21 Reykjavik, Iceland

It was approaching 8:30am on a mid-February morning as we pulled into the city of our latest travel adventure. It was as pitch black as the dead of night and the streets possessed an uncanny solitude. We were unsure if this could be attributed to a different lifestyle, a sort of sleepy metropolitanism, or simply the fact that it was a Saturday. After a few days in Iceland we realized that it was unquestionably the former.Reykjavik is a truly charming city. The center of town is filled with little shops and cafes, and there are no skyscrapers in sight. We spent our time visiting museums like the Reykjavik 871 +/-2 exhibit built on the ruins of an old settlement, and the National Gallery where we learned an impressive amount about Dieter Roth, who was actually Swiss-German, but after moving to Iceland in his late 20s grew to become seemingly the nation's most celebrated artist. Our favorite was the National Museum of Iceland. The halls of the museum are expansive and present the country's history in a very modern format with a great collection of artifacts, multimedia displays, and hands-on activities like dressing up in historical outfits. Make sure to put aside several hours for this one!

We also had fun visiting the huge 3D map of Iceland located in City Hall and Hallgrimur's Church with its statue of Leif Ericson outside. On the weekends there is also an indoor flea market by the harbor where we found Icelandic board games, 80s tshirts, and other fun items. Right outside is the most popular hot dog stand in the city--always a line! Be sure to ask for one "with everything" - onions, remoulade, ketchup, and what they call mustard. The fixings were a bit sweet for our tastes, but definitely worth a try.

Reykjavik has a surprisingly wide variety of restaurants, including the northernmost Indian restaurant in the world. We enjoyed sandwiches at Geysir, pizza at Eldsmidjan (where you can get snails as a topping!) and pastries and coffee at Sanholdt Bakery. Our favorite spot of all was Cafe Paris overlooking the town square. This restaurant is super cozy and offers a great combo of European dishes and traditional Icelandic fare. They also make a killer hot chocolate.

The city awakes from its slumberous state every Friday and Saturday night for what the locals call the runtur. The 20-somethings of Reykjavik hop between the bars and discos of the city from 12am to 6am for this weekly event. Our favorite stop was a bar located on Klapparstigur. It was so hip it didn't need a name--just a sign with a very serious man in a bowler hat. Though we did not put in the requisite six hours of revelry, we had enough Gulls to make the chilly 15 minute walk back to our hotel a little more palatable.

The really striking thing about Iceland is the setting--snow covered peaks and ice capped water guard the city of Reykjavik. Once you venture a few miles outside of the city you almost immediately enter an unaffected landscape of rolling hills speckled with rivers, lakes, and the occasional church steeple surrounded by a cluster of houses. It is hard to imagine that the Iceland we discovered for the first time was that much different than the one its settlers saw a thousand years before.

A popular day trip from Reykjavik is the Golden Circle tour. It's easy to join a group on bus through one of two rival companies: Reykjavik Excursions or Iceland Excursions, but it's much less expensive and more fun to rent a car and do it yourself. First stop is Thingvellir, where Iceland's first parliament was located. The backdrop for this landmark is an amazingly picturesque rift valley where the North American and European tectonic plates meet (for all you geography geeks like Patrick!)

The next stop is the original Geysir--that's right, the geysir from which all geysirs got their name! Unfortunately the original is no longer active, but it is still filled with steaming water and right next door is the very active Strokkur geysir. We watched maybe five or six blows that shot water 30 feet high and it never got old.

The final Golden Circle site is Gullfoss, the largest waterfall in Europe. The beauty of the falls were seemingly enhanced by the frigid landscape of frozen ice and snow surrounding the cascading water. It was also frigidly cold at Gullfoss and starting to rain, so we took some pictures and scooted out of there!

Another one of Iceland's natural wonders is the Blue Lagoon. Here we bathed in eerily blue geothermal waters that are part of a lava formation. The weather was crazy when we went: cold, drizzling, and very windy, which made swimming in the steamy lagoon that much more dramatic. The water is reputed to be very good for your skin, but it also made Katrina's hair distinctly hard and sticky for about a day. The Blue Lagoon is quite close to the international airport and it is very easy to arrange for this as a two hour stop on your way out of the country through one of the bus companies previously mentioned. Plus if you buy your entrance ticket from the bus company it is considerably discounted.

