The “Girls” From Ipanema…

Just when we thought we had escaped all the current political rumblings associated with the presidential primaries in the states (like jokes about Donald Trump’s hair and people moving to Canada regardless of which front runner for each party becomes president), we found ourselves in the middle of some political turmoil in Brazil.  Currently suffering their worst recession since the 1930s, the country is deeply divided with many believing Dilma Rousseff, Brazil’s first female president, has been the center of political scandal and corruption.  Political issues came to a head this weekend, when the lower house pushed for impeachment of Rousseff and rallies were held all over Brazil on Sunday, including an organized gathering on Copacabana Beach.  There were big screen TVs set up every few blocks, including one right in front of our hotel, and Cariocas were dressed from head to toe in green, blue and yellow carrying Brazilian flags to show their support for Rousseff’s impeachment.

Luckily our plans were taking us out of Copacabana for the day, but our hotel had temporary fencing set up to secure the hotel grounds and required that we wear a wristband identifying us as a guest so we could be admitted back inside.

We headed over to Ipanema and wandered around the famous Sunday Hippie market, even joining the action and bargaining for a few different souvenirs.  We each bought gorgeous paintings of Rio from the artist herself.

Once we were “shopped” out, we headed to the beach.  Apparently there are guidelines when choosing where you’re going to set up on Praia Ipanema.  Posto (lifeguard stand) #8 is home to the gay community… Families set up between Posto #11 and #12 (no thanks) and the beautiful people congregate around Posto #9.  Ummm, the latter is where we’re headed… of course we wouldn’t miss an opportunity to be surrounded by beautiful Brazilians.

We enjoyed an afternoon of sunbathing and people watching, but decided to lay off the caipirinhas this time around.  We watched the sun go down over the beachfront buildings and couldn’t get enough of the view looking south at Vidigal nestled into the side of Pedra dos Dois Irmãos.

As we wandered back to Copacabana, the rally was in full force with the TV’s streaming a live feed from Congress in the capital of Brasilia, as members of the lower house voted one at a time for or against impeachment.  We walked on the beach to stay away from the crowds, but had no problem safely getting up and into our hotel.  As we got ready for dinner, we watched the celebrations down below as the votes coming in continued to favor her impeachment.  If 342 of the lower house’s 513 lawmakers vote in favor of impeachment, proceedings would move to the Senate where a separate vote could suspend her and call for a trail.  When voting ended Sunday evening, 367 deputies backed impeaching Rousseff from office.  We’re finding it fascinating thatwe’re getting to witness this while we’re here and it’s also provided an opportunity for us to educate ourselves on Brazilian politics and their government.

We headed back to Leblon for dinner, as several locals have told us this is their favorite neighborhood in Rio.  We can see why as it’s very trendy, chic and home to a great restaurant and bar scene.  We had a delicious dinner at Brigete’s, which we began with a glass of Brazilian produced champagne.  Boa Noite!

This blog entry was originally posted on www.MayerTwinsTravel.blogspot.com