What if Dante Alighieri had chosen to write Cantos of Heaven instead of Hell?

“You will not need any money for the next two days.” — Tia Dora’s first words to me after we disembarked from the ferry to dine an the ‘getaway isle’ of Itaparica, Day 2 of trip.

“La vida dura.” — summary of life with the Lillios Brasilian clan which consists the above, along with a run on the beach, a dip in the bathwater ocean located about 1/4 a mile away from the house, naps in the hammock, churrascado grilled meat off the skewer, mouth-watering fresh mangoes gathered from the yard, and other freshly-made cuisine at our disposal on an ongoing basis.

“We have 5 computers for 4 people.” — Paulo, walking us through his swank urban Rio 4-bedroom pad left at the disposal of Tony and myself after he treated us to inordinate amounts of Brasilian beef and laughter before whisking out of town to be with his family.

These increasingly intense Cantos of Heaven scratch the surface of Brazil, December 2008.

Brasil, Dec 2008: Pelo to Itaparica