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Second attempt- the first one died on me......
So first day in rio was an experience. Portuguese is a bit of a language barrier.
After collecting our carnival tickets we found ourselves in a wee local bakery for breakfast. It was full of locals so figured it must be good. Only problem was the only thing we recognised on the menu was queso. Damn. To overcome the problem we thought we'd hang around this group who were all munching away at cheese and ham toasties and take their receipt to order! Plan was a sound one, shame the receipts just had codes on them.... Finally with a bit of help we sourced the toasties and a freshly squeezed OJ. For the sum total of 3.50. Bargain.
Outside the bakery there was a daytime carnival street party going on, loads of people in costumes and a square just crammed with revellers.
We went to a nearby harbour (no clue which one) and went for a walk before heading back to the hotel for a disco nap.
In rio everywhere u go somebody is trying to sell you something. Different to other places I've been though, if u say no they just move along.
After speaking to some Americans in the hotel we felt on comfortable enough taking the metro to the sambadrome. Although when we mentioned this to the receptionist she said "be careful" and looked a little concerned. Anyway, when we left the hotel a wee family were going to so we just decided to pretend we were with them and stalked them to the station. The metro was totally fine, wasn't even all that busy and certainly felt safe enough.
Quote of the day goes to "I don't care if they used tear gas, it's made my holiday safer".
The sambadrome is huge. Probably the length of Buchanan Street with grandstands on each side and open at both ends for the floats to enter and leave. Each school paraded for 1hr 15 with fireworks marking the start of the parade. Neither of us had appreciated that each school dances to one song on a loop. Think about listening to the cha cha slide for that long and you get the idea.
The floats are like nothing you've ever seen, huge galleons, space ships, all nuts. And the costumes are crazy too.
There was a fair bit of nakedness as expected but instead of it being young pert asses on show it was old hags who's nipples could scratch their knees.
We were told to take refreshments as it would be expensive but we didn't bother. Clearly these people haven't been to the odeon or the SECC a bottle of water was a pound and a cheeky wee Smirnoff ice two. Hardly going to break the bank.
Not going to lie the return journey felt edgier so Aimi made a camera baby and cradled it maternally and I stuck the money down my pants for the power walk back from the station.
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