Karen, Thank you very much for your concern. The tragedy is enormous, hundreds of people died and a lot of them are missing. Some towns just desapear from the map! I'm ok I live in Sao Paulo, 10 hours by car from the tragedy, Sonia lives in Rio but not in that place. I believe this is the result of global warm and massive destruction of nature. The people build their homes up in the hills, not considering the soil conditions and the government does not do what it should be done. What I've been seeing at tv is horrible, you guys have no idea what is happening here. Sorry for my English mistakes.

Here is a statement from one of the other swimmers involved: http://www.georgiadogs.com/sports/c-swim/spec-rel/081916aac.html Aug. 19, 2016 Statement by University of Georgia Swimmer Gunnar Bentz "I want to offer a sincere apology to the United States Olympic Committee, USA Swimming, the extraordinary women and men of Team USA, and the University of Georgia. Being a member of the Olympic Swimming Team was an honor and a dream come true. The accomplishments of my teammates were awe-inspiring and I'm so pleased I got to see them up close. I regret this situation has drawn attention away from the Olympics, which have been hosted so incredibly well by Brazil and its citizens. "While I am anxious to put this matter behind me and rejoin my Georgia teammates in classes, practices and competitions, I feel compelled to stress several key points. 1. I was never a suspect in the case from the beginning (Brazilian law enforcement officials saw me only as a witness). 2. I never made a false statement to anyone at any time. "I also want to be forthright about the details of what transpired last Sunday. What follows is consistent with the account I gave to the Brazilian authorities when I was interviewed for the first and only time on Thursday in Rio de Janeiro: "After attending an event with several swimmers from different nations, I left in a taxicab along with U.S. swimmers Jack Conger, Jimmy Feigen and Ryan Lochte around 6 a.m. On the way back to the Olympic Village, we pulled into a convenience store to use the restroom. There was no restroom inside, so we foolishly relieved ourselves on the backside of the building behind some bushes. There was a locked door out back and I did not witness anyone breaking it open. I am unsure why, but while we were in that area, Ryan pulled to the ground a framed metal advertisement that was loosely anchored to the brick wall. I then suggested to everyone that we needed to leave the area and we returned to the taxi. "Two men, whom I believe to have been security guards, then instructed us to exit the vehicle. No guns were drawn during this exchange, but we did see a gun tucked into one of the guard's waistband. As Jimmy and Jack were walking away from the vehicle, the first security guard held up a badge to me and drew his handgun. I yelled to them to come back toward us and they complied. Then the second guard drew his weapon and both guards pointed their guns at us and yelled at us to sit on a nearby sidewalk. "Again, I cannot speak to his actions, but Ryan stood up and began to yell at the guards. After Jack and I both tugged at him in an attempt to get him to sit back down, Ryan and the security guards had a heated verbal exchange, but no physical contact was made. "A man that I believe to be a customer approached us and offered to help as he spoke both English and Portuguese. Understandably, we were frightened and confused during this time. Through the interpreter, one of the guards said that we needed to pay them in order to leave. I gave them what I had in my wallet, which was a $20 bill, and Jimmy gave them 100 Reals, which is about $50 in total. They lowered the guns and I used hand gestures to ask if it was okay to leave and they said yes. We walked about a block down the street and hailed another taxi to return to the Village. "Videos of this situation have been emerging the last several days. However, I am confident that some video angles have not been shown that would further substantiate my account. I also believe some scenes have been skipped over. Additionally, I would like to stress that our original taxi was not pulled over; the only occupants of the taxi were the four of us and the driver; and to my knowledge, there was no damage done to the door or the inside of the restroom. "I am so thankful for the love and support of my family, my friends and my teammates during this time. Without question, I am taking away a valuable life lesson from this situation. In everything I do, I am representing my family, my country and my school. I will not take that responsibility lightly." -- Gunnar Bentz, Aug. 19, 2016 SWIMMING & DIVING HOME

Yesterday I filled out my visa application on-line (as required by the Consulate), and it took about an hour. They require you to scan and upload a 2"x2" passport type photo (and I had to get a new one made) that is less than 6 months old, and this must be uploaded to the application, along with a scanned signature, plus a scan of your passport and airline ticket. The last two are optional, but I included them anyway. I had to reinstall my scanner in order to do this, and it took me a while to get it working properly. They also ask for all of your names and names of your parents. My birth certificate name is different from my passport name, and so I had to include both. Next I will have to make an appointment with the Consulate in Beverly Hills, and they are open only two hours a day. I also have to glue a copy of the 2"x2" photo to my application, and we are going to get some rubber cement for that, which we currently do not have. We also have to get U.S. postal money orders for $160 for each application - no other type of payment is accepted. The reason for this price is retribution for the price that the U.S. charges Brazilian citizens. I think there will also be an exit fee when we try to leave Brazil, like the $20 we had to pay to leave Costa Rica, and I will need to find out what that will be ahead of time. We're going in the "off" season, and so I haven't made hotel reservations yet, but there should be plenty of options. However, some hotels are closed in June, due to lack of activity.

I wonder if the link to the restaurant you posted above might be to a different one with the same name? The map link from your link points to a spot somewhere in the middle of Rio, pretty far from anything. A good guess would be that that location would be about an hour of driving from Sugarloaf, and looking more closely at that spot on the map shows that seems to be inside a large shopping mall, in a slightly questionable neighborhood. Another restaurant with the same name and logo is located on the edge of Barra da Tijuca where much of the new building for the Olympics took place. Do you remember if the front of the restaurant looked like this? and the view from outside included this dramatic bridge and the distinctive mountain in the background. If you will be only posting food-related photos here can you at least post a link here to you postings in other forums so interested Cooking forum can find them and follow along? I never went to either of the museums you mentioned, so I'd love to see pictures of what I missed. I have been in that area and saw the Municipal Theater, the National Library, the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro, the Carioca Aqueduct and rode the trolley across it to Santa Teresa, and on my last trip found Selaron's Stairs, which were created over many years by a local artist I didn't go up the stairs because a couple people warned me that my large camera would make me an inviting target. After reviewing the photos later I discovered that it I had gone up the stairs, I could have met the artist who was sitting there surrounded be a group of people.