Samba is alive and well. My local friends took me to the Viradouro rehearsal in the streets of downtown Niteroi last night. We danced in the street like mad--carnaval is def here! Earlier in the afternoon, went to the Banda do Inga bloco in Icarai, on the waterfront of Niteroi with panoramic views of Rio de Janeiro across the bay.

Today I walked all the way to livraria Travessa in swank Shopping Leblon to buy a book about Brazilian music and promptly picked up more samba CDs: Martinho da Viola, Dudu Nobre, Leandro Sapucahy (+ the new one from Afro-Bahian diva Margareth Menezes)

Last week was the traditional Banda de Ipanema, celebrating its 45th anniversary, in Ipanema and they sang Cidade Maravilhosa at precisely 18:00.

The previous trip was three years ago and the Saturday with Cordao da Bola Preta in downtown Rio was an unforgettable experience, just like a scene from the movie Black Orpheus.