5 reasons to be thankful to Brazil

Three. Two. One. The Olympics fever grows.

For a few days sport invades everyday life and the problems with Russian doping, swimming competitions, races, tennis set or boxing matches become the topic of conversations starring names like Camille Lacourt, Allison Stokke, Damian de Allende or Margret Rumat Rumat Hassan, the star of a striking advertising campaign for new Samsung Gear Icon X earbuds.

From Giorgio Armani for Italy to Christian Louboutin for Cuba, through Ralph Lauren for the American team and Lacoste for the French one, fashion designers compete to create the uniform of their national team, while the capsule collections inspired by the Olympic Games multiply as well as the possible hits to tune in case of victory, starting from Katy Perry’s Rise.

For this edition, the XXXI, the best athletes from around the world will arrive to Brazil, precisely to Rio de Janeiro, in an orgy of colours featuring gold, green and tropical patterns.

The South American city is preparing to give away medals and defeats, shouts of joy and tears in a cathartic collective sports union.

Starting from August 5, the day of the opening ceremony – where trans model, Lea T, will appear for the first time – each state will hope to be grateful to Brazil for a rain of gold, silver and bronze medals, and not only for brilliant inventions like the walkman, created by Andreas Pavel in 1972, or the Brazilian wax.

The set of the upcoming Olympic Games is not only the native land of samba and bossa nova, soap operas and capoeira. Here are the 5 main reasons why we have to say ‘thanks’ to Brazil.

#1 Gisele Bündchen

She's the face of the Olympic Games 2016. The model has been chosen to host this year’s opening ceremony, on August 5^th at the Maracana Stadium in Rio.

Bündchen is one of the most famous Brazilian treasures and has become’s the country’s beauty emblem. Nicknamed, as already Elle Macpherson in the eighties, by fashion designer Alexander McQueen ‘The Body’, she has become one of the most famous and popular supermodels of all time. Not bad for someone who, at the beginning of her career, was criticized for her big nose, so much that Mario Testino tried to hide it behind her hair for Missoni’s FW98 campaign.

If a Victoria’s Secret’s angel is not enough, the American NBC network has asked Adriana Lima and Alessandra Ambrosio to make a Best of Rio de Janeiro, talking about fashion, food and culture.

Three supermodels, only some of the many Brazilian girls with golden skin, beach waves hair, iconic bodies and the hottest B sides in the world, gifted by mother nature, by surgeon or by grueling sessions of "Brasilian Butt Lift".

#2 Havaianas

It is the most famous flip flop in the world, a product that is identified with an idea of Brazil symbol of relaxation, enjoyment of life, colour.

In 1962 when the government, convinced by the fact that the population walked barefoot was the cause of many diseases, asked manufacturers to design a shoe that would protect the sole of the foot and was cheap at the same time. The winning idea was made by Alpargatas, a company that works natural rubber, creating a revolutionary and almost unbreakable flip flop with a still secret formula. It will be called Havaianas, recalling the Hawaii, the dream destination at the time.

#3 Nature

Brazil is considered the green lung of the world, an area that encloses an invaluable natural heritage: the white beaches, the Pantanal and Mato Grosso, the Iguassu Falls, a paradise of sand and lagoons of Lenáûis-Maranhenses...

And then there's the Amazon rainforest, the richest ecosystem of biodiversity in the world: about 60 thousand species of plants, 1,000 species of birds and 300 mammals.

#4 Carnival

It's perhaps the most famous event in Brazil, for which millions of tourists fill the streets of the country every year.

The Samba schools work all year for these four nights of overwhelming dances, parades, masks and skimpy costumes. The result is a diverse and vibrant kaleidoscope, a colourful orgy in constant movement.

#5 The Caipirinha

Caipirinha is the typical Brazilian drink made with cachaça, lime, brown sugar and ice.

There are many variations, but what about the classic recipe?

1 lime, sliced

2 tbps caster sugar

4 - 8 ice cubes, crushed if you prefer

60 ml cachaça

Put the lime and the sugar in a big glass or cocktail shaker and crush them with a pestle. Add the ice and the cachaça and mix well to combine. Serve in a small, clear glass tumbler.