10th stop...Rio de Janiero....finally, but only for 6 hours!

So I was able to make it to Rio and shoot at a production plant. I spent a total of 6 hours in Rio. I know its crazy...I had to get back to Sao Paulo the same day to shoot early the next morning. Its a shame Rio really is all that you imagine it to be. I did get to see Ipanema, Copapcabana beach, had a beer, and Cod fish cakes (which are super tasty) on Copacabana beach. Not to mention soak in a bit of sun to get rid of the NY winter grey tone of my skin and it was 100 degrees which felt nice. As usual though I had to rush off to the next location.

Observations: Hot, actually very hot, great looking beaches and people. That's all I got I was there for only 6 hours.

 Coming in for a landing at the airport in Rio you see the green patch in the upper middle thats the runway and yes it ends in the water.

Cool futuristic airport in Rio

Copacabana beach. Sort of reminds me of Coney Island.....a tiny bit if you squint your eyes.

Ground level view of the beach.

Copacabanna beach, from my perch at the restaurant before rushing off to the airport.

This image truly represents how I see things when I am traveling....Some blur with some sharp areas.

9th stop Rio, Brazil....never made it, but stayed in Sao Paulo

The weather has played a huge part in my recent travels unfortunately not for the better. I was stuck in Shengyang, China (a small city near North Korea, although they did have a Prada, Gucci, and Burberry boutiques just to name a few) when on my way to Singapore because of snow, getting around Chicago was a nightmare with all the snow and the cold. I almost slid my rental car into another car in Odense, Denmark. Luckily whatever I did kept me from hitting the car, but got myself stuck in a snow bank instead. A woman who was jogging passed by me, volunteered to help push my car out of the snow bank as a result of the slide. Did I mention Danes are amazing?

So why should flying from Copenhagen via Frankfurt be any different? I was supposed to fly to Sao Paulo and make a connection to Rio de Janiero.  That was not to be....My flight from Frankfurt was late by an hour then the connecting airlines computers were having issues so they couldn't get me on another flight.  I traveled by taxi to the domestic airport to try to get another flight no luck. Ugh...a rare defeat for me. I usually mange to overcome those issues somehow.  Anyway Rio was rescheduled and I stayed in Sao Paulo to work on other parts of the project. I photographed doctors, patients, battery recycling, regular people, kids, babies, and triplets...the triplets were a challenge.

I was last in Sao Paulo 10 years ago, and it was really great to be there again. Its a busy metropolis of 10,886,517 in the city and 19,616,060 in the greater metropolitan area of people with things to do.

Thanks to everyone in Sao Paulo who made my short time there interesting and special.

Observations in Sao Paulo in February: Hot!, beautiful people, clean for such a large city, bad traffic, crazy afternoon rains, great food, Brazilian Portuguese sounds beautiful, great music, friendly people, great vibe, Bohemia beer, and those Capirinas that somehow taste better there.

Flying into Sao Paulo. This is the edge of the city. Look how it ends so abruptly

Flying over Sao Paulo. This city is huge!

Riding around Sao Paulo. Part of my taxi series.

The clouds are rolling in right on time 4pm

Sao Paulo...thunder storm from william vazquez on Vimeo.

Thunder storm out my window at the Sheraton Sao Paulo Brooklin. During the storm the power went out in the hotel for about an hour.

 A bridge in Sao Paulo that has become a symbol of the city.

Paging Dr William and Daniel. Daniel was instrumental in making things happen in Brazil. He's going to be president of Brazil one day I think.

What a great bunch of people to work with. Daniel, Denise, Fabiola, Flavia, Erica, Fernanda, me, not pictured and a super cool Patricia