We were very excited that our visit to Iceland coincided with the annual Winter Lights Festival. We had read that this annual celebration of the return of longer daylight hours would be filled with performances, museum events and more. Unfortunately, the festivities turned out to be rather absent. We hiked to a beach where evening ocean swimming had been scheduled, but no swimmers showed. Disappointed, we made our way to the skating rink for the advertised performance of the Ice Skating Club of Reykjavik only to find that it was essentially a kids' recital. Not only were we the only tourists in attendance, but we were definitely the only people not related to one of the young skaters. So word to the wise, no need to plan your trip around the Winter Lights Festival.

Our home base in Iceland was Hotel Cabin. This very clean, comfortable hotel is about a 15-minute walk from downtown. The staff is very helpful (though not very cheery) and they not only let us check in at 8:30am on our day of arrival, they even upgraded us to a larger room for free because their standards were occupied. There is also a free basic breakfast buffet in the mornings. We've never been so comfortable for $25 a night! In closing we would like to give a shout out to the Sheffield High class of 2010. Breakfast just isn't the same with out these quirky, teenage Brits.

16 Istanbul, Turkey

While in Turkey we often got the question why Istanbul? Why Turkey? The best answer we usually had was "Why not?". Sure we were intrigued by the enormous history of the city and the whole East meets West concept, but when posed the question we could never come up with a good, concrete reason for being there. That being said, we are sure glad we went. Istanbul is a sprawling metropolis that is made of intimate neighborhoods each possessing character that make them unique. Months could be spent exploring this vast city and to say we didn't want to leave would be an understatement.

Our home base for the trip was the Dersaadet Oteli in Sultanahmet; an inn in a restored Ottoman wooden mansion. The Dersaadet is located practically next door to the Blue Mosque and has a soothing ambiance about it that makes it a welcome retreat after a long day of roaming around. The rooms are small, but in a cozy way, and the entire hotel itself is impeccable in decor and cleanliness. Our stay here exceeded all expectations and though we had only booked a room for two nights we ended up extending our stay here for almost the entire trip. Finally, the last night they had no room for us so they booked us at their sister hotel, Hotel Niles, which was not as kind on the eyes but was a little cheaper and had all the amenities a traveler could need. While in town we also visited friends of Katrina's from Pennsylvania, the Duttons, who were coincidentally touring Turkey at the same time and staying at the Sari Konak--another beautifully restored inn in Sultanahmet.

The Sultanahmet neighborhood in Old Istanbul is home to many of the city's historic sights, making it easy for the visitor. The beautiful Blue Mosque (seen below) is a stone's throw from Ayasofya--the prodigious structure (seen above) that was the major cathedral when the city was Constantinople, and was turned into a mosque under the Ottoman Empire. Thousand year old mosaics displaying Christian motifs have been uncovered here during excavations, and are displayed next to Muslim structures and large Arabic characters.

Across the street from Ayasofya is the Basilica Cistern that provided water to the area as far back as the 6th century, and down the street is Topkapi Palace. We spent hours exploring this royal residence of the sultans. The architecture and detailed tiling is amazing and the rooms go on and on. There are museum-like displays in certain sections, including imperial gold and jewels in the old treasury so opulent they make you blush. We were surprised by (and skeptical of) the exhibit of ancient religious relics including pieces of Mohammed's beard, John the Baptist's arm, Moses's staff, and Abraham's saucepan. The fee for Topkapi does not include entrance to the palace's adjoining harem, but nonetheless it's beautiful chambers were worth the extra lira. The halls of the Harem are eerily quiet, making it easier to daydream of the extravagant day to day lives its inhabitants once led.

Right next door to Topkapi is an unsuspecting series of buildings that houses the Istanbul Archaeology Museum. We almost missed it but are so glad we didn't! Once you enter through the main gates, you find three large buildings packed with truly ancient artifacts--sculptures and mosaics from several thousand years BC aplenty! Some of our favorite items were the notes and contracts chiseled in stone when writing was just beginning, including a love poem (seen at left) from 2000 BC. We had planned this museum as a short stop, but ended up spending several hours exploring the exhibits and could have spent several hours more.

Although you could spend an entire trip to Istanbul without leaving Sultanahmet, a short tram or ferry ride takes you to many rewarding sights. Chora Church in western Istanbul has an extensive display of tile mosaics. Galata Tower on the other side of the Golden Horn offers unrivaled views of the mosque-dotted city skyline. And one of our absolute favorite places was Rumeli Hisari (seen at right) to the north. For a few dollars entrance fee you are given free reign to scramble up and down the walls of this ancient fortress used during the Ottoman siege of Constantinople. A great way to get there is to take a picturesque ferry ride up the Bosphorus, and then a bus that leaves you at the entrance gate.

