Petrópolis, also known as The Imperial City of Brazil, is located 60 km from Rio de Janeiro.  Nested among the forested hills of the Serra dos Órgãos National , Petrópolis is a popular resort town among locals from Rio.   Besides the climate and surroundings, the main attraction is the former Summer Palace of the Brazilian Emperors, which is now a Museum, specialized in Imperial history and memorabilia.  Petrópolis is the home of Santos Dumont, he was the first person who designed, built, and flew the first practical dirigible balloons.

Petrópolis was very lovely, we stayed at the most beautiful hotel i have ever been to and seen! The Palacio Quitandinha is very rich but it is actually not a hotel anymore.  Zairas aunt owns an apartment there, so she let us borrow it for the weekend, as you can see by the pictures it was huge!  We done all the touristy things of course such as visiting the Palacio de Cristal, Museu Casa de Santos Dumont, Museu Imperial and the Catedral.  It was sunny but then started to rain and thunder, as this happend and its not far from Rio, we jumped on the bus and went back home, It was a lovely weekend.

On the way back from Petrópolis as you enter into Rio, you get to see some of the favelas, shanty towns of where most poor people live, it brings tears to my eyes to see this but to most brazilians this is what they are used to or actual life to them, for me it really opens my eyes.  It is not a pleasent thing to see but it does make you feel very lucky in a personal sense.  This is the reason why i love to travel so much, to see the world in a different prospectus, if you never see it for your own eyes, how can anyone ever want to change their life, help the world and become a better person??  No one cares and i bet most people when they read this it doesnt even bother them or cross their minds for a second.

Rio de Janeiro is a beautiful and wonderful city, every city will have its good and bad points but until you have came to the other side of the world and really experienced crime and poverty, I dont think you can understand what it means to have a western world of life. After traveling the riches parts of the world such as Australia and Europe, coming to South America has been magnificent and life changing. Since been here i have come to appreciate the little things in life, who really needs material things anyway?? So with this in mind, I plan to see Africa, the middle east and Asia in the following years to come.
If you dont know what a favela is then read on:

A favela (Brazilian Portuguese for slum) is the generally used term for a shanty town in Brazil. In the late 19th century, the first settlements were called bairros africanos (African neighborhoods), and they were the place where former slaves with no land ownership and no options for work lived. Over the years, many freed black slaves moved in. However, before the first settlement called "favela" came into being, poor blacks were pushed away from downtown into the far suburbs. Most modern favelas appeared in the 1970s, due to rural exodus, when many people left rural areas of Brazil and moved to cities. Without finding a place to live, many people ended up in a favela.

Rio is reputed to be one of the most violent cities in the world and motivated movies such as Bus 174, City of God and Elite Squad portraying severe social issues. Much of the violent crime is concentrated in the favelas or shantytowns but it also spills into middle- and upper-income neighborhoods. There are 24 areas where favelas are in Rio de Janeiro: Babilônia, Cajueiro, Cantagalo, Chapéu Mangueira, Cidade de Deus, Complexo da Maré,  Complexo do Alemão, Jacarezinho, Mangueira, Manguinhos, Mineira, Morro Azul, Morro de Santa Marta,  Morro do Borel, Morro dos Macacos, Pavão-Pavãozinho, Rocinha, Salgueiro, Serrinha, Tavares Bastos, Tuiuti, Vidigal, Vigário Geral, Vila Cruzeiro, Vila Pereira da Silva (Pereirão).  19% of Cariocas (someone who comes from rio) live in Favelas.