# My trip to Rio De Janeiro



## dtoronto (Dec 31, 2004)

Rio was such a culture and social shock for me. It was my first time in a large city in a developing country, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I don’t want to be negative as there were great experiences with people and the places to visit, but overall, the experience is hard to put into words. It really was an experience rather than a vacation. 

The airport to Copacabana beach is around a 30 minute drive. But the stretch between the airport and downtown, is the worst living conditions ive ever seen. Much of it is run-down shacks and deteriorating buildings, and in the distance, are hills of slums that keep piling up. And the military police along the highway have buildings or check points, not sure what they are. And there are gas stations in the middle of the highways, which I can assume are there so you don’t get off the highway. And you see the police cars, I saw many with the passenger cop holding a machine gun in his lap, and as the barrel of the gun was so big it had to hang out the window. 

The condos around Ipanema and Copacabana seem fortified, with bars surrounding them. During the day everything was fine, and the restaurants are great. Better than the Portuguese churasco in Toronto. I typically like late nights, but after midnight, Copacabana was dead. And slowly up to around midnight you see the tourists and residents clear the area and the people you don’t want to deal with come out. A few nights in, I was still up at around 2am and saw people sitting at the chairs along the beach huts, which during the day sell sandwiches and drinks for tourists and locals. So I went down for a cigarette and planned on getting a drink and walking up to the ocean. When I walked out of the lobby, 3 security guards from the hotel came after me telling me not to go far, and that the people around the beach huts were street kids and that I would have problems…and about a walk to the ocean, they said police don’t even go there. So I had a cigarette and looked around, and the atmosphere was very different from the daytime, and could see the people all around checking me out. The prostitutes to the left, the street kids to the front, and the people hanging around to the right. The only ones smiling at me were the prostitutes. 

Also when we were there, on the news they showed a police helicopter shot down during a battle in the one of the favelas and that 30+ people have been killed. Also got comments from men during the day which I heard “blanco” and “******”, point of being a derogative comment, so just keep walking. And during the day, we saw many of the police helicopters going over, not like the police helicopters we have in North America, more like military helicopters with machine guns hanging out of them. But those where the negatives, which sadly outweighed the positives. 

On a positive note, it is a beautiful city, and the few people we met, were great, but cautious and told us to be very careful. Don’t wear jewellery, wear sandals, flip flops, whatever you call them and t shirts, and don’t speak English if you don’t have to, and stay in at night. So overall, we just felt "stuck" in the hotel after midnight. But then again, we only experienced the Copacabana area. I wanted to get us out of there for night and go to Barra Da Tijuca, which is much safer, but didnt want to pay the $120 round trip taxi drive. Maybe there are better and safer areas, or perhaps Copacabana is safer, but especially with my girlfriend, all I could do is take the advice from the locals we trusted and from the hotel staff and go on my instincts. 

So overall, I dont want to say it was a disappointment as it was an experience, but it was far worse than I expected. There are so many areas that are such a social disaster, and the gap between rich and poor is so evident. And I wonder about the residents in the favelas as to how the city will clean up for the Olympics. 

Here are some of the pictures I took. 

*Flying in to Rio*




























*Favela Pavao Pavaozinho*










*Ipanema and Vidigal*










*Ipanema Beach*



















*View from my room*










*Graffiti on the way to Sugarloaf Mountain*




























* Sugarloaf Mountain and Views*































































































































*My Hotel and the Copacabana Area*




































*In the distance is Favela Morro Dos Cabritos*









*Views from the roof of my hotel (around Copacabana)*

















































































*In the distance is Favela Babilonia*









*A lot of police helicopters kept flying over*










*On the way to the Christ Statue*



























*Favela Morro Do Escondidinho*



























*Favelas of Morro Do Escondidinho, Vila Anchieta, Santa Teresa, Santos Rodriquez and Azevedo Lima*




































*Favela Rocinha in the Distance*









*Ipanema*









*Botafago and Copacabana *









*Downtown and North*









*Botafago, Flamengo and Gloria*









*South View*



























*Downtown Rio *









*North View *









*Maracana Stadium *




























*On the way to the Airport, but the battery in the camera kept dying*


















*People on the highway selling food*


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## speed_demon (Jun 2, 2007)

:applause: Another thread to make my country look like Afghanistan, great!!! As If violence was something that the rest of the World don't know, isnt it? And you just took pics of favelas, give me a break. There are lots of interesting places in Rio to take pictures.


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## Assemblage23 (Jan 6, 2008)

^^ Maybe it has to do that, as he stated on his post, it was his first large City in a developing nation...and what he saw was shoking for his eyes.


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## chris_maiden (Dec 3, 2006)

I love Rio, I was there on January and I want to come back!

Rio is the best, the world's happiest city.


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## LS Kim (Jun 26, 2006)

Rio is just that. Has its problems, everyone knows. But we are improving, this is the meaning of a developing country.

Is a shock at first, but after you get used to it.


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## Gerardogt (Dec 3, 2005)

Rio have two faces, you're showing only one, i've been there on January, there are beautiful parts of the city, the center, the district of barra, Niteroi, avenida rio branco, this thread shows a distortioned idea of what Rio is, i'ts a pitty that you've travelled from Canada only to visit and take pintures of fabellas... abouth nightlife, you're right, if oyu're not visiting rio on carnaval, there's no night life compared to Sao Paulo. 

Iv'e visited petrópolis and the wonderful Ilha Grande...


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## Deanb (Jun 7, 2006)

rio looks beautiful, but had no idea things are that bad... 

still would b nice 2 visit one day..


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## FelixMadero (Aug 29, 2005)

Leblon, Ipanema, Barra and Lapa are safety places at night.

Copacabana ITS NOT the best area in Rio. Im sorry.


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## dtoronto (Dec 31, 2004)

Speed Demon - All i took was pictures of favelas?... are the other pictures not showing up for you?...like the several other pictures that show Ipanema, Copacabana, and the views from Sugarloaf and the Christ statue? And regarding your comment "As If violence was something that the rest of the World don't know, isnt it?"...no, most of the world doesnt compare to the rate that Rio has.

Gerardogt - sounds like you're following Speed Demon...did you two read what I had to say, or are just basing judgment on a few of the images that show favelas?


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## Bob_Omena (Jun 10, 2007)

with or without problems
the most beautiful city in the world for sure!


