"City of God" a Rio de Janeiro Travel Page by Dabs

I'll admit that I went to Rio de Janeiro a bit reluctantly, took the hubby a couple of years to convince me. Every movie I saw, every newspaper article I read, every book I picked up on Rio painted this place in such a negative light, I wondered why are people so fascinated by this place?

Yes, there are beautiful beaches populated by fabulously tanned and toned bodies, the beaches themselves surrounded by a magnificent landscape. But I was uncomfortable for much of the time we were there, always cognizent of the high crime rate and poverty, the prostitutes working openly along Av. Atlantica. I've visited a lot of large cities in Europe, the US and Canada and have never felt that way.

My intent is not to dissuade people from visiting Rio, after all besides a easily removable spot of mustard on my shoe, I encountered nothing else unpleasant on our visit. But the constant vigilance got to me and I found I didn't really relax until we had moved on to our next destination. If you do go to Rio, give some thought to doing some of your touring with a guide or better yet, hooking up with a local VTer, as I was putting together my tips, I noticed that the things that we REALLY enjoyed were all done with our excellent guide, Wilson, who knew the ins and outs of Rio.