After my semester abroad in Fortaleza, Brazil ended, I refused to leave and decided to explore the surrounding areas of Fortaleza’s state, Ceará. While Fortaleza is not known for its beauty and charming architecture (the oldest, colonial church was torn down to make a heinous modern one; the city...

Joining the Matador community (yesterday!) has been an interesting stimulous. I´ve been fortunate enough to have had many diverse travel experiences and all I have been able to think about is what I want to share first.

I´ve decided on starting with my adopted country , Brazil. Brazil , as all you...

After learning 6 languages to fluency in 6 years of travels, and learning to speak Czech in just two months (and of course, blogging about how I did it!), it’s time that to go on to the next level in language learning!
I think that I may finally be ready for the greatest challenge I’ve ever...

After a week of hanging out with Anthony on his family´s farm, we headed into Sao Paulo to get our bus to Foz do Iguaçu. Through a stroke of luck, anthony managed to locate us tickets online for only R25. bargain. another R140 for the return, but beggars can´t be choosers. We arrived in Foz...

So, I've just arrived at a good friend's family farm in the interior of Sao Paulo. The past few days have been spent winding our way down the coast and stopping at beaches along the way.

Brazilians currently hold the title for scaring me witless whilst driving.We made our way to Paraty, an amazing...

I was travelling in Brazil and my tents zipper wouldn’t zip up anymore and let in many mosquitoes. So I bought a replacement zipper in Sao Paulo and took the tent to a seamstress shop. The shops window opened up onto the street and was covered by massive white iron bars. Inside the window was a room...

The last night of carnival it rained. For a moment the music ceased and the streets cleared. Crowds huddled beneath the food shacks and sheltered under brightly painted umbrellas. The cobbled streets glistened beneath sheets of rainwater; giant puddles began to slosh against the sidewalks. I could...

I tend to judge a new city heavily on two criteria: music and food. So it's no surprise (at least to me!) that Salvador, Brazil is pretty much my favorite place in the world.

While São Paolo is the industrial capital of Brazil, and Rio is probably the most popular tourist destination, most Brazilians...

Departure From France - Sorry it's in French...hope someone still knows how to read that!!!

Ceci est une histoire de ma famille, d'un voyage au départ de la France, vers le Brésil. Ma famille: Léo=Mon père, Diane=Ma mère, Hugo=Moi meme, Indi=ma soeur

Nous sommes une famille Canadienne Francaise qui...

So now that the truth is out--that I am a RESIDENT of NATAL in the Northeast of Brazil--this, I realize, puts me in a very priveleged position to TRAVEL to a million little beach towns up and down the coast. So here it is, another personal revelation, I am announcing my plan, here and now, to...

Okay, coming clean with everything. Full disclosure.

I AM NOT TRAVELLING IN BRAZIL. I ACTUALLY LIVE HERE.

Phwew. I feel better.

 For one, I have finally admitted it to myself. I am not travelling. I live here. Natal is my home.

My children live here. They go to school here. They have lots...

Brazil seems far away this morning.

It could be the six inches of snow on the ground.

Or maybe it's the fact I never really connected with anyone or anything there the way I always do when I travel.

But still, there are some things I can't get out of my head, some things that will only begin to make...

We were standing in what was described to us as the "press box," ready to capture and transmit Caetano Veloso's concert in real time, when Dilma showed up and the floor began to tremble. My colleague from Atlanta made another comment about the dais holding many more working revelers than the 250 person...

The first thought that occurs to me as I’m sitting in the backseat of a taxi, speeding through the streets of Recife, is that I could easily like a country where nine out of 10 people wear flip flops.

A strange first thought, and apropos of nothing, but I’ve been running through airports...

Senador Georgino Avelino is a small, Potiguar (literally "shrimp eater" in tupi, and the name for people of this region) town on Brazil's northeastern coast. Shrimp thrives in the mangrove swamps that flourish in this region. We were going there to find out when the next presentation...

Last Friday I went to a cool party in Central London, just behind Piccadilly Circus, at an exclusive private club with the theme of Casino Royal, champagne, roulette, gambling tables, state-of-the-art architecture and, inescapably, music all night long. Outcome of the evening? I need to move to...

Woke up in her bookshop
Old musings in heavy leather, mildewed maps and slim volumes of verse
Back feeling gnarled
I want to whoop somebody’s hide
But first
Coffee,
the Takamine and a dark closet.
Let somebody else suffer the loveliness of day

Speaking of

That goddamned rainbow

The darkest, stickiest, richest mud in the universe squeezes through our toes as thousands of fiddler crabs scatter from burrows, to obscure destinations, as we come ashore. Smoke from the wood fire of the fish camp carries the smell of roasting corn. As we approach, two young fishermen in front of...

OK I started working on this story from a couple of years ago but not sure if it would work so well as an article, especially since Varig is no longer in business.  So I decided to post it here and see what people think. Enjoy.

           ...

In 19 days I will be traveling to Cuiaba in Mato Grosso, central Brazil for my wedding. At first, having two weddings seemed like a simple way to avoid worrying about obtaining visas for everyone in her family to come here, or vice versa. Little did I know how complicated it could be.

The first time I...