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

dtoronto said:


> Rio was such a culture and social shock for me. It was my first time in a large city in a developing country, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I don’t want to be negative as there were great experiences with people and the places to visit, but overall, the experience is hard to put into words. It really was an experience rather than a vacation.
> 
> The airport to Copacabana beach is around a 30 minute drive. But the stretch between the airport and downtown, is the worst living conditions ive ever seen. Much of it is run-down shacks and deteriorating buildings, and in the distance, are hills of slums that keep piling up. And the military police along the highway have buildings or check points, not sure what they are. And there are gas stations in the middle of the highways, which I can assume are there so you don’t get off the highway. And you see the police cars, I saw many with the passenger cop holding a machine gun in his lap, and as the barrel of the gun was so big it had to hang out the window.
> 
> ...


Gee, thanks for the five hour speech about how horrible Rio was and the "cultural shock yada yada" of the terrible poverty and violence and the 2 positive words about the city.
Keep the good job!
I am glad you survived that "horrible place" and could make it back home!


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## dutchmaster (May 23, 2007)

Dude, sorry but i really dont enjoyed your thread. You looks like a dumb tourist that was scared all the time in Rio and just stayed at the hotel the majority of the time. You've to get out more of your cage in a "peacuful" city of the developed world. Why you just cap the BAD Rio?! If a people see this thread gonna start to think that ALL the city or the MAJORITY of the city is like that, and this is not true.

Dont speak in English?! WTF?! The HUGE majority of the brazilians enjoys to speak english and help the foreign people. It's one of the greatest people in the world for a foreign. It's very cmmon see people talking english in cities like Rio, this dont means that you are going to get rob for being a "******".

Why you just took pics of favelas?! This is the Rio you want to cap? What about the greatest beaches, the people in the streets?!

Well, in 2016 the world will be in shock and will see that Rio is much more than favelas, violence and pooverty..


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

I think you have not enjoyed the city as you could, maybe because you were too busy "analyzing" social aspects or whatever. Sad for you.
I go there about once a year, and always have great time!!!


It´s interesting to compare to this another thread, made by another tourist:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=45303727#post45303727


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## hellospank25 (Feb 5, 2008)

I find it so hilarious when people get so defensive about their city/countries

Why can't people accept criticisms especially when we are talking about

factual information and not opinions? No one is arguing that Rio is a beautiful 

city, but no one can deny that it's infested with crime and tourist have a high

chance of getting murdered


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## dtoronto (Dec 31, 2004)

Im lost for words as to how immature this thread is getting. Its obvious its a "gang up" on me issue going on now, so be it, followers will be followers. 

My point was not to put down Rio, but to display the social problems of such a large city. I didnt have a "bad" time, I never said I had a "bad" time, but that I had an "experience" of something I have never seen before. My experience is biased...as mentioned in my first post due to the fact that there were battles going on in the favelas, and also in the specific location I was in in Copacabana, which I stated could be very different from many of the other communities. All I can do is discuss the point of view from my surroundings and my experience. 

I think a more productive way of discussing Rio, would be to acknowledge the problems that exist, look at why they exist, and discuss possible solutions. But so far, people on here just want to dwell on perceptions of my vacation, rather than looking at what my comments were based on. 

Last note...why do people keep saying all I posted were favelas? Look up, theres alot more.


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## RonnieR (Jul 13, 2007)

How about photos in the center of the city? the restaurants, the bars....


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

Duddy, you captured Rio's soul and believe me, Brazil is tired of Rio screwing up the image of the country all over the world. Brazil is tired of the Rio's attitude, acting as if Rio meant Brazil and Brazil meant Rio. Nothing could be so false!


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## simcard (Feb 18, 2009)

all countries have thier good and bad, remember the riots in la after the rodney king beating. why should Rio be different? surely there are better and nice parts in Rio


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## GRGM (Apr 15, 2004)

dtoronto said:


> Also got comments from men during the day which I heard “blanco” and “******”, point of being a derogative comment, so just keep walking.


:lol:

First of all, "blanco" actually doesn't exist in portuguese. To me it's weird that someone could be called "branco" in Rio... is so hard to find white people in Rio???

Did you hear about Lapa? That's the most bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro... here are two videos taken by me at 3:30 AM:











And here are some pics taken by me in Leblon at 4:30 AM, and the variety of stores open all night:


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## christos-greece (Feb 19, 2008)

Interesting and very nice photos from all those areas of Rio @dtoronto


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## Vini2 (Jun 19, 2007)

orionbeta1 said:


> just the truth...
> 
> *In Brasil we say: "Why does all foreigners always go to Rio de Janeiro??? *Rio is a exception, not the rule!!!"
> 
> The two worst cities in the country is the ones that have more foreigners... Rio and Salvador ¬¬'' I don't know why... I guarantee you that 95% of Brasil is not like that war city...


In Brazil or in your mind???
Rio receives more than 2 millions of tourists! how many of them are killed or something like that??

Maybe they are "sadomasoquistas" :nuts:


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## Vini2 (Jun 19, 2007)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> Duddy, you captured Rio's soul and believe me, Brazil is tired of Rio screwing up the image of the country all over the world. Brazil is tired of the Rio's attitude, acting as if Rio meant Brazil and Brazil meant Rio. Nothing could be so false!


You always bashing Rio! Incredible!
every thread of Rio (in the international forum) you have to bash the city? Why don't you do the same in the brazilian forum?


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## orionbeta1 (Jul 22, 2009)

oh... but we say this thruly... you probably don't hear this because you're living in Rio :lol:

Brasil is giant and foreigners only go to Rio... it's time to know another parts of this wonderful country =)

And Rio de Janeiro is in Brasil... what makes it a wonderful city indeed =) Hugs to Rio people


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## orionbeta1 (Jul 22, 2009)

Vini2 said:


> You always bashing Rio! Incredible!
> every thread of Rio (in the international forum) you have to bash the city? Why don't you do the same in the brazilian forum?


Sorry, but that he said is truth... there is more that Rio de Janeiro in Brasil... Rio has all the brasilian problems but 1000x worsened... ¬¬''


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## Vini2 (Jun 19, 2007)

Foreigners also go to São Paulo, Salvador, Foz do Iguaçu, Florianopolis, Recife, Fortaleza...Generally the tourists spend some days in Rio the go to other cities and vice versa.


