Rio de Janeiro is undoubtedly the most strangely beautiful city I've ever visited. From an urban planning perspective, nobody in their right mind would plunk down a city where Rio is - it's literally built around (and sometimes on or through) mountains. Not a few nice little hills like San Francisco - mountains. Throw this together with about a dozen beaches and a rain forest, as well as the culture, people, architecture, neighborhoods, and everything else you can expect from a big, diverse city. Add one of the world's most famous landmarks, and then put the whole thing in Brazil. It's not hard to see why they call the place the "Marvelous City."

Like most interesting cities - at least from a geographical standpoint - Rio came about because it had a great harbor (which leads to early settlement and development), but surrounding terrain not exactly conducive to traditional city development. When viewed from above (by ascending one of the many aforementioned mountains), it becomes even more clear how absolutely ridiculous is it to have a city there - and how great it is that there actually is one.

I was lucky enough to have a few Carioca friends that showed me around a bit, but I made sure to do all the touristy things and such also. I headed up the Corcovado to see the big statue of Christo Redentor (aka Jesus). And since I was not the first person to do this pose, I didn't feel bad doing it in the biggest Catholic country in the world. I also went up the other good viewpoint - Sugarloaf Mountain - at night - you can also see Jesus in the top, left-hand corner there.

They give Helicopter tours from up there, hence the Helicopter hanging out in the foreground. But that wasn't the strangest vehicle. There's two different cable mechanisms that run from the ground to the first (shorter) mountain, and then from there to Sugarloaf. The first is a traditional skytram, similar to the Roosevelt Island Tram. The other is this thing. This turned out to be (I think) a huge magnet for transporting - among all things - cars. Yes, on the way down from Sugarloaf I saw a car being taken up - I thought it was a mirage at first. I mean, what possible use could there be for a car on top of this? (in the background). I also walked around downtown, which has some nice art-deco architecture, as well as the Petrobras building which is somewhat reminiscent of a Rubik's Cube.

Another thing that has started to be a tourist attraction in Rio are the Favelas - in Rio they're mostly located on the Mountainsides. All nice young liberal travelers generally go through the same cycle of logic when deciding whether or not to go on one of these tours. While I would have found it interesting from an Urban Design point of view, I really had neither the time not the inclination to do this.

The tourist things were cool, but by far the funnest stuff (as always) was going around town with the locals, and also the random stuff I ran into just walking around on my own. I went to a Samba concert with my friends, and a street away was completely covered in tomatoes. I also ran into this (hopefully) very badly translated sign. Actually, if you want to make sure that that sign doesn't become a reality in this country, you should support the Sexuality Information and Education Council of the United States, a very good organization that my friend Vanessa works for.

I also ran into Rio's Gay Pride Parade, in Copacabana, which was loads of fun. Copacabana is also the Jewish neighborhood (there's not that many Jews there, it's just where the Jews that do live in Rio generally happen to live). I've often heard Rio be compared to Miami. While I don't really buy it, Copacabana is definitely Miami Beach. I mean, where else would you find someone walking to synagogue in a white suit?