Discoteca Help, Rio's notorious disco/prostitution house in Copacabana, closed last Thursday. The disco will be demolished and, on the property, the new Museum of Image and Sound will be built, starting in 2010.

MIS has the largest collection of Brazilian music, as well as 40,000 photographs and over 1,000 recorded interviews. The museum is located in central Rio.

New York-based Diller Scofidio + Renfro, the authors of the winning project, were inspired by Burle Marx's designs of the wavy patterns on Copacabana's sidewalks. You can find MIS project details on the Diller Scofidio + Renfro website.

The Windsor Excelsior opened in the 1950s as Hotel Excelsior, when Copacabana was already a busy beach with lots of buildings (see this photo on the Saudades do Rio photoblog) and when Rio de Janeiro hosted World Cup finals.

One of a few Copacabana beachfront hotels, the Windsor Excelsior has already issued its rates for Carnival 2010 as well as New Year's Eve, when, from the terrace with a pool on the top floor, you have a superb view of the party and fireworks.

Photo courtesy of Windsor Hotéis.

November 20 is Black Awareness Day in Brazil, and during this month several organizations are engaged in seminars, meetings and other events which aim to foster Afro-Brazilian culture and well-being.

The date was first observed in the 1960s and has been on the school calendar since 2003. It honors the day in 1695 when Zumbi, the leader of the Palmares quilombo (a community of escaped slaves), was killed. Zumbi is one of the national heroes honored at the Nation's Pantheon in Brasília. Celebrate Brazil's black heritage in your encounters with our people, music, food, and traditions, and also as you visit:

• The Afro-Brazil Museum in São Paulo
• The Afro-Brazilian Museum in Salvador
• The Campinho da Independência community (in Paraty), where you can eat at Restaurante do Quilombo

This November is very meaningful to black awareness as the Câmara dos Deputados, one of Brazil's most important legislative bodies, recently passed the Statute of Racial Equality, a controversial document which is being criticized for not establishing quotas for universities, for example, and praised for some of its points, such as the determination that children in Brazil's elementary and middle schools, public and private, learn more about the history of Africa and Brazil's own black history. The document is likely to be sanctioned by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva before Black Awareness Day.

If you would like to learn more about the advancement of black people in Brazil, Palmares Cultural Foundation in Brasília is a good place to start.

Today Brazil commemorates All Souls' Day (Dia de Finados in Portuguese, literally Day of the Deceased). Although in Brazil's secularized society today many people see the extended holiday more as a reason to travel than as a quiet occasion for praying and honoring deceased relatives and friends, many people visit cemeteries and attend religious services.

One of the most visited cemeteries in Brazil is São João Batista in Rio de Janeiro, where some famous graves are those of Carmen Miranda, Heitor Villa-Lobos and Brazil's Father of Aviation Santos Dumont. According to Rio de Janeiro newspaper O Dia, about 800,000 people are expected to visit São João Batista during the three-day holiday.

If you plan to travel in Brazil in November, you will probably need to book hotels in greater advance for All Souls' Day and for Nov.15, Proclamation of Republic Day, than for the rest of the month. Most hotels make reservations only in multi-day packages if those holidays fall on weekdays up to two days before or after the weekend.

More About Day of the Dead:

• Dia de Los Muertos, Mexico

There's still time to enjoy the 33rd São Paulo International Film Festival, through Nov.5 at several movie theaters. Today, three of the highlights are "I Love You Phillip Morris" (USA), Samson and Delilah (Australia) and one of the best Brazilian movies this year, "Viajo porque preciso, volto porque te amo" (I travel because I must, I return because I love you), a road movie set in the Northeastern backlands.

The art for this year's festival was created by Os Gêmeos (The Twins), famous graffiti artists from São Paulo.

November is a great time to visit Southern Bahia, with lots of sunny days and balmy nights. And one of the top destinations in the area is the Maraú Peninsula, part of the Dendê Coast.

One of the most beautiful seaside hotels on Maraú is Pousada Taipú de Fora, on the beach by the same name. Learn about this pousada near Barra Grande, a fisherman's village that can be reached by boat from Camamu (pop. 32,172) or by plane from Salvador or Ilhéus (for example, with Maris Turismo).

Photo courtesy of Pousada Taipú de Fora.

A few months ago, I wrote in this blog about chef Rodrigo Oliveira and Mocotó, a restaurant in an off-the-beaten-track location in São Paulo.

Chef Alex Atala, of D.O.M. and Dalva e Dito, called chef Rodrigo "a genius" in a 2008 interview to O Estado de São Paulo. Now that I've had lunch at Mocotó, it's easy to understand the enthusiasm. I love the food, I love the place.

I don't know if Mocotó will stay far from major hotels much longer, but I know I felt rewarded after my subway/bus rides. You can save on the trip there by taking the subway to the Tucuruvi station and only then catching a taxi. Read my review of Mocotó.

When the Food is Worth the Journey:

• About.com Guide to Culinary Travel

Photo of mocofava by Patricia Ribeiro.

Freeway Diving, a recently created subdivision of Freeway, one of the most prestigious adventure tour companies in Brazil, has launched a new diving tour of Fernando de Noronha.

Noronha is great for diving year round, with water temperatures in the 80s Fahrenheit. The archipelago has some of the most beautiful beaches in Brazil and an average 3,215 hours of sunshine every year.

Photo: Atlantis Divers/Courtesy of Freeway Diving.

Last week, I published some photos of pre-Carnival partying at Mocidade Independente de Padre Miguel, one of the top samba schools in Rio de Janeiro. Today, I'm happy to present these photos of Mocidade costumes for Carnival 2010. I hope to have more photos of costume prototypes by other samba schools soon.

Disclosing the prototypes for next year's Carnival parade costumes is, just like the voting for the theme song, a top event in the pre-Carnival season. The Mocidade costumes are a good example of Brazil Carnival exuberance, creativity and stamina -- that elaborate regalia will be worn in the summer heat, to the vigorous tempo of the drum section!

Photo courtesy of Elisa Fernandes/MUITAMÍDIA

The Year of France in Brazil is drawing to a close (Nov.15), but several events will go on beyond that date. One of them is the first exhibit in Rio de Janeiro completely dedicated to painter Marc Chagall.

"The Magical World of Marc Chagall" opened at the Museu Nacional de Belas Artes on October 15 and will stay until Dec.6, 2009. The exhibit includes major works such as "Village au Cheval Vert or Vision à la Lune Noire". Hours are Tue-Fri, 10 a.m.- 6 p.m. and Sat-Sun and holidays noon-5 p.m. Admission on Sundays is free.