The swirling lines of the sidewalk were designed by Roberto Burle-Marx.

Our apartment was just one block from the beachfront, that’s where we went on our first day.  The Copacabana beach is dotted with refreshment stands, and we ate a pizza (after we changed some of our dollars in reais).  The day was mild and bright, even though it was winter.  Copacabana looks out on the Atlantic (to the south, not the east), and I had a hard time getting my compass bearings.  At mid-day, the shadows fell south.

A sunglass salesman made a successful pitch to David.

At the open-air refreshment stand, we had a procession of strolling vendors, offering us souvenirs of Rio, serenading us, and selling things like sunglasses.  Usually I dislike any intrusion into my privacy, but it was just a fact of life in Rio.  David beckoned a salesman who was selling sunglasses.  They clinched a deal as we were eating pizza.  David was better able then the rest of us to relate dollars to reais, and he told us that the sunglasses were a bargain.

From Pão de Açúcar, the sun appeared to set, not in the west, but in the north.

Later in the afternoon, we took a taxi to Pão de Açúcar or Sugarloaf Mountain, and watched the sunset.  I knew that it was to the west, but for some strange reason, it appeared to me to be the north!