Photos: Riveting views of Rio de Janeiro

Every week we read another alarming headline about how the upcoming summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro will be a disaster. For as long as I can remember, there have been similar stories about every host city in the run-up to the Games.

I’m sure by the time the competition begins, everyone will have forgotten the scare stories and will instead be realizing what an incredible and beautiful city Rio really is. Don’t believe me? This snapshot from Instagram gives you a small taste:


https://instagram.com/p/BCiam1YKScv
https://instagram.com/p/BCiZauNQJb7


https://instagram.com/p/BCiX6BMnI7Y


https://instagram.com/p/BCiTDQcKPp7

The origins of Brazil’s name

Brazil gets its name from the Brazilwood tree, not the Brazil nut. In Portuguese brazilwood is called pau-brasil. Brasil refers to the wood’s colour and comes from the Latin word brasa which means ember.