A couple of weeks ago, the Harpers descended on Brazil and in true Harper fashion, we packed a LOT in. There is no way to do their visit justice in a blog post, but I’ll do my best to hit the highlights.
Pre-visit: Michael, Joe and I flew to Rio on Saturday, the 14th, the day before the Harpers started arriving to check everything out and be sure we got some solid beach-time in. We had a great day and as we were leaving the beach we spotted some good ole’ Clemson Tiger fans so we grabbed them for a quick pic. It turns out the family lives a couple of blocks from the beach and is there for a couple of years with Proctor and Gamble. Sounds like a pretty sweet deal.
Ipanema beach with fellow TIGER FANS!! This one’s for you, Papa! 🙂
Days 1 – 3: Harpers arrived in Rio. We stayed at the amazing Santa Teresa Hotel and enjoyed exploring the neighborhood of Santa Teresa as well as Ipanema and Copacabana. Of course, we also toured the Christ the Redeemer statue and climbed to the top of Pão de Açúcar. Well, we rode the gondola. Incredible views. While in Rio, Michael and I celebrated our 2 year anniversary over a fantastic dinner at Aprazivel – with the whole family, of course. 🙂
Hanging out in our favorite spot — the amazing Santa Teresa Hotel bar
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View of Santa Teresa from the hotel
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Walking around the cute little town — with Joe and his new buddy
The boys in front of the Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers) Mountains
View on our way up to the top of Pão de Açúcar
Sunset view from the top
Day 4 we headed to São Paulo and arrived just in time to tour our apartments, our neighborhood park and have an amazing Brazilian dinner at one of our favorite spots, Espírito Santo, just a few blocks from our new apartment.
Dinner at Espirito Santo! Our favorite neighborhood spot.
Day 5 included tours of both Joe’s and Michael’s offices, fabulous lunch at Dalva e Dito, shopping on Oscar Freire AND Sharon’s miraculous finding of her “mother-of-the-bride” dress for Christy’s wedding! Christy & TJ – it made us feel like you guys were really with us in spirit. We capped off the night with incredible views of the city and great caipirinhas at Hotel Unique.
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Dalva e Dito
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Lise, how many pairs did you take back with you? 🙂
Day 6 we walked around our neighborhoods, checked out a Brazilian art museum, and had an amazing sushi dinner at Nagayama followed by late night live Bossa Nova music and cocktails at the Fasano.
Day 7 was a Saturday so in the morning we checked out the Mercadão and sampled lots of exotic fruits. Then we headed to Villa Madelena for a “street-art” / graffiti tour followed by live Samba music and great food at Bar Samba! Then, the Harpers packed their bags and headed for the airport.
Vila Madalena
We hated saying, “Goodbye,” but the sadness was eased a little because Shannon stayed a few extra days with us! So the next day Shannon, Michael, Joe and I took a little day trip to Embu Das Artes to check out the cute little artisan town. Then, Shannon and I spent the next few days having lots of adventures around São Paulo from biking in Parque Ibirapuera to a crazy day in Liberdade (Sao Paulo’s “Japan Town”).
Street Fair – Embu Das Artes
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Biking in the park. Sorry that I am super awkward with anything sports-related. I can’t help it!
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Liberdade. Oh Shan, what a day this was…. 😉
- Come back soon!!
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Cafe Zim misses you guys! And so do we!
Jeans & A T-Shirt 
As you fondly say, AMAZING! Ever thought about writing for a tour company, Ash? Finding Clemson fans in Rio was really nice! The visit of the Harper clan will certainly be a highlight of your time in Brazil. They all looked so wonderful, as usual! Looking forward to your visit to South Carolina soon, Ashley. Please give our love to the man named for an angel. (And that he is!) Love, Nanny and Papa
Looks like you had a GREAT time with The Harper clan! My favorite is your bike pic caption! Girl, you are SO athletic! I mean you run 10ks and stuffs. I missssss you and looooove you!
What a fun trip the Harpers had with you all — and a bonus getting to go to Rio, too! Love all the pictures and descriptions of the places you visited during your time together!! And like Bess said, I loved your biking caption–and you are athletic–well, sort of–you can cheer, dance and run!! And now it looks like you can bike! Love you and can’t wait to see you–SOON!