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## orionbeta1 (Jul 22, 2009)

Vini2 said:


> Foreigners also go to São Paulo, Salvador, Foz do Iguaçu, Florianopolis, Recife, Fortaleza...Generally the tourists spend some days in Rio the go to other cities and vice versa.


yes =) This is truth =)

For who wants to see another wonderful brasilian cities and states, visit my threads =)

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?p=41890472#post41890472

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=944332

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=944710

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=946192

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=947372

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=984980


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## speed_demon (Jun 2, 2007)

I find extremely ridiculous that many tourists come over Rio to visit Favelas (I'm not saying that this was the case of dtoronto) but I've already heard many cases of people who travel hundreds of kilometers to visit favelas....Later they claim "I was robbed, I was raped, I was this, I was that"....why? LOL There has been a lot of glamorization of favelas in foreign countries because of crap disgusting movies made specially to demoralize the Brazilian society, reducing our rich culture to some f* up marginals. I think there's a common ignorant idea that If you "go to favela, then you're knowing the soul of brazilian", this is ridiculous, false, wrong!!! Its a big of a LIE! How can someone reduce a huge country like Brazil to some f* up favelas, tell me how! And for the knowlegde of everyone, we're not even ranked in top 10 of Worlds greatest favelas/slums! People need to stop making these associations, can't stand it anymore! Erase those crap movies from your heads!


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

Vini2 said:


> You always bashing Rio! Incredible!
> every thread of Rio (in the international forum) you have to bash the city? Why don't you do the same in the brazilian forum?


That's pretty simple. Because I don't want. People all over the world must know that Brazil is not Rio. Rio IS IN BRAZIL, but it is not Brazil itself. Brazil has many other beautiful places beyond Rio, as Fortaleza, Curitiba, Belo Horizonte, Brasilia, Pantanal, Manaus and the Amazon, Natal, the South etc, etc, etc. When, someday, Rio solves its problems, maybe the rest of the country will shut up, but not for now...


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## nanizinha (Mar 18, 2009)

speed_demon said:


> I find extremely ridiculous that many tourists come over Rio to visit Favelas (I'm not saying that this was the case of dtoronto) but I've already heard many cases of people who travel hundreds of kilometers to visit favelas....Later they claim "I was robbed, I was raped, I was this, I was that"....why? LOL There has been a lot of glamorization of favelas in foreign countries because of crap disgusting movies made specially to demoralize the Brazilian society, reducing our rich culture to some f* up marginals. I think there's a common ignorant idea that If you "go to favela, then you're knowing the soul of brazilian", this is ridiculous, false, wrong!!! Its a big of a LIE! How can someone reduce a huge country like Brazil to some f* up favelas, tell me how! And for the knowlegde of everyone, we're not even ranked in top 10 of Worlds greatest favelas/slums! People need to stop making these associations, can't stand it anymore! Erase those crap movies from your heads!


wow .. you said all !!


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## nanizinha (Mar 18, 2009)

kay::hug:


nanizinha said:


> wow .. you said all !!


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

nanizinha said:


> wow .. you said all !!


And now I suppose that we would be proud of the favelas and violence that we have?...Now we are going ( the 9th most powerful economy in the world, as we like to proclaim world over), by leveling down the comparisons, saying we are much, much better than what?...Burundi?...Uganda?...Paraguay? Come on, give me a brake! No Brazilian could ask for less then the BEST that Rio or any other city in the country deserves!! What mother deserves to see his little son dying dragging by a car through kilometers...Pretending that hell does not exist will not save you from it!!!


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## nanizinha (Mar 18, 2009)

bothers me to look at the image of the favelas, the brazilian people in general no longer supports this picture ....

is a reality, yes it is!

but who allowed the Rio to come to that war? people? not .. the police corrupt, incompetent governments, and entry of drugs in the slums, etc etc etc..

the favelas will end? no, never ..which can improve are the living in better conditions of those who live there...and the thugs who ran the favelas, the worst cancer that Brasil has ;..


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> And now I suppose that we would be proud of the favelas and violence that we have?...Now we are going ( the 9th most powerful economy in the world, as we like to proclaim world over), by leveling down the comparisons, saying we are much, much better than what?...Burundi?...Uganda?...Paraguay? Come on, give me a brake! No Brazilian could ask for less then the BEST that Rio or any other city in the country deserves!! What mother deserves to see his little son dying dragging by a car through kilometers...Pretending that hell does not exist will not save you from it!!!


Man, you got a personal trauma with Rio... were you dumped by a carioca girl or boy?

EVERY single thread here (not in the Brazilian forum, because in the Brazilian forum you don't show up) you criticize Rio. It hasn't been once or twice, it's consistent... get over this trauma!


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

legal said:


> Man, you got a personal trauma with Rio... were you dumped by a carioca girl or boy?
> 
> EVERY single thread here (not in the Brazilian forum, because in the Brazilian forum you don't show up) you criticize Rio. It hasn't been once or twice, it's consistent... get over this trauma!


hno: that's always the same...one cannot point the fingers on Rio's problems...


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## Get Smart (Oct 6, 2008)

brazil been taking some heat recently, other topic was the one where the police helicopter got shot down


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> hno: that's always the same...*one cannot point the fingers on Rio's problems*...


Don't despair... you do that very often, obsessively, and very well.


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

legal said:


> Don't despair... you do that very often, obsessively, and very well.


Dude I love Rio, Rio is the most beautiful city in the Planet, but I wanna let you get this straight once and for all: THERE IS NOTHING THAT I WANT MORE THAN SEE RIO WITHOUT THOSE SLUMS, AND THE VIOLENCE IN ITS HILLS THAT KILL, WITH THE MISSING BULLETS, IN THE PLAINS. RIO DESERVES THAT!!!


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## schmidt (Dec 5, 2002)

Vocês já perceberam que virou uma discussão só de brasileiros e nenhum estrangeiro realmente tá interessado no que voces tao falando?


