Richard And Jo Demeester's photos

Paraty, that is, not me. 18th-century Portuguese colonial architecture lines the historic centre. Whitewashed, buildings of one or two-stories, accented with colourful doors and windows.

This church is actually now a museum. Outside are some of the giant puppets that were part of the town Carnaval celebrations. Many towns seem to leave the "bonecos gigantes" out for some time after the main festivities. The lingering presence seems to be part of the wind-down routine.

The walk from our beach to the main town had us passing some lovely viewpoints.

The ocean sounds are wonderful for lulling one to sleep.

The next night, from our nearby B&B, we enjoyed the carnaval atmosphere from our terrace.

A mosaic staircase in Rio, decorated with thousands of tiles from many different places around the world.

Acting like a title page, announcing the school, and setting the scene.

Performers general number between 2000 and 3000 per school. The "wings" of dancers are grouped by their costumes, and they are quite accessible for those who would like to participate. Astoundingly, the dozen or so elite dancers with lighting fast feet somehow manage to maintain an amazing output for the full length of the Sambadrone. They look like they should be collapsing after 2 minutes, the energy level is so high. Each school has to have a minimum 200 drummers, but the top schools end up with more, entering a percussion orchestra.

Each school is allocated 70-80 minutes to present a story, or a "plot". The school selects a specific topic. Examples might be a historical event, a famous Brazilian figure, a social issue, or even a mythological tale. Each float, costume, dance, and song is expected to be strongly on theme, and this is a big part of the judging criteria. In this category, the schools generally present 3 or 4 floats. The floats are meant to take the audience through the story, starting new chapters, and finally rounding up with an ending or a moral.

We were told we had "allocated seats",and I guess we could have insisted and sat exactly where our tickets indicated, but in reality, it was a bit more fluid than that. Being not overly crowded (as it was an access group parade), we were able to find an approximate spot that worked. Starting at about 10 pm, eight samba schools were scheduled to perform on the night. We did not last the distance. With a 5 or 6 am expected finish time, we knew we were not going to make it. We cheered and danced and enjoyed until around 2:30. I got the impression that "seeing sunrise from the Sambadrome" is something akin to a right of passage for Cariocas (those from Rio).

Arriving at the Sambadrome, we were invited in to a stand to take some pictures and make a couple of videos. I am not sure exactly what we are promoting, hopefully just Rio and Carnaval.

Enjoying the view of Pão de Açúcar from Praia do Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro. It may look as if the beach was not too crowded, but in reality, they whole foreshore was heaving. Tens of thousands were down there to eat, drink, dance, and "carnaval".

The blocos de rua are the local street parties. Free, informal, and not entirely disorganised. They spring up in multiple locales around the city. We found and attended a couple that were easy walking from our accommodation.

While altitude and fondue might be slightly reminiscent of Switzerland, architecture more than any other feature is the reason for the nickname of "Brazilian Switzerland".

In many places around the world, altitude alone may not justify following a specific European theme. However, Campos do Jordão seems to have done that. There is little to directly link the location with Swiss immigration. Rather, the cultured architecture seems be a deliberate choice rather than some sort of accidental evolution.