BRAZIL II: AGORA E LOUIS
BANCO DO BRASIL CURRENCY EXHIBIT & ILHA FISCAL
Banco
do Brasil
Oh come on, you didn't really think that the currency exhibit would be
open ONE YEAR LATER did you? We were once again disappointed.
Despite this setback, we pressed onward to the Ferry for the Ilha
Fiscal.
Ilha Fiscal
The Ilha Fiscal is noted for hosting the final party
hosted by the emperor before the people of Brasil ousted him in favor
of a Republican form of government the following day. As you may
recall, multiple attempts at seeing this were thwarted on my first
trip. After the setback at the Banco do Brasil, would we be humbled
again?
The area around the island is surrounded by the Brazilian navy and you
definitely feel the military presence
until you get on the ferry. Mercifully, with only
an hour-long wait, we boarded the ferry and set sail for
the island. The building has been restored over the years and is
worth the trip to see (PIC 1
PIC 2).
It was a little dark inside so these are really the only useful
pictures.
Other Rio notes
For those of you who read the last travelogue on Rio in its entirety,
your remember me complaining ad nauseum about this stupid cloud around
the Sugar Loaf. I'm pleased to inform you that it's still there.
We stopped and checked out the Jewish Museum in Rio. It is an
inconspicuous office in a building. If you don't know where to look for
it, you'll never find it. No pictures were taken because our hosts
seemed a little nervous and obviously weren't accustomed to having
visitors.
In Chicago and other major US cities, these Brazilian restaurants are
popping up (Fogo de Chao and Sal e Carvao) which are famous for the
orgy of meat-eating you experience - and the $50 per head price tag.
Knowing that taking me to one of those places is about as useful as
taking a priest to a strip club, we went to one in Niteroi where the
currency exchange rate wouldn't make me feel like I'd been totally
screwed (about $10 apiece). For those of you who don't concern
yourselves with whether your meat is kosher, you have GOT to go to one
of these places. While I didn't sample the filet mignon, or any of the
other billions of cuts of meat they were carving at table side, I know
what good stuff looks like -
and thanks to Atkins, this all you can eat meat-fest is good for you
too!