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## Faela (Mar 23, 2008)

Brasileiros,
Eu conversei com esse dtoronto algumas vezes pelo msn e até por telefone, pois ele se dizia muito interessado em conhecer o Rio e as pessoas do Rio. Me perguntava várias vezes sobre favelas , que queria visitar a Tavares Bastos entre outras, eu não aconselhava dizia que poderia ser perigoso e talz. Entretanto ele dizia gostar de problemas sociai das cidades (Social Issues) e que não havia nenhum problema pois sabia como era a realidade no Rio. Falou que chegaria dia 16. Passado alguns dias o encontrei no MSN , dizia já estar no Rio , que as pessoas estavam assustando ele e bla bla. Disse que veio com a namorada que dizia falar espanhol. Pedi se poderia mostrar uma foto dos 2 aqui, colocou uma foto da vista de Ipanema sem mostrar ninguém. Disse que estava no Windsor Hotel em Copacabana. Liguei para o Windsor não constava registro em seu nome nem o da namorada. Depois disse que mudou para o Porto Bay, liguei pra lá hoje (sou meio detetive) e nada também , nenhum registro.

Conclusão final: Pra mim essas fotos foram garimpadas, pra quem viu o foco de algumas era totalmente diferente de outras , algumas me pareciam familiares e nunca com ele ou a tal namorada a mostra.

Aí ele se vem dizer "espantado", "chocado", come on , pra quem dizia saber de cor e salteado os problemas do Rio? Eu moro no Rio e tem informações muito desencontradas aí. Não ei qual foi o objetivo disso. Fico pasma. Se quer uma expêriencia , solte de paraquedas.


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## Faela (Mar 23, 2008)

schmidt said:


> I agree with dtoronto in most parts. There *is* a crime paranoia in Brazil and it's not advisable to go to certain parts of town at night. IMO dtoronto said *nothing* wrong on his post except for the "blanco" part, which is a Spanish word and he forgot there are also whites in Brazil too (and that includes Rio), so he didn't really look like an ET.
> 
> *The area from the airport until Botafogo is horrible, full of slums and one of the most dangerous areas in town, so why criticise that? Is that a LIE?! *And we should not forget that he comes from a developed country, where roads have no potholes, houses are all tidy and well kept, sidewalks are well built. I myself lived in Germany for six months and when I came back to Brazil, to Blumenau, it was quite a shock; just imagine for him - Rio was the first major developed city he ever visited, of course he's gonna be shocked, who wouldn't?!
> 
> I feel sorry for the immaturity of my Brazilian fellows. It's too bad that we can't discuss these matter with foreigners properly.


Yes, it is a Lie! part of it.

O que nao é a falta de informação. Do aeroporto até Botafogo é horrível, are you sure?
Então vou te explicar: Realmente saindo do aeroporto pega-se a Linha Vermelha onde a poluição visual é tremenda pois vc vê todas as favelas do Complexo da Maré. No cruzamento da Linha Vermelha com o entrocamento da rodoviária já não tem mais isso . É a região do porto , degradada claro mas sem favelas. Seguindo direto quando se cruza o Mosteiro de São Bento pela perimetral chega-se ao Centro aí tudo muda de figura , já em frente ao Santos Dumont a vista é mais que bela , daí passe-se pelo aterro do Flamengo com vista embasbacante por todos os lados atéeeeeeee chegar a Botafogo. Entendeu? Depois de Botafogo , chega-se a Copa , sem ver 1 favela sequer nesse pedaço Rodoviária - Botafogo.


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## Forasteiro (Apr 5, 2009)

I was born in Rio, unfortunately I am not living there anymore. But whenever I can I visit my city on weekends and holydays. Rio is amazing. Wonderful city, wonderful people, very special lifestyle the carioca way of life...
But I not surprised to see a canadian guy shocked with my Rio. Actually the city is not for everyone mainly for the one from the boring Toronto.


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## Faela (Mar 23, 2008)

English Version that I said.

Brazilian Folks,
I talked to this dtoronto sometimes by msn and even by phone, as he said very interested to know Rio and the people of Rio. He asked several times about slums, who wanted to visit the Tavares Bastos and others, I advised said that could be dangerous. However, he said, like social problems of cities (Social Issues) and that there was no problem because he knew what it was like the reality in Rio. He said he would come 16 days. After a few days I found him on MSN, said to be already in Rio, that people were scaring him and bla bla. He said he came with his girlfriend, who claimed to speak Spanish. I asked if he could show a picture of 2 here, put a picture of the view of Ipanema without showing anyone. He said he was at the Windsor Hotel in Copacabana. I called the Windsor was not on record in his name nor his girlfriend. Then he said he moved to Porto Bay, I called there today (I'm a little detective) and nothing too, no record. 

Final conclusion: For me these pictures were mined, for those who saw some of the focus was totally different from others, some seemed familiar, and never with him or the girlfriend as the show. 

Then he comes to say "amazed", "shocked," come on, for those who claimed to know by heart the problems of Rio? I live in Rio and has very disparate information there. Not that I was the purpose of it. I'm astonished. If you want an experience, drop by parachute.


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## Escalabitano (Jun 12, 2009)

:rofl: :rofl:


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> Dude I love Rio, Rio is the most beautiful city in the Planet, but I wanna let you get this straight once and for all: THERE IS NOTHING THAT I WANT MORE THAN SEE RIO WITHOUT THOSE SLUMS, AND THE VIOLENCE IN ITS HILLS THAT KILL, WITH THE MISSING BULLETS, IN THE PLAINS. RIO DESERVES THAT!!!


That's so touching! I am drowning in tears.


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Faela said:


> English Version that I said.
> 
> Brazilian Folks,
> I talked to this dtoronto sometimes by msn and even by phone, as he said very interested to know Rio and the people of Rio. He asked several times about slums, who wanted to visit the Tavares Bastos and others, I advised said that could be dangerous. However, he said, like social problems of cities (Social Issues) and that there was no problem because he knew what it was like the reality in Rio. He said he would come 16 days. After a few days I found him on MSN, said to be already in Rio, that people were scaring him and bla bla. He said he came with his girlfriend, who claimed to speak Spanish. I asked if he could show a picture of 2 here, put a picture of the view of Ipanema without showing anyone. He said he was at the Windsor Hotel in Copacabana. I called the Windsor was not on record in his name nor his girlfriend. Then he said he moved to Porto Bay, I called there today (I'm a little detective) and nothing too, no record.
> ...


Thanks Faela!!! You made my day! You are truly a professional detective.

