We stayed at Sherri's and Andre's house for a total of ten nights and eleven days for the Rio+20 conference and I have nothing but great things to say about our very gracious, generous and amazing hosts.

First and foremost, the house was really charming, spacious and spotless! The Gavea mountain is practically your backyard and it's a lovely sight to see to start your day. There are three full bathrooms and two half-bathrooms which was very convenient. and really nice to have especially if you have three to four people in the house. They also had adapters all over the house so it was easy to plug in with our US gadgets. Sherri was also there the first day I arrived to show me around the house and a quick tour of the neighborhood.

Second, Sherri and Andre were very helpful in helping us sort our transportation. We very much appreciated their quick responses to our requests and also their flexibility given that we had to make some last minute changes more frequently than we expected. We enjoyed our car conversations with Domenico, the Italian tour guide who speaks Portuguese with his lovely Italian accent, and eventually Andre who had the unfortunate task of being the default driver - first because he also had an exhibit in Riocentro and second because he had a car pass! Andre was very patient and thorough in answering all our random questions about Brazil. also, I was on the phone with Sherri, almost everyday, to sort through the details, which we appreciated very much.

Third, there's JK, their amazing housekeeper. He kept the house spotless and he was there everyday, very early in the morning. He would have the breakfast ready long before we're all dressed and he always greeted everybody with a big smile. He was also a great cook and made us dinner a few times. He doesn't speak English and we don't speak Portuguese but he was very patient in trying to understand us. We also had daily Google translate conversations which were very fun!

There is so much more to write but all in all, it was an amazing stay. When we rented the house, we didn't think it would come with all the perks - including an invitation to the e-institute reception which was so much fun - that we had during our stay. It's close to the Barra da Tijuca beaches and not that far at all from Ipanema. I would highly recommend staying at Sherr's and Andre's house! You will most certainly enjoy it.