Hawaii Tropical Botanical Garden.

Your iceberg looks like two animals playing... one a fox and the other a small bear. :)

This post was edited by party_music50 on Sat, May 3, 14 at 9:28

The mountain between Copacabana and the lagoon. I'm not sure what that is at the top of the mountain, it looks like an entrance to a super-villians lair of evil, but I think it is just reinforcements to prevent the top of the mountain from falling on the buildings below.

Another view

Party, what's your photo of? The hill and all that cement work in the front? I cannot figure it out.

After the sunset in Key West about 10 days ago.

socks, it's Porto Martin on Terceira Island. The hillside is divided by rock walls to separate the fields/property. Here's a little different photo:

I, too, have seen that concrete bracing before, Bob...but I'll be darned if I can officially identify it. Landslides and erosion problems used to be quite prevalent in Rio. Favelas often slid down the mountain side and still may. In actuality...that's how Copacabana beach originated....as the result of landslides.

It's difficult for me to get my geographic bearings through photos...but if that's the back side of where the Christ the Redeemer stands...it may have been necessary to erect soil erosion protection in the area.

If you ever identify the bracing...please let me know. It's puzzled me for a long time. In the meantime...I love your version....super-villians lair of evil. It suits Rio. :-)

Its the mountain that was just three blocks behind the Regente.

In this picture from the base of Christ the Redeemer looking out over the lagoon, Ipanema is the thin strip between the lagoon and the ocean. The mountain with the lair of evil is just to the left of Ipanema. Copacabana is just out of frame to the left.

I was watching TV late last night since my wife flew to visit her sister in Connecticut, and the movie "Foul Play" came on, and the character played by Goldie Hawn was fleeing from an albino assassin and she ducked into a bar where the song "Copacabana" was playing. I had to laugh.

Its the mountain that was just three blocks behind the Regente.

Then it's definitely bracing to keep the mountain from crumbling/sliding down into the city. There were multiple slides and erosion problems in that area when I was there. The favelas were very unstable and because the cariocans are literally squatters with no land responsibility...I'm conjecturing that there was nothing the government could do but fortify the area to protect the city itself from serious damage.

I never visited Brazilia...but one of the major reasons the state spent billions to build it was they hoped they could convince the cariocans to move inland and away from the mountain sides. Of course...their reasoning was seriously flawed. The natives will never leave their beaches...and the favelas have continued to grow in size and population.

With the Olympics coming...my curiosity continues to grow...wondering if this event will be the impetus to finally put an end to most of the favelas. Rio is certainly doing their utmost to rid them of their inhabitants and raze them. They've never been as "romantic" as some movie makers have attempted to make them and they really do need to go.

When I was there, the cariocan work ethic was rather lop sided. The women are the ones who work and support their families. For the most part...the men/husbands and male children contribute nothing. Now they're heavily involved in the drug market....because, I'm sure, it represents easy money...and lots of it.

Remember the song The Girl From Ipanema ? :-) Every time I hear that I mentally return to that little bar on the side street in Ipanema where it was written.