;-)


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## dutchmaster (May 23, 2007)

edit

Qué sabe, é q nem o schmidtt falou, só tem brasileiro aq discutindo..qm tem a essa mentalidade assustada de ****** como este do tópico não é bem vindo no nosso país mesmo, vai ficar sempre na sua cidadezinha "desenvolvida" num país de "primeiro mundo". Vai virar as costas para o mundo em q nasceu e preferir ficar na sua casinha pra sempre, sem explorar lugar algum.

Sem +


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## samba_man (Dec 26, 2004)

Faela said:


> English Version that I said.
> 
> Brazilian Folks,
> I talked to this dtoronto sometimes by msn and even by phone, as he said very interested to know Rio and the people of Rio. He asked several times about slums, who wanted to visit the Tavares Bastos and others, I advised said that could be dangerous. However, he said, like social problems of cities (Social Issues) and that there was no problem because he knew what it was like the reality in Rio. He said he would come 16 days. After a few days I found him on MSN, said to be already in Rio, that people were scaring him and bla bla. He said he came with his girlfriend, who claimed to speak Spanish. I asked if he could show a picture of 2 here, put a picture of the view of Ipanema without showing anyone. He said he was at the Windsor Hotel in Copacabana. I called the Windsor was not on record in his name nor his girlfriend. Then he said he moved to Porto Bay, I called there today (I'm a little detective) and nothing too, no record.
> ...


That´s explain ALL! :lol::lol::lol:

Thx Faela!


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## orionbeta1 (Jul 22, 2009)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> Dude I love Rio, Rio is the most beautiful city in the Planet, but I wanna let you get this straight once and for all: THERE IS NOTHING THAT I WANT MORE THAN SEE RIO WITHOUT THOSE SLUMS, AND THE VIOLENCE IN ITS HILLS THAT KILL, WITH THE MISSING BULLETS, IN THE PLAINS. RIO DESERVES THAT!!!


NOSSA!!! Impactante!!! Fiquei emocionado!!! :uh:


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## Escalabitano (Jun 12, 2009)

legal said:


> Thanks Faela!!! You made my day! You are truly a professional detective.
> 
> ;-)


:laugh: :laugh:


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## iswhat (Mar 19, 2009)

speed_demon said:


> I find extremely ridiculous that many tourists come over Rio to visit Favelas (I'm not saying that this was the case of dtoronto) but I've already heard many cases of people who travel hundreds of kilometers to visit favelas....Later they claim "I was robbed, I was raped, I was this, I was that"....why? LOL There has been a lot of glamorization of favelas in foreign countries because of crap disgusting movies made specially to demoralize the Brazilian society, reducing our rich culture to some f* up marginals. I think there's a common ignorant idea that If you "go to favela, then you're knowing the soul of brazilian", this is ridiculous, false, wrong!!! Its a big of a LIE! How can someone reduce a huge country like Brazil to some f* up favelas, tell me how! And for the knowlegde of everyone, we're not even ranked in top 10 of Worlds greatest favelas/slums! People need to stop making these associations, can't stand it anymore! Erase those crap movies from your heads!


How do you expect a tourist to not notice favelas, especially when there are over 700 in Rio alone. Im sorry that the majority of tourists don't just shut out the the poverty and pretend like we are not affected by people living in extreme poverty while down the street there are very rich neighbourhoods.
Your ability to ignore extreme poverty and then go back to your air conditioned ,gated off house is one of the main reason's that poverty exists in such extreme forms. If this is the Brazilian mindset then it starts to make sense why there are so many favelas in the first place. Remember Brazil is only a "developed country" to some Brazilians. And yes id rather watch a Brazilian movie about a favela compared to a soap opera full of white people and with a budget that could give many people living in favelas basic necessities like food, but hey thats just me. 

Top neighborhoods and localities

* Gávea (0.970) - (Greater than Iceland, Norway - 0.968)
* Leblon (0.967) - (Greater than Australia - 0.962)
* Ipanema (0.962) - (Greater than Canada - 0.961)
* Lagoa (0.959) - (Equal to Ireland - 0.959)

Neighborhoods and localities in last place [94][95]

* Complexo do Alemão (0.711) - (Less than Gabon - 0.729)
* Jacarezinho (0.720) - (Less than Sri Lanka - 0.743)
* Rocinha (0.732) - (Less than Algeria - 0.748)
* Cidade de Deus (0.751) - (Less than Iran - 0.771)


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## Jorge M (Jun 11, 2008)

^^ "Extreme poverty" would be something below 0,500 wouldn't it? :sly:
Is Iran really an extremely poor country?


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## chris_maiden (Dec 3, 2006)

Forasteiro said:


> I was born in Rio, unfortunately I am not living there anymore. But whenever I can I visit my city on weekends and holydays. Rio is amazing. Wonderful city, wonderful people, very special lifestyle the carioca way of life...
> But I not surprised to see a canadian guy shocked with my Rio. Actually the city is not for everyone mainly for the *one from the boring Toronto*.


hahaha, so true


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## dtoronto (Dec 31, 2004)

wow...4 pages of pretty much the same. 

Faela "Raphaela", its too bad it came to this as originally you were great to talk to about Rio, but you left quite a few aspects out of our conversation when I was in Rio. To be quite honest I didnt trust you, as there were little lies you told, which were quite obvious, and other discussions we had from the beginning that made me feel uncomfortable with you, as I expressed I have a girlfriend, which I wont mention on here. 

And when we talked on msn in Rio, you chose to be very rude, not only to me but to my girlfriend, which is why I ended the conversation. You asked for a picture, you did not ask for a picture of the two of us, which I wouldn't have gave you anyway. Look at your msn message history, if you don't have the history posts, I do. I also don't remember telling you that people were "scaring us and bla bla" but that the first location we went to in didn't look decent so we got out of there...again, it should be in your message history. You also left out the part that I told you that our hotel was booked under a different name, and therefore, at the Porto Bay Hotel, where we stayed for most of the vacation, it would not be under our names. You were told that, but you choose to not mention that. And to call around the hotels???, thats called stalking. 

And if I wasnt there, how did i get this plane ticket, which was from our stop over in DC to get to Rio, dated on the October 16?









And how did I get the room card from the hotel...with the picture taken a few minutes ago as displayed on the note. 









Legal...sounds like youre just around to cause problems. Keep going if you want, I dont see why you want to do it, but go for it. 

