Some recent photos of the World Cup stadiums.
Porto Alegre opening
Porto Alegre
Cuiaba
Cuiaba
Manaus
Manaus
Sao Paulo
Natal
Natal
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro
Salvador
Salvador
Recife
Recife
Fortaleza
Fortaleza
Brasilia
Brasilia
Belo Horizonte
Belo Horizonte
Helena Rizzo, the owner and head chef of Mani in São Paulo’s Jardim Paulistano district, has been elected the best female chef in the world by Veuve Clicquot and Restaurant magazine. Previous winners have all been based in Europe.
According to Restaurant, it seems as if Helena Rizzo’s journey to the top of the international restaurant game has only just begun. Yet the pinnacle is already in sight, they note, with two major awards in as many years and a restaurant that is steadily moving up The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list. Rizzo was last year handed the award for Best Female Chef at the inaugural Latin America’s 50 Best Restaurants and this year sees her achieve the same honour on the global stage, an extraordinary achievement for someone still only in her mid-30s.
Her restaurant, Mani, marries traditional Brazilian ingredients and culinary philosophies with modern technique and a dash of international influence, from Spain and Italy in particular. This results in wildly exciting but accessible food: diners here loosen their metaphorical ties and tuck into sticky skewers of octopus with confit potatoes and sweet paprika; heady cachaça-steamed shrimp; and peach palm and pumpkin tortelli.
The Brazilian-born cook’s ability to reconcile a respect for tradition with contemporary techniques and evolution in cuisine is part raw talent and part experience. Since the very beginning of her professional journey Rizzo sought to work under chefs that shared her broad and adaptive culinary outlook. After turning her back on a career in modelling and – latterly – her training as an architect, Rizzo learned her craft under some of São Paulo’s most influential chefs including Emmanuel Bassoleil, Luciano Boseggia and Neka Menna Barreto.
After a brief stint running the kitchen of the city’s Na Mata Café, the young Rizzo embarked on a culinary grand tour around Italy and Spain that culminated at seminal Girona restaurant El Celler de Can Roca. It was here that she met her future husband, the Spaniard Daniel Redondo. The pair opened Mani in 2006 and continue to run the kitchen (and indeed the rest of the restaurant) as a partnership. This highly unusual approach clearly works: Rizzo’s delicate, openly feminine style is allowed to shine through, making Mani one of the very best restaurants in Latin America – led by the Veuve Clicquot World’s Best Female Chef.
IndyCar has confirmed that it is exploring a return to Brazil and is in discussions with event organisers in Brasília regarding a Verizon IndyCar Series race in 2015.
The race will held at the Autodromo Nelson Piquet, which has a 12-turn, 3.4-mile counter-clockwise layout for most of the races. The governor of the Federal District, Agnelo Queiroz, said the government will ensure all needed improvements are made at the track ahead of the race, which he said would be take place on 8 March.
“Brazil has a real history in Indy car racing and we would like to re-establish a championship race there as early as 2015,” said Mark Miles, CEO of Hulman & Co., the parent of IndyCar. “We are engaged in on-going discussions toward this goal and hope suitable arrangements can be finalised soon.”
IndyCar sanctioned a Verizon IndyCar Series street race in São Paulo from 2010 through 2013, but local promoters weren’t able to secure the event in 2014 because of financial problems. The CART series was in Brazil from 1996-2000 with a race on an oval track in Rio de Janeiro. The race in Sao Paulo was held on a street course.
The Autodromo Nelson Piquet is also expected to host a MotoGP race in 2015.
The FIFA World Cup has been touring the world prior to the Word Cup that takes place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July. The trophy visited the UK between 12 and 18 March.
England 1966 World Cup winners Jimmy Greaves, Geoff Hurst and Gordon Banks
The main Olympic hub and village in Barra da Tijuca in Rio de Janeiro, is starting to take shape.
With a samba based on the life and times of Brazilian Formula One great, Ayrton Senna, Unidos da Tijuca drove to victory as the top samba school in Rio de Janeiro for 2014.
The very last of the twelve top samba school to parade, Unidos da Tijuca won a very close fought contest with Salgueiro, winning by just 0.1 of a point out of 300. The winner in 2013, Vila Isabel, could only manage tenth place in 2014.
Placing is important as the winning school can choose when it will parade the following year. The next school has second choice, and so on, until the one school coming up from the second division, Viradouro in 2015, gets the spot that is left.
Normally the school choose to go late on, even last if they can, but there is a danger in going last as if for any reason the parade gets delayed, and it has been known to happen, then the last school may be going out in the first light of dawn or even daylight. Like a rock concert, that can make a big difference to the visual impact.
