In addition to regularly scheduled classes, the program will offer four social activities in the form of optional tours, as follows:
1) On Friday afternoons, there will be an optional ½ day, afternoon tour to sites of special interest within the City of Rio de Janeiro, depending upon student interest. It is anticipated that the cost per student of these tours will be between $10-$25 US. Possible sites include:
a. A gentle hike on the beautiful Caminho de Bemtivi, to see some of the Atlantic rainforest, concluding with a twilight visit to Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar);
b. A visit to the new environmental education park, the Parque Chico Mendes, with a boat ride from Barra Point and a visit to the Lagoa de Barra
c. A boat ride in the beautiful Barra de Guaratiba
d. An afternoon in the funky, bohemian Santa Teresa neighborhood, beginning with a ride on the trolley up the mountain and a late lunch in the Bar das Ruinas, after visiting famous sites in the Atlantic Rainforest, including Alta de Boa Vista and the Mesa do Imperador (Emperor’s Table)
e. A visit to the Casa Burle Marx, once the home to Brazil’s most famous – and eccentric – landscape designer;
f. A walking tour of downtown Rio and its colonial and belle époque splendors, concluding with a visit to the new Cidade de Samba (Samba City), where the samba schools prepare their Carnaval creations
g. A boat ride across the bay to the Fortaleza de São João (the Fort of St. John) and a visit to the ultra modern contemporary art museum in Niteroí, designed by Brazil’s most celebrated architect, Oscar Niemeyer
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