So Im now in a position based on proving the fact that I was in Rio. Refer to the images above. I was there and my comments still stand. As Raphaela discussed before, I have a strong interest in social issues, and was hoping this post would be a discussion based on how and why Rio came to be. I was familiar with the issues that Rio had, but as mentioned, on it was worse than I expected.

and now it looks like people are insulting "boring Toronto"...this is getting sad. 

Regarding "Blanco"...I wasn't about to ask the person that called me it where he was from to determine if he spoke Portuguese or not...but it was a comment made, and my girlfriend who's first language is Spanish, said is was a derogatory comment and to keep walking. 

To do my best at being mature about this issue, I had no intentions at all of insulting the people that live in Rio or Brazil. Rio is a beautiful city and as mentioned, the people I met were great. I didnt have a Bad time, it was a different experience for me. What stood out were the social problems, which need help. It was my life long dream to visit Rio and Im glad I went. But to come back and say everything was great would be a lie, and its not about the city or the people, but about the existing conditions in a social aspect. And to ignore those aspects, wont change anything. To sum it up, its a great city if you have money to spend, but what about the millions of people that live in the favelas, and whats going to happen to them in the next 7 years to clean up the city?


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## movic (Jul 1, 2006)

Just a question.. I know Brazilians don't use the word "blanco", (nor would any other latin american country use it with a despective way), but do you use the word "******"??? sorry for the offtopic

Now, on topic, I really think Rio is an amazing city, and that OP is in someway overeacting and hes unexperienced in culture crossing if he was shocked for what he saw.


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

orionbeta1 said:


> NOSSA!!! Impactante!!! Fiquei emocionado!!! :uh:



Why don't you cry a lot?! Ok then...Rio has not more than 1.000 slums. It has no violence at all. No one dies by missing bullets in the nobles areas. No carioca is at risk at all. Beautiful? Yes, maybe. Those who are defending the city here must know one thing. Rio wants to be Brazilian showcase (yet...) But they need to remember that a showcase is made of glass...


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

Forasteiro said:


> (...) boring Toronto.


Wow...That was tough!! No Brazilians want to runaway to "boring Toronto"...:lol::lol::lol::lol: Great...So great that I pissed:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:


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## buho (Sep 15, 2008)

movic said:


> Just a question.. I know Brazilians don't use the word "blanco", (nor would any other latin american country use it with a despective way), but do you use the word "******"??? sorry for the offtopic


I think in fact ****** is used in Brazil not only for north american people, it's for foreign people in general.


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

buho said:


> I think in fact ****** is used in Brazil not only for north american people, it's for foreign people in general.


You're right.


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Faela

Thanks for all your info... the only thing that this guy proved by showing those tickets is that he did very little use of them.

Kisses!


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> Why don't you cry a lot?! Ok then...Rio has not more than 1.000 slums. It has no violence at all. No one dies by missing bullets in the nobles areas. No carioca is at risk at all. Beautiful? Yes, maybe. Those who are defending the city here must know one thing. Rio wants to be Brazilian showcase (yet...) But they need to remember that a *showcase is made of glass*...


And there lots of people like you, eager to spend half of their day throwing stones!


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

iswhat said:


> How do you expect a tourist to not notice favelas, especially when there are over 700 in Rio alone. Im sorry that the majority of tourists don't just shut out the the poverty and pretend like we are not affected by people living in extreme poverty while down the street there are very rich neighbourhoods.
> Your ability to ignore extreme poverty and then go back to your air conditioned ,gated off house is one of the main reason's that poverty exists in such extreme forms. If this is the Brazilian mindset then it starts to make sense why there are so many favelas in the first place. Remember Brazil is only a "developed country" to some Brazilians. And yes id rather watch a Brazilian movie about a favela compared to a soap opera full of white people and with a budget that could give many people living in favelas basic necessities like food, but hey thats just me.
> 
> Top neighborhoods and localities
> ...


And the rest of the world, who have their nice share of poverty, violence and social problems, have to hear these anthropological speeches about poverty every single day of their lives???
Why is Brazilian poverty the most intriguing poverty in the world????
I think there are many people obsessed with Brazilian poverty.. it sounds like they sleep at night with a picture of a favela under their pillow!
And then we have to see the stats of the different areas of the city and all that OOOOOOOOOLD crap about the differences between rich and poor!


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## Pegasusbsb27 (Sep 5, 2005)

legal said:


> And the rest of the world, who have their nice share of poverty, violence and social problems, have to hear these anthropological speeches about poverty every single day of their lives???
> Why is Brazilian poverty the most intriguing poverty in the world????
> I think there are many people obsessed with Brazilian poverty.. it sounds like they sleep at night with a picture of a favela under their pillow!
> And then we have to see the stats of the different areas of the city and all that OOOOOOOOOLD crap about the differences between rich and poor!


I think the answer for your question is quite simple: Because Brazil is one of the most powerful economies in the world. At least half of Brazilian population (including me) and the rest of the world neither accept nor understand that! Is that enough for you?


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

dtoronto said:


> Faela "Raphaela", its too bad it came to this as originally you were great to talk to about Rio, but you left quite a few aspects out of our conversation when I was in Rio. To be quite honest I didnt trust you, as there were little lies you told, which were quite obvious, and other discussions we had from the beginning that made me feel uncomfortable with you, as I expressed I have a girlfriend, which I wont mention on here.


Wow! I see you are very paranoid after all.


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

Pegasusbsb27 said:


> I think the answer for your question is quite simple: Because Brazil is one of the most powerful economies in the world. At least half of Brazilian population (including me) and the rest of the world neither accept nor understand that! Is that enough for you?


bla bla bla


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## nicholbam (Mar 8, 2009)

Wow. Forget the pictures. I think the poisonous vitriol being spewed on this thread will be my lasting impression of Brazil for quite some time.


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## isakres (May 13, 2009)

Well maybe dtoronto just stayed at the wrong place in Rio and at the wrong time (when the helcipter was shoot by the gangs)............but actually some pictures are not that bad.............

I ve really seen poorest neighborhoods in some other southamerican countries and around the world than the favelas showed here.........at least these ones seems to be made with concrete and have paved streets........

Trying to understand my brazilian fellows, maybe they are tired to be associated with underdevelopment when their country is actually better than ever.