Another great neighborhood to explore is the young and hip Beyoglu--the perfect place for a night out. After eating a traditional meal of mezes (small plates) at Sofyali 9, we met a fun Turkish couple at a bar down the street with whom we drink away the night. Dawid and Seda directed us to explore Ortikoy for the next day, where we enjoyed cafes buzzing with activity and a most spectacular sunset over the Bosphorus. We also hopped a ferry to the Asian side of Istanbul to take in a Champions league match between the local 11 Fenerbahce and Portugal side Porto. We thought the atmosphere at Fenway is intense--but Sox fans have nothing on the faithful (seen below) of the Yellow Canaries.

We enjoyed a variety of Turkish cuisine while in Istanbul with the ubiquitous kebaps and pides high on our list. For a quick snack, you can always find a street vendor selling roasted chestnuts, corn on the cob, or simit--which is strikingly similar to a sesame bagel. The alcohol of choice is an anise-flavored liquor called raki served with water and ice. We had a tough time stomaching this, so we mostly stuck to the local pint, Efes (Katrina enjoys below). The real drink of choice, however, is cay: black tea served in a small tulip-shaped glass at any hour of the day or night. We were definitely hooked on this reliable caffeine fix. Our favorite restaurant in Old Istanbul for all these treats was without a doubt Hamdi.

Shopping in Istanbul is an experience in itself. The Grand Bazaar, one of the world's most famous markets, is a maze of stores hawking everything from jewelry and home goods to leather and preppy clothing (knockoff Ralph Lauren, Abercrombie and Lacoste are very popular). Shopowners hound you incessantly as you make your way through the Bazaar; if you want to make a purchase, get ready to bargain. After the salesperson states the price, it's a good idea to look doubtful and offer 50% of the requested amount. Bargaining goes back and forth until an agreeable price is reached. If you are like us, you might find this process very uncomfortable, but

it's really what is expected.

The Spice Bazaar (which Katrina shops at right) is more what we expected from the Turkish

bazaars--rustic stalls, displaying mountains of colorful spices, teas and candies. This was our

favorite place to shop for lokum (Turkish delight) and hot chili peppers to bring home.

Another distinctly Turkish experience is visiting a hamam (Turkish bath). Katrina was nervous about not knowing proper bath etiquette, but we found a great place with lots of bossy staff: Cemberlitas. After paying at the entrance we were led to our separate men's and women's areas of the hamam. Once changed into a light cloth, we went to our respective sauna rooms where everyone lies down on the hot marble stone in the center of the room. After baking for a while and getting your skin nice and soft, the masseurs/euses begin to work their magic: a good scrub, wash and rinse takes about 15 minutes. We could definitely get used to bathing like this on a daily basis.

We were able to squeeze in four hours of Amsterdam on the way back from our action packed week in Istanbul. Four hours was enough to realize one thing...we missed Istanbul. Sure there will probably be a time for a thorough visit to Amsterdam, but not before a return visit to Istanbul.

9 Puerto Rico

In celebration of the US election, Patrick's company, the VAN, flew everyone down to Puerto Rico for a relaxing staff retreat on the shores of the glistening Atlantic. Katrina was happy to tag along and do some sunbathing while Patrick was in meetings.

The flight to San Juan was the easiest we've taken in a long time. Direct, three-and-a-half hour flights from Boston are offered at low rates by many airlines including JetBlue and American. Once we arrived, we took a 15-minute, $20 cab ride to our hotel: La Concha, an absolutely beautiful beachfront hotel in the community of Condado just east of Old San Juan. Every room has spectacular, head-on ocean views and the facilities, including a number of pools and a posh pool deck (seen at right), are very modern. But the most important amenity is the gorgeous beach (seen at left) that is the hotel's backyard. The only odd thing about La Concha is that the lobby becomes a very trendy nightclub in the evenings that just oozes hip. This is great if you don't want to go far for nightlife, but the blaring music can be startling as you make your way to your room.

In addition to lounging on the beach, Puerto Rico offers a variety of outdoor venues for adventure. We took a nighttime kayak tour of Fajardo Bioluminescent Bay where dinoflagellates light up the water. The experience of kayaking through a narrow, winding, mangrove-lined canal in the pitch dark is worth the trip alone, but seeing your oars glow as they blade through the water is absolutely amazing. There are only five locations in the world where you can see this phenomenon. Try to go on a night without much moonlight because the darker it is, the easier it is to see the bioluminescence.

