To help celebrate the opening of the very first South American Tory Burch boutique in Sao Paulo, Teri recounts her favorite Brazilian memories and why she keeps going back.

Sao Paulo is an Urban Stew

It’s their New York: Urban bustle on the cutting edge of commerce, culture and cuisine (try Rodeio — the famous churrascaria in the Jardims neighborhood). Sao Paulo is an exotic melting pot that stretches from Japan to Lebanon, Germany, Italy, Portugal and Africa.

It’s the Heart of Carnaval

Carnaval, Brazil’s raucous pre-Lenten Bacchanalia, never disappoints. In addition to the samba parades, many of the locals now prefer the authenticity of the spontaneous blocos of street partying.

Bon Times at Bonfim

Salvador, the colonial capital of Brazil – and where I lived for two years – is known as the center of Afro-Brazilian culture. At the annual Bonfim Festival, Bahian ladies dressed in traditional white dresses and turbans parade to the historic church carrying jars of perfumed water and flowers and chanting in the Yoruba language.

At the Copa...

The most luxurious hotel in Rio de Janiero, the Copacabana Palace Hotel has a storied past that dates back to 1923. It was featured in thte 1933 movie Flying Down to Rio.

Mastroianni Filmed Here

I interviewed Sonia Braga in 1980 for Women’s Wear Daily in the trendy Parati, a village near Rio, where she was filming Gabriela opposite Marcelo Mastroianni.

Bardot ♥ Buzios

Brigitte Bardot became enchanted with the charming fishing enclave of Buzios, where she visited several times in the 1960s. There’s even a statue of her there.

Teri ♥ the Beaches

The beaches are where it’s always happening — hundreds of miles of sun, surf and sand, where exotic, good-looking everyday people meet and greet. Let’s hear it for tropical hedonism! Somebody’s always flirting, banging a drum or kicking the futebol in the sand. Get your cerveja estupidamente gelada (ice cold beer) and groove on.

Teri Really ♥ the Beaches

1. Porta da Barra — smack dab in the tony Barra neighborhood of Salvador. Wade in the warmth of the bay. A grownup playground where nobody dares to read.
2. Itapua — with the lighthouse in this postcard-perfect setting, it’s Salvador’s most storied beach, ideal for windsurfing and roaming the barracas (grass huts) where the freshest fried shrimp, crabmeat snacks and coconut water are served.
3. Recife, Fortaleza & Natal — the gorgeous beachfronts of Brazil’s exotic upper northeast capital cities are even more breathtaking and not as crowded, where the pace is still spirited but dialed back to a comfortable hum, and the waves are turquoise and pristine.
4. Ipanema Beach — Believe the hype. Rio de Janiero’s Ipanema is as cool as the Cariocas (natives of Rio) promise. The girl from Ipanema hasn’t aged a day and neither has Ipanema Beach. It remains the ringside seat to all the pleasures that are Rio. I often end up past the canal to the adjacent Leblon beach which is delightfully more of the same — just with more families with children.

Brazil has a Beat

Its music is soulful, original and varied. Here, my playlist of Musica Popular Brasileiro.
Sampa – Caetano Veloso
Samba de um Grande Amor – Chico Buarque
Luz do Sol – Gal Costa
Se Não é Amor – Alcione
Voce e Eu – Emilio Santiago