In the Spotlight...
After winning bids to host both the 2012 World Cup and the 2016 Summer Olympics, Rio de Janeiro - already a prized destination for American travelers - is solidly in the spotlight.
To meet the expected rush of visitors, a host of infrastructure projects are in the works, from adding hunderds of hotel rooms rooms to a high-speed rail line between SaoPaulo and Rio.
So before all the hoopla begins, there is no better time than now to spend quality time on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches - not for relaxing but people-watching; riding the tram up Corcovado to the mountain-top statue of Christ the Redeemer; watching a soccer game at Maracana Stadium; sitting down for a traditional, all-the-meat-you-can-eat fare at Porcao; joining the samba set at Rio Scenarium in the swinging Lapa district; getting out of town to lovely and cool Petropolis, the one-time summer home of Brazil's kings and coming back to town for a sunset cruise around Guanabara Bay. And there is no time like the present to start planning for Carnaval in Rio - February 18-21, 2012.