We did not have time to take advantage of more of the excursions from San Juan, but other VAN employees reported great things about the rainforest, and opportunities for surfing and snorkeling abound. It is very easy to arrange for transportation to all of these activities if you don't want the hassle of renting a car--many of the tour companies will pick you up at your hotel as part of the package. Plus, then you get to meet some great characters like our van driver Jose who imparted much of his local knowledge to us.

One might expect this bevy of outdoor activities from a Caribbean island, but a wonderful surprise is how fascinating Old San Juan is (seen above). Brightly colored buildings line the cobblestone streets of this historical part of the city, and there are two Spanish colonial forts good for hours of exploring. Also be sure not to miss Paseo Del Morro, a stunning walkway (seen below) that hugs San Juan Bay on the west end of the Isla San Juan. Beware however, there is apparently a huge cat overpopulation problem in Puerto Rico. All along the path we saw stray cats lurking around and signs saying "Save los Gatos!" Who knew? The path finally led us to Paseo de la Princesa, a stylish promenade home to charming cafes and dozens of street vendors and an ideal place to watch the sun set. We waited in line to buy the very popular snack of china dulce, which is a giant peeled sweet orange with the top removed to suck out the juice: a very messy treat. We also learned that while taxis are a little pricey in Old San Juan, it is very accessible by public transportation. If you are staying in Condado it is easy to get to and from Old San Juan by the C53 and B21 free public buses.

The dining scene in San Juan offers something for everyone--tapas and Mexican cuisines are popular in addition to traditional Puerto Rican fare, and it is easy to find sushi, American fast food, and a very reliable pizza joint or two (Mike and Charlie's across the street from La Concha was our mainstay). One of the most popular restaurants around is Raices in Old San Juan. We were told that this was the place to try the national dish mofongo: mashed plantains stuffed with meat or vegetables (which Katrina enjoys at left). Delicious! The restaurant is an experience in itself with waitresses in traditional dress and beer served in tin mugs, but be prepared to wait in line for this popular joint. For less of a wait and equally tasty dishes, head to Cafe Puerto Rico in Plaza de Colon. Closer to our hotel we found traditional food at the Latin Star; for the adventurous eaters, the menu is full of stews like goat and oxtail in addition to their many mofongo varieties. Patrick's favorite treat during our stay (other than an ice-cold Medalla) was limber: frozen fruit juice usually served in a small plastic cup. Without a doubt a tasty way to cool down under the hot Caribbean sun.

In the end we found this charming Caribbean island to be a great place to experience Latin culture with US comforts. It's also a whole lot of fun to enjoy the beautiful beaches and natural wonders. Taking only six hours to travel door to door from Boston, a trip to San Juan is an easy getaway worth a spot on any travel list.

13 Nicaragua

After deciding it had been much too long since we had left the country, we settled on a brief weekend trip to Nicaragua. Upon arrival at Logan we were joined at the American ticket counter by the New England Revolution who were on their way to LA for an upcoming match. While our flights were uneventful that day (the way we like it!), we found out on the news later that the Revolution were not as lucky.

We arrived in Managua, Nicaragua's capital city, after dark and quickly found our hotel shuttle. Along the road we saw numerous red and black Sandinista flags being waved as people were getting ready for celebrations marking the anniversary of the 1979 revolution the next day. Our first and last nights of the trip were spent at the Intercontinental in Managua. The accommodations would certainly be considered deluxe by Nicaraguan standards, with spacious rooma, a pool, and a bar that served delicious cherry daiquiris. Thankfully, the hotel was practically free thanks to a great Orbitz flight plus hotel deal.

Still unsure of the safety of our surroundings, we gently settled in to our time in Nicaragua with a visit to a nearby mall that offered a number of restaurants. This mall was not too dissimilar from an American one on a Friday night, with teenagers abound waiting to see dubbed versions of Mamma Mia! and The Dark Night. Though we do love ABBA, we passed on the movies and settled on Tacontento for dinner and Tonas--Nicaragua's most popular domestic beer.The next morning we hopped a bus to Granada (pictured above) to get out of town before the Sandinista rallying, and presumably American villifying, really began. Riding a Nicaraguan bus is an experience in itself. There is no schedule--the buses leave as soon as they fill up with enough people. Along the way an agent stands at the open door of the speeding bus yelling out the destination, hoping to coax more passengers aboard.