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

isakres said:


> Well maybe dtoronto just stayed at the wrong place in Rio and at the wrong time (when the helcipter was shoot by the gangs)............but actually some pictures are not that bad.............
> 
> I ve really seen poorest neighborhoods in some other southamerican countries and around the world than the favelas showed here.........at least these ones seems to be made with concrete and have paved streets........
> 
> *Trying to understand my brazilian fellows, maybe they are tired to be associated with underdevelopment when their country is actually better than ever. *


That's part of the situation... Brazilians are also tired of all this "astonishment" with the coutry's poverty, as if Brazil was the only one to have this problem on earth... it's tiresome! It's ALWAYS Brazil... some people probably masturbate at night seeing news on Brazilian social problems...


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## T.O.M (Apr 24, 2007)

Well, dtoronto, welcome to one of the bad sides fo the world! And believe me there´s much more where this one come from...
I can´t blame you for being shocked by what you´ve seen in Rio. That´s a very natural feeling in people who are visiting the world outside the developed countries for the first time ( mainly those from canada, scandinavia, switzerland or similars). I had a bit of this experience myself, when i came back from a year in Germany. 
Who can say it´s not scary being in a city where a police helicopter has just been shot down and 40 people are being murdered in a urban combat? C´mon, it is scary.
It´s also scary the condition of many brazilians habitations...Not only in the major cities...

Well, about the warning in the hotel, I got one of these, too, when i was in a hostel in Harlem, in NY. Lots of tourists hear that in Rome or Amsterda, too, or in almost every big city in the world ,and i believe that if you were in one of those cities i mentioned, you wouldn´t have freaked out as you have. But of course you did the best thing you could. After all you´ve seen, listened and read, it´s easy to understand your prudence, and add to that the fact that you were in a completely different and unknown country. Anyway, I would never recommend for a foreign person to walk around some Rio streets in the night.
About hearing people calling you "blanco", I believe that was your imagination. Althought it´s usually very easy to identify a ****** in Brazil, I don´t know anybody who would say "branco" ( in portuguese, not spanish, as you wrote) referring to a foreign person in the street...
About the winny brazilian people in this thread, what can i say? They just embarres me more with this stupid patriotism...

P.S.: When I say bad side of the world, don´t think i´m saying bad country, or continent or something like that.
What I saying is: Concerning urban safety and habitation conditions its obvious to say that Brazil is not something to admire, on the contrary, it's a 
model not to follow...
And of course Canada or any country has same bad sides, and Brazil as many countries has some good sides, but not in the subject this discussion has been about. Maybe in a second visit, you´re gonna be more able to admire the divine beauty of Rio...


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

T.O.M said:


> Well, dtoronto, welcome to one of the bad sides fo the world! And believe me there´s much more where this one come from...
> I can´t blame you for being shocked by what you´ve seen in Rio. That´s a very natural feeling in people who are visiting the world outside the developed countries for the first time ( mainly those from canada, scandinavia, switzerland or similars). I had a bit of this experience myself, when i came back from a year in Germany.
> *Who can say it´s not scary being in a city where a police helicopter has just been shot down and 40 people are being murdered in a urban combat? *C´mon, it is scary.
> It´s also scary the condition of many brazilians habitations...Not only in the major cities...
> ...


Yep, like helicopters falling from the sky are the daily news on Rio! 

The rest is same old, same old, so why bother?


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## 009 (Nov 28, 2007)

Nice pictures of Rio, it's a very beautiful place, even the favelas. It's a shame you weren't able to get out and explore more of the city. 

Don't listen to the trolls in this thread feeling hurt because you shared your honest experience and showed some of the poorer areas. Especially "legal" he was obviously miserable with his life in brazil, that's why he escaped to the USA, but he is just as miserbale there. 

It will be amazing to see the olympics showcasing the natural beauty of Rio; even more amazing was Rio in the early 1900's before Brazilians tried to copy the USA, demolishing the majority of their beautiful historic buildings, only to replace them with tacky rectangle boxes


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

009 said:


> Nice pictures of Rio, it's a very beautiful place, even the favelas. It's a shame you weren't able to get out and explore more of the city.
> 
> Don't listen to the *trolls in this thread feeling hurt because you shared your honest experience and showed some of the poorer areas. Especially "legal" he was obviously miserable with his life in brazil*, that's why he escaped to the USA, but he is just as miserbale there.
> 
> It will be amazing to see the olympics showcasing the natural beauty of Rio; even more amazing was Rio in the early 1900's before Brazilians tried to copy the USA, demolishing the majority of their beautiful historic buildings, only to replace them with tacky rectangle boxes


Oh, yeah, especially you 009, with 04 posts and coming here to talk about trolls!


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## 009 (Nov 28, 2007)

legal said:


> Oh, yeah, especially you 009, with 04 posts and coming here to talk about trolls!


perhaps you aren't intelligent enough to understand what "join date" means......someone wouldn't make a troll account, then wait for 2 years to start trolling




trolls either have brand new accounts because they get banned quickly, or have thousands of posts like yourself and have been lucky enough to evade a ban for years


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

009 said:


> perhaps you aren't intelligent enough to understand what "join date" means......someone wouldn't make a troll account, then wait for 2 years to start trolling
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Nope, they just keep several accounts, because they were already banned, to keep using when they can't resist the temptation.
YOur number of posts indicate very well your contribution to this forum.


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## Leo10Rio (Jan 3, 2008)

Guy, You looks to have been only im bad parts.
I spend every day for these slums to go to college, you must have seen, a big bulding across the slums, there, it is the "universitiy city" or "Fundão Island".
Copacaba is not the best place in Rio, and far from be the richer. It's the most famous!
It's a middle class nieghborhood and after midnight, mostly in the weekends it's busy yet.
Leblon and Ipanema is pretty busy on the weekend's nights too, And it's safer. 
You didnt go to several good places!
Have you been to Lapa and Historican Center?
Have you been to Downtown?
Have you been to Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas?
Have you been to Barra da Tijuca?
Have you been to Prainha, Recreio beach and Grumari beach?
Have you been to Parque Lage and Botanical Garden?
Have you been to Floresta da Tijuca?
Have you been to Urca neighborhood ( not only Sugar Loaf ), one of the safest places in Rio?

So, you just visited a small part of the good city ( just Copacabana and Ipanema ), and thousands of slums. Near Airport it has the poorest part of the city, while 20 % of the Rio's population live in slums and 80 % don't.
Try not to criticize so much the city, because you knew very little of it. And in the little, most places you went were bad.

