Regards from sunny Rio de Janeiro. My first visit to Brazil.

Barra da Tijuca will host most of the venues of the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2016. … including all the Gymnastics disciplines at Cidade Olimpica.

Click PLAY or watch the official video Cidade Olimpica video on YouTube.

It’s not at all finished. And, just a few months before the Games, I wandered the place alone, very few workmen to be seen.

I’m not at all confident this place will be ready. They should be working 24/7 on it right now.

My higher resolution photos on flickr.

Copacabana and Ipanema?

Christ the Redeemer?

Carnival?

Nope. I’m at the Olympic Gymnastics venue as media covering Artistic, Trampoline and Rhythmic.

… That’d be a mistake. 😦

I’ll be departing Santiago February 12th. Duty calls. Gymnastics Canada has scheduled the first pilot of the NEW Level 3 Coaching Certification course for Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Feb 19-21st.

 

 

Qatar without oil and gas might still look like this.

But Qataris in 2015 are some of the richest citizens in the world. Doha is a boom town.

You can still get a feel for the historical Arab culture at the old market.

Our hotel was close to the Islamic museum, the #1 tourist attraction.

I ran around the park property many times in one week.

The Pearl-Qatar is is an artificial island spanning nearly four million square metres. It is the first land in Qatar to be available for freehold ownership by foreign nationals. … the project will cost $15 billion upon completion.

Farewell Qatar. 🙂

I hope to be back for the 2018 World Gymnastics Championships.

I’d visited Glasgow as a tourist in 2009.

But this time – though I’ve been here close to 2 weeks for the World Gymnastics Championships – I couldn’t make time to do much sightseeing. 😦

Click PLAY or watch a New York Times tourist highlight clip on YouTube.

related – tripadvisor highlights

I did get a few photos, most taken on my phone during morning runs.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I stayed 5 nights at a small motel called Auberge Du Lac Beauchamp.

Best thing was nearby Lac Beauchamp Park. I walked or jogged each day. There was much wildlife including coyote, fox, wild turkey, mink, etc.