Granada is best known for being the oldest colonial town in the Western Hemisphere, founded by Spanish conquistador Francisco Hernández de Córdoba in 1524. Upon arriving in Granada we oriented ourselves by first visiting the Parque Central, the city's hub of activity. We refreshed after our bus ride with juices and a vigoron--a local favorite of yucca and fried pork skin. As we slowed our eating pace we were approached by a 12-year-old boy who pointed at our food and gestured to ask if he could have some. He sat down, finished off the plate, and told us the dish was "picante" and pointed to our juice. Before slurping down the last of the drink he was joined by his friend, who was not going to miss out on this fun. And thus, we made our first Nicaraguan friends: Kevin and Jonia!

Unfortunately they did not recognize our hotel name, but we knew it was south of the Parque Central, so we set off to explore. Two blocks later we were in the middle of the bustling city market, the street lined with vendors selling everything from fresh produce to homemade cheese to new white sneakers! We navigated our way through the busy streets, asking people for directions to the Hotel Terrasol, finally realizing we had gotten ourselves much too far from the center of town to be anywhere near our hotel.

Back at the Parque Central (pitctued above), we finally found someone who could direct us. For those of you who decide to stay at Hotel Terrasol--which we highly recommend--it is located three blocks west and one block south of the Parque.

The Hotel Terrasol is owned by a married couple, Victor and Katja, who built the hotel from the ground up just last year. They are wonderfully attentive and helpful; within minutes of arriving they directed us to many must-see sights and booked us on an afternoon boat ride on Lake Nicaragua to explore Las Isletas.

The archipelago is composed of 365 little islands off the coast of Granada that are said to be formed from a volcanic eruption by nearby Mombacho some 20,000 years ago . Our tour weaved in and out of the many islands with a few stops along the way. Our favorite stop was Monkey Island--residents of the neighboring islands rid themselves of these pests by transporting indigenous monkeys to a single island of exile. Since they can't swim, they're stuck there. As we sat in our boat watching the monkeys swing on trees, another boat of visitors arrived and two monkeys hopped right on board! One of them moved to an empty seat in the back and sat patiently waiting to go for a ride. The other (pictured above) was pushy and wanted food. Both took a good amount of coaxing to disembark the boat, and the pushy one put up a real, and momentarily terrifying, fight.

We spent our time on land visiting Granada's old cathedrals, museums, eating delicious food and drinking delicious Tona. The best view in the city is to be had at Iglesia de la Merced. For the price of one dollar you can climb the bell tower of the city's oldest church, built in 1538. To catch some of the sights we missed by foot, we took a horse-drawn carriage ride through Granada's colorful streets to the city's outskirts. Our carriage driver, Otilio, brimmed with pride as he described the sites and history of Granada. The only problem was his descriptions all came in Spanish, leading to many interesting exchanges between him and Patrick who speaks Spanish on a pre-school level. After one particular miscommunication where Patrick generically asked "personas entrada?" we ended up on a private tour of the closed and dark Forteleza la Pólvora.

We were sad to leave Granada after only a short time there. It is beautiful, charming, and most amazingly, wholly unspoiled. The people living there are some of the friendliest and most welcoming we've met in all our travels.

Managua, on the other hand, is one of the most depressed cities we have seen. It has yet recover from the catastrophic earthquake of 1972. Even the cross on the top of the historic old cathedral has been left broken. Managua is not safe to explore by foot, but there are guided bus tours designed for visitors. However, we found a surprisingly cheaper option--hire a taxi for a few hours! At a rate of $10/hour, our cab driver, Guillermo, took us all over the city, offering us his personal narrative in very good English. We saw Loma de Tiscapa crater lake, the 6,000-year-old footprints of Acahualinca, the official presidential palace, as well as the real, heavily-guarded mansion residence of President Ortega. We also saw the huge city plaza, still dotted with red and black flags, that had the day before been packed with tens of thousands of Nicaraguans rallying in honor of the Sandinista Revolution Anniversary.

On our last morning in Nicaragua, we scavenged the Mercado Roberto Huembes. Much larger than the Granada market, we got lost in the aisles of hanging raw meat and walls of T-shirts. We polished off a final plate of gallo pinto, a popular rice and bean dish served for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and then returned to our hotel for final packing.

As we sat by the Intercontinental pool waiting for our shuttle, we brainstormed destinations we can cram in to our next year of travels. Stay tuned.....

16 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

November marked six months at our new jobs, which most importantly meant that we now qualified to take vacation days! Wasting no time, we set out on our maiden voyage to South America-- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil to be exact.

