Intercity Piazza Navona Hotel Porto Alegre

... both ways, twice) to exchange some money. I asked the exchange rate and the 'person in charge’ came around the counter and asked me how much I had. I told him $500 Australian, which he took from me. He smacked it onto the counter, jabbered something in Portuguese to the staff, and gave me a handful of dough and a receipt indicating an exchange rate of $1AUS to R$1.2 Reais. I was done like a dinner! Leaves a bad taste in your mouth, but makes you smarter next time.

... ourselves to the Brazilian life, culture and language. We were also lucky to find a cheap plane ticket to Rio de Janeiro for Carnaval, US$80 one way with Webjet (discount Brazilian airline). I have never flown a plane for less than $100 before, this is perfect timing and it saves us a three day bus ride, plus it was cheaper to fly anyways. Next, Carnaval !!!

... pubs on both sides of the street , you can see beautiful people hangingout , good food and cheap beer as well. If you would like to go night on and get crazy dance and fun, I would say you go to joao alfredo street wich is near by and there is a bunch option of music style- good samba- samba rock- rock&roll- techno and gaucho tradicional music. If you like fancy night I suggest you go to calçada da fama ( Famous street) where most of financial health gauchos go. Day Life ...

... at a nice B&B. Welcomed by Evelina herself who was giving some tips to other tourists in Polish (she speaks seven languages!) She is an energenic woman who has a really nice place. Huge gate across the driveway makes it feel safe, the rooms are immaculate, there is an outside kitchen you are welcome to use which overlooks a trapical garden and the swimming pool. Lyn and I got a double for 30 Reals apiece and Rich got a single (which is really a ...

... First we visited a bird park which was quite scary as the birds were flying everywhere but we did see some toucans so that made up for it. The falls are nothing short of incredible. When we first stumbled across them we were pretty impressed and took lots of pictures, then we turned the corner and spotted the main attractions - absolutely unbelievable. The Brazilian side offers an overview of the falls but it was on ...

... my first one in Brazil. And just like Argentina, absolutely noone speaks any English. Well almost noone. As fate would have it, I met 2 Brazilian girls who could speak Japanese!! (and even some English), so we sat in airconditioned comfort whilst they practiced their English and me my Japanese. Actually, it was quite interesting talking to them, about various things. Just like Australia, they have quite a few different racial groups ...

... about 50 deg F and arrived in balmy 78 deg F weather, with a teeny bit of humidity. Iguazu is in a subtropical region of Argentina, and the falls border two nations, Brazil and Argentina. Today we checked into our hotel and headed into the Brazilian side of the falls, but not after an extremely lengthy immigration and border control process, where our visas and our passports were carefully checked out. The walks and hikes along the paths ...

... the food arrived, and it was enough to feed an army. We´d ordered steak for four, chicken for two, and two pasta dishes and salad...the guys who got out of the cab were sympathetic and took the steak off our hands...phew! dodged a funny dialogue in english, spanish and portugese about how there were only 4 mouths to feed at our table...though couldnt he see that? not sure what happened, but it was a bullet dodged! headed back to the hotel, played ...

... Falls. I really wanted to see the Falls from all the different angles and locations! It was the first helicopter flight I had in 15 years (the last one was also in the Southern Hemisphere - in New Zealand). It is once in a lifetime experience, of course. Now I have seen the Falls from the land, the water, and the air. Pictures as followed: http://travel.saricie.com/SouthAmerica2 006/Iguazu_Air_en.htm

... house before and after the graduation. Sweetest people you could imagine. Even at the graduation, almost every person made a solid effort to communicate with me either in English or Portuguese. Many different greetings...some people wanted to do three kisses, other people two, other people one with a hug. I really, really like the friendliness of the Brazilians. I just don't find that back home. The graduation party was very dressy, comparable to prom ...