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Hi everyone!
Greetings from the fabulous Rio de Janeiro. We arrived here after a great flight from Iguazu Falls. Our seats were lucky enough to see the falls one last time as we flew over and so now we can say we saw them from the Brazilian side too!
Our taxi from the airport was an experience to behold and lets just say we were glad to arrive in one piece! The over enthusiastic driver was keen to point out the sites and not so keen on looking at the road!
The crew greeted us at the hostel, The Mango Tree (run by an Australian!), which is only one block back from Ipanema beach. Such a fabulous location. We dumped our stuff and headed straight to the hostel bar for caiprinhas! After we had adjusted we follwed a lovely American guy called Marcus to our first of many dining experiences at Frontera! This restaurant is typically Brazilian in that the cost of dinner depends on how much your plate weighs! There is a HUGE buffet with many tantalizing delights to tempt you!! The food is very fresh and we would compete for the heaviest plate!
The next day we couldn´t help but run down to Ipanema beach straight after breakfast. We found a great spot and planted out chairs and umbrella´s. No sooner had we settled then two occa accents yelled out from in front of us....more Australians! They are multiplying like gremlins! Is anyone still at home?! We spent a few hours swimming and body surfing whilst also checking out the locals!! and their attire....or lack of in most cases. Brazilians have a fabulous body image and everyone is beautiful in their eyes!
Saturday night we braved a local bus to Lapa where they were beginning rehearsals for Carnival. The bus ride was UNBELIEVABLE! At one point I wondered if we were on the movie Speed where they can´t slow down. We were backseat bandits and Kate and I were squealing like we were on a rollercoaster!
Lapa was a heady mix of locals, noise and general chaos. We found a side street samba bar and had some drinks whilst watching the locals move like professionals. We felt like awkward gringos!
The next day we went up to Christ the Redeemer and it has been a trip highlight for sure. The height of the mountain, the view over Rio and the size of Christ was simply unbelievable. We were lucky to have a clear day so the view was unspoiled. Christ, it was good...!
We made a trip to the next beach over which was Copacabana, via the local Hippy Market! This was a general folk art and craft market that occurs each week. Some things were tempting to buy but i refrained!
Copacabana was absolutely packed due to it being Sunday. It had a great family atmosphere and we sweltered in the midday sun. Mark and I were on our own and so had to swim separately...on return from my swim I lost my way and all i could see was a mass of people and umbrella´s...oh s***! Thankfully, Mark found me after a few mins and I wondered why he had left our stuff. Apparently the local couple next to him had spotted me wandering with burning feet and pointed me out to Mark. They also minded our stuff and came after me! And no, they weren´t setting us up to rob us...they were genuinely nice! It had a great community feel! We stayed for a few hours but both agreed the beach at Ipanema was nicer (such tough decisions face us daily)!
Sunday night was football night and we were lucky to go and see the local derby, Vasco vs. Fluminense! We went as a group from the hostel and were ushered into the ground. The stadium was HUGE and could easily fit 120, 000 people. Our match only brought in 45, 000 but they shouted enough for a full capacity crowd. The atmosphere was great and we have never seen such passionate supporters. We sat in the Vasco team seats and were surrounded. We were an obvious bunch of shiny, white faced gringo´s with cameras! Unfortunately, we didn´t get to see either side score which I am sure would have brought the house down.
Our final day in Rio was spent........on the beach! The locals had gone back to work so we had more space and comfort. We had a very lazy day in preparation for our 19hr bus ride to Porto Segura.
Overall, we enjoyed Rio immensely and found the lifestyle very easy to adapt to. There is such a great mix of beach, music, culture and city all rolled into one! Hopefully, our views on Brazil will continue this way....Arraial d´ajuda here we come!
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