PS: A Taxi from Copacabana to Barra da Tijuca cost not more than 40 reais. Taxi drivers in all over the world try to earn more with tourists, you should come informed to not be misled. 

AND THREADS WITH YOUR OWN PICS SHOULD BE POSTED AT URBAN SHOWCASE, AND NOT HERE.


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## 009 (Nov 28, 2007)

legal said:


> Nope, they just keep several accounts, because they were already banned, to keep using when they can't resist the temptation.
> YOur number of posts indicate very well your contribution to this forum.


which is still more valuable than your contribution in 3000 + posts 


Also, your English is very poor, perhaps you should ask for some help from some of the other Brazilians in this thread like Pegasus, or T.O.M. They obviously utilized much better methods of learning a new language. Perhaps it might be the difference in intelligence, in which case you can't really help that.


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## legal (Aug 19, 2003)

009 said:


> which is still more valuable than your contribution in 3000 + posts
> 
> 
> Also, your English is very poor, perhaps you should ask for some help from some of the other Brazilians in this thread like Pegasus, or T.O.M. They obviously utilized much better methods of learning a new language. Perhaps it might be the difference in intelligence, in which case you can't really help that.


...


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## san pueblo (Oct 29, 2009)

My God, after four years visiting the pages of skyscrapercity it’s the first time that I fell the need to subscribed to reply a thread. I have three things to say about this:


1 – I’m glad to see that my fellow Brazilians are finally losing the fear to think that defending our country is a signal of an underdeveloped mind. Nobody like to see their home being constantly beating. Of course that always will be those british lords who will came here teling how people should behave (I’m talking about some Brazilians, although is easy to say that we are being patriot when it’s not your country who are being criticized).


2 – Everyone became so eager to reply the guy that forget to pay attention on the weird things that he wrote, for instance: someone calling he “blanco”, a comment totally surreal; the condos around Copacabana and Ipanema fortified, which is estrange since this older areas have buildings with the front door pointed directly to the street, and finally the 120 dollars charged to go to one neighbourhood to another, which is more expensive than travel to São Paulo in an airplane, for instance. 


3 – I’m sorry for my crap english.


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## JoseRodolfo (Jul 9, 2003)

^^ Here some "fortified" condos around Copacabana (my pictures):


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## dtoronto (Dec 31, 2004)

To all the commenters....

The "Blanco" thing has been discussed. To reply to it again...when I was called that, I obviously didn’t feel it would be a good idea to go up and ask the person why they called me that or where they were from to determine what their first language was. Ill say it again... my girlfriend, who's first language is Spanish told me it was a derogatory comment and to keep walking. That’s what happened. If people on here say its not a Portuguese phrase, its obvious that its not a Portuguese phrase. But someone that I guess was not Portuguese decided to say that to me. Portuguese, Spanish, Chinese may as well all be the same to me. I only speak English. 

Regarding my experience of the location I stayed in, as I mentioned in my first post:

"So overall, we just felt "stuck" in the hotel after midnight. But then again, we only experienced the Copacabana area. I wanted to get us out of there for night and go to Barra Da Tijuca, which is much safer, but didn’t want to pay the $120 round trip taxi drive. Maybe there are better and safer areas, or perhaps Copacabana is safer, but especially with my girlfriend, all I could do is take the advice from the locals we trusted and from the hotel staff and go on my instincts." 

I clearly stated that it was only the experience I had, and that perhaps other areas were safer, but with what I was recommended by locals (Don’t wear jewellery, wear sandals, flip flops, whatever you call them and t shirts, and don’t speak English if you don’t have to, and stay in at night). That’s what I was told by people that we had a few drinks with in the Ipanema area on the Saturday night when we were there. Then the staff at the hotel had advice, which said not to go far. And with everything going on in the news, and the looks I got when I went out at 2am, if the situation was reversed, what would you do?

JoseRodolfo – paranoid? Id rather call it cautious. There are months of discussions that you have no idea about, so rather than have an objective view based on your assumption, its probably better to know the facts, which you don’t, and which you cant, so why make comments based on nothing you know about. And regarding the pics of the condos you took, they look nice, but I didn’t get to see that area. 

Legal – keep going if you want, you’re doing well at displaying the image you’re creating. This also may be another 5 hour comment for you, so take our time.

Isakres – Great, it’s a beautiful city with a lot of potential. 

T.O.M. - Well said, but I’m lost as to the “patriotism” aspect. Do people want to hide that these conditions exist and promote an image that separates the conditions of the favelas? Is it an image thing? Patriotism is great but how does hiding social issues help anything? Shouldn’t patriotism be based on helping your own? 

Leo1014 – I went to a few of those locations, many of which were great. Next time I would stay in either Ipanema or Barra. And the 40 Reais…guess we got ripped off as tourists as we were quoted 60 each way. 

San Puebla – Defending your country is admirable. I’m not criticizing you, I am giving my perception as a tourist. 

The only conclusion I can come to, regarding responses from a selected few people on here, is that this is an image issue. And that a selected few people on here choose image over quality of life for their own people. I’m not criticizing the Brazilian people, but I will state that the conditions I saw are horrible. There have been many Brazilians on here that commented in a rational form based on acknowledging the situations, which is great. But to the others that want to focus on image…that image is not going away until it changes, and who is going to change it?

To conclude…I will state again that I did not have a bad, scary or horrible vacation, or whatever words have been put towards my vacation. Would I go back, yes I would, due to the great people we met but I would not stay in Copacabana.


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## san pueblo (Oct 29, 2009)

Dude, as I say before, I’m a visitor of skyscrapercity for almost four years, and in this whole time of course that I saw many depreciative posts and threads about my country before. The thing here is that your statement as a tourist just seams dumb. The thing about the cab for instance, come on, 120 dollars to go to barra? Remember that the dollar is almost two times the real, which means more than 200 reais for a cab. I was not kidding when I say that with this money you could fly to another city. The fact of the cab driver has charged this (if this was really true) just show that you fear must have been all over your face during the whole time for someone think that they could take advantage of you. If you comeback to brasil one more time, just try to relax man. Even the people on the favelas do this once in a while, despite all the violence. :cheers:


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## Jan (Jul 24, 2002)

Bitch bitch bitch....


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