Went to “Top Beer” last night right on the main strip facing Copacabana Beach. Had a really good pizza and more draught beer. The street vendors who I assume were on the beach earlier in the day moved up to the restaurants and would float around the fringes of the restaurant hawking their wares. They were pretty persistent but moved on when you said “Nao Obrigado”. There are lots or prostitutes in Rio and kids begging for change,…poverty really is running “head-on” into wealth on Copacabana Beach. This part of Rio is vibrant and alive, however there is an underlying seediness about it.
Went to bed at midnight and woke early as we are right over the kitchen. The staff was getting ready for breakfast, but I swore they had filled a giant pot with water and coffee cups and they were just stirring them around,.. what a racket! Ah well… We had a visit with Brascan at Rio Sul shopping mall, a property owned and managed by Brascan. The presentation was excellent and very informative, the presenter was quite terse and short with his comments, but I can tell that’s his style. We spent two hours in the shopping mall, and it really reminded me of shopping in the suburbs of Verona. The stores were pretty uninspiring and the prices were not that much cheaper that back at home.
A quick drive to Impanema for a great lunch in a small Italian restaurant. Sat with Barry, Scotty and Sheri (seafood pasta and chicken/fish). Bought a bottle of cachaca for making Caipiriha’s when I get home! We then had a business visit to CEG-Rio which is the gas distribution company for the city of Rio de Janeiro and RJ state. The presentation was excellent and the presenters were all very engaged and excited about us being there. I am impressed by the level of English in both Rio and Sao Paulo, all of our meetings so far have been held in English and the business people are very well-spoken.
Back to the hotel for a quick shower, changed into my suit and waited for Roberto Dizin to pick me up. (For those of you who don’t know, Roberto is a business associate of mine who has been selling GEO-SLOPE software in Brazil since 1991). Roberto arrived in his VW Jetta and drop me back to his wonderful apartment. From what I could tell it was the top floor (8th storey) of a 1950’s building that was very quaint and large. We had a fantastic meal cooked by Roberto’s housekeeper Maria, and Roberto had invited Hobson (ABACUS) Carlina (FURNAS) Carmello (Carlina’s husband) and Mama Diniz (Roberto’s mother). The dinner was a beautiful whitefish in tomato sauce with prawns, followed by a marvelous beef tenderloin marinated in a rich sauce, rice, manioc, salad and that tasty Brazilian coffee. The desert was a coconut pudding drizzled with a fruit syrup and then covered with figs or plums,…simply scrumptious. Roberto drove me back to the hotel at about 12:30 and I crashed heavily into bed.
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