We quickly learned that traveling overseas to South America is nothing like the transatlantic flights to Europe. Our combined 13-hours in the air on American Airlines was cramped and uncomfortable and to make matters worse the promised showing of "Evan Almighty" never happened.

Our descent through the early morning clouds was breathtaking and the very first thing we saw upon touching down in Rio was a soccer pitch in the middle of the airport tarmac. After spending a few hours navigating customs we stepped out into the humid (and thankfully warm) air of springtime in Brazil to grab the bus. The journey from the airport to the tourist beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana is about 45 minutes, so rather than start out the visit with an expensive cab ride we took the Real Autobus from the airport. Thanks to a little pre-trip research we found this transportation gem which for the price of 6 Real (the currency of Brazil, which is somehow pronounced hay-ow) drops you off at the door of your hotel upon request.

After passing by dozens of rundown hotels en route, we were relieved to see that Hotel Praia Ipanema was clean, modern and in one piece. It was perfectly located in the heart of Ipanema, surrounded by shops and restaurants, and a short walk east to rowdy Copacabana or west to pedestrian Leblon. It's also one of the few hotels with private balconies off each room. We spent many evenings sitting on our balcony (pictured above) with a cold Skol taking in the sunset and local youth playing soccer on the fields placed end to end all the way down the beach.

If you haven't been able to glean it from the previous paragraphs....soccer is kind of a big deal in Brazil. As a matter of fact our trip coincided with the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup which was being held on Copacabana Beach. We made a point of attending a club match while in town so we ventured out to Maracana, one of the world's great soccer stadiums, to take in local Flamengo versus Santos, the former club of the one and only Pele. Much to our dismay, though we arrived 4 hours before game time, there wasn't a seat available of the 95,000 in the cavernous stadium. Patrick, decked out in his new Flamengo jersey, even tried to buy tickets from two scalpers but his hand gestures were not very effective. We were left to take in the pregame festivities/fireworks show which was a spectacle in itself.

Rio offers an amazing combination of natural beauty and city life. We took the cable car up Sugarloaf Mountain to get spectacular views of Copacabana Beach on one side, and bustling downtown Rio on the other. At the botanical gardens we saw lush, tropical foliage from rainforests across South America. And on our clearest day we took the cog rail up to Christ the Redeemer to see this "New" Wonder of the World (pictured below).

Of course we also used that good weather to spend an afternoon on the beach, where vendors peddled snacks, caprinhas, beer and other goodies as we soaked in the sun. Katrina took a dip in the chilly ocean, but made sure to stay on the Ipanema side of the smelly canal that divides the beach from Leblon. A strong ocean current moves the city waste from the canal east to west, so we do NOT recommend swimming in Leblon.

Downtown Rio, known as "Centro", offers all the benefits of a metropolitan city. We saw historical landmarks like the Palacio de Catete and Quinta da Boa Vista, both former imperial palaces, as well as the National Museum of History. We also made a point to visit a samba club at night to hear great live music and watch the very skilled dancers. Though it was apparent that we had no idea what we were doing, we had a fantastic time faking a samba and dancing the night away.

While in Rio we became addicted to sucos tropicales--tropical fruit juice that is freshly prepared for you at sucos stands (our favorite, "Natural e Sabor", is below) on every corner. They offer every fruit you could possibly name, and many we couldn't. Like acai, a purple amazonian berry that is popular for blending with other fruits. On one occasion we ordered a pineapple sucos and were surprised by the thick green concoction presented to us. Halfway through the drink we figured out that it was definitely an avocado milkshake we were consuming. The words for pineapple and avocado are very similar in Portuguese, and our pronunciation skills are definitely lacking. Who knew sweetened, liquified avocado was so delicious?

One of our favorite meals was at the Garota de Ipanema restaurant where we tried a banana and pineapple pizza. For you bossa nova buffs out there- Garota de Ipanema is the location where the famous tune "The Girl from Ipanema" was penned, hence the name of the restaurant.

Aside from fruit, what Brazilians seemed to love most was their meat and cheese. The churrascarias (traditional, all-you-can-eat barbecues) offered dozens of different meats, which the waiters served by shaving slices off of skewers directly onto our plates. Pay-per-weight buffets are also very popular in Rio. We tried this out at a popular chain called Kilograma, where almost all the dishes were covered in heavy amounts of cheese and cream. We don't know how those Brazilians manage to squeeze into their itsy bitsy bathing suits!

All and all our first visit to South America exceeded expectations and we are looking forward to returning to the great continent to the south!