by bus if you happen not to own a car – which is not the case of most people who frequent "Campos"), it's often billed as Brazil's Switzerland. more >>
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