As well as the theme of Ayrton Senna, themes in 2014 included African rhythms (Imperio da Tijuca); the city of Marica (Grande Rio); Rio’s favelas, the city’s famous shanty towns (São Clemente); Brazilian celebrations (Mangueira); sustainability and preservation (Salgueiro); a tribute to one of Brazil most famous television executives, Bonifácio de Oliveira Sobrinho, o Boni (Beija-Flor); Pernambuco (Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel); children’s toys (União da Ilha); Brazil’s natural and historical heritage (Vila Isabel),; Zico, one of Brazil’s greatest footballers and part of the best Brazilian team not to win the World Cup (Imperatriz Leopoldinense); and Avenida Rio Branco (Portela).
The full results for 2014 were:
Chris Pickard, LATA; Lily Cole, award winner; Baroness Hooper
Environmentalist, fashion model and entrepreneur Lily Cole has been honoured with the LATA Media Award for 2014 at a ceremony in the Palace of Westminster. The presentation took place on Wednesday, 5 February 2014 during the All-Party Parliamentary British-Latin American Group and Latin American Travel Association’s ninth annual reception.
Lily was following in the footsteps of the award’s most recent winners Jonathan Dimbleby (2012) and Michael Palin (2013). Christopher Pickard, chairman of LATA, said Lily had been chosen for the way she had used the media to help educate a new audience about the Amazon rainforest, its benefits to mankind and also the perils that such regions of the world face from both nature and from human beings.
Cole has visited the Amazon in Brazil where she directed her own short film “Wild Rubber” and featured in Sky Arts’ “Amazon Adventure”. She is very active ambassador for Sky Rainforest Rescue and the WWF (World Wildlife Fund) who between them are committed to saving a billion trees in the Amazon through green economics.
Cole has also collaborated with Vivienne Westwood and the EJF (Ethical Justice Foundation for which she is a patron) to create wild rubber fashion and accessories and will continue to explore the potential development of wild rubber.
On receiving the award Cole said: “As demonstrated by my work with WWF and Sky, I am committed to our project in saving one billion trees in the Brazilian Amazon. By raising awareness and through creating sustainable projects where we can put the profits back into the hands of the local people we hope to encourage them to protect the Amazon rainforest not only in Brazil but across Latin America.”
Pickard said: “Lily’s work has catapulted the perils of destroying the rainforest and the Amazon to a much wider audience. She has used her fame to highlight a cause very close to our hearts and we are delighted to present her with an award in recognition of her impact in inspiring a new audience to learn and care about the Amazon and the rainforests of Latin America.”
Also presented with an award was Travel Trade Gazette (TTG) in recognition of its 60 years of coverage of the global travel industry and in promoting Latin America to the UK travel trade. The South American Handbook now published by Footprint also received an award for its coverage and impact in promoting Latin America over 90 years of continuous publication (1924-2014). The guide’s editor, Ben Box, was singled out for his incredible achievement of editing the book for the past 25 years.
Managing director, Daniel Pearce, and editor, Pippa Jacks picked up the award for TTG, and Footprint managing director Patrick Dawson accepted the award for The South American Handbook.
Over 200 guests including members of both the Commons and the Lords, Latin American ambassadors and diplomats in London, as well as travel companies involved with Latin America, heard from the Rt Hon Hugo Swire MP, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with responsibility for Latin America, and the Baroness Hooper, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary British-Latin American Group.
Rt hon Hugo Swire
During his speech, Swire highlighted the increased investment between the UK and Latin America which in the case of Colombia will see the return of direct flights from the UK this summer, as well as the new embassy in Paraguay thanks to increased ministerial visits to the region. His final words echoed foreign secretary William Hague’s speech in 2010 firmly stating: “the British are back and ready to re-engage with Latin America.”
Most of the 32 teams to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup will base themselves in one location for the duration of their stay in Brazil. We believe they will be as follows:
The Rio 2016 Games commemorative coins are expected to enter circulation in August this year, to be followed by three further launches, scheduled for February and August 2015, and February 2016. Four new coins for regular circulation as well as four silver and one gold coin will be issued at each launch.
The Latin American Travel Association (LATA) has launched a new b2b travel show that will take place in London between 16 and 18 June 2014.
Experience Latin America by LATA will bring together key suppliers from Latin America with buyers from the UK and Europe. By invitation only, and organised by Latin America’s largest travel trade association, this vibrant three day show will bring together carefully-selected companies wishing to increase business to Latin America.
Pre-scheduled meetings, inspiring seminars and lots of networking opportunities should ensure a cross-section of Latin American suppliers and overseas buyers and media get ample opportunity to meet, learn about new products and strengthen existing relationships.
Taking place in the stunning waterside venue of 40 Bank Street during the World Cup, Experience Latin America by LATA promises to be the only place to be in London in June for people passionate about tourism to Latin America.
Brazil the Guide 