PLATAFORMA SAMBA SHOW
BRAZIL TRAVELOGUE - DAY 15 - RIO DE JANEIRO BRAZIL

For the first time this vacation, we opt for a bus tour instead of a private tour.  Tonight we'll see Plataforma, the biggest and best Samba show in Rio de Janeiro.  It's a show for tourists only, of course, but it is a fun way to get a sample of what Carnaval must be like, as well as sample dances and culture from other parts of Brazil.

We meet the bus from Best Tours in Rio at the Ipanema Plaza and transport to the Plataforma Churrascaria (Brazilian Barbecue / Steak House) for dinner. 

The bus is well-cushioned and comfortable, but as the guide speaks a million miles an hour in five different languages at the same time, while we're herded around like cattle, we remember how grateful we are that we found Rio Life and Marcelo.  We get off the bus along with roughly a thousand other people and are shown into the rather well-appointed restaurant.

The buffet is lavish, and there are a lot of things to eat.  We fill our plates and sit down, only to find out how a Brazilian Barbecue works.  Every five seconds or so, a waiter would run out of the kitchen with a new skewer of meat and offer to cut some off for you.  There were signs to put "yes" or "no" depending on if you wanted meat or not, but the waiters didn't seem to pay any attention.  They were flying all around the restaurant like bees in a hive, it was quite a spectacle to watch. 

After the show, we pile back on the bus to head over to the dinner show.  Inside the theater, there are groups from dozens of other countries - mostly large tour groups.  There are groups from Taiwan, Japan, and China in front of us, and most of them are sleeping before the show.  Marcelo tells us that this is not unusual - Asian people that he guides also seem to sleep a lot, he says. 

Everyone poses for photos with the dancers, then the show starts.  It's a great spectacle with lots of dancing and some incredible acrobatics and costumes. 

It's not tremendously different from Rafain that we saw in Foz do Iguacu, but we all enjoy it a lot.  There were acrobats from Bahia, doing their fighting routine, an incredible dancer from the South of Brazil, and of course, the amazing costumes of Carnaval.  Quite fun - we are all happy we went.

After the show, we get back on the bus and back to the Ipanema Plaza and a short walk back to the apartment...