RIO DE JANEIRO REALLY IS THE "CIDADE MARAVILHOSA" (MARVELOUS CITY)
Now this may seem a lengthy blog for only 2 1/2 days but we really did cram it in!!! ... ...

Friday 3rd July

Rio de Janeiro exceeded my expections massively... mainly because I didn´t really know what to expect. Nonetheless, even if I´d had real high hopes for the city named by Portuguese explorers as the ´January River´, I´d still be pretty impressed by the many faces that the former capital of Brazil has to offer.

Arriving late afternoon welcomed by fog and cloud, Rich and I found ourselves in a taxi having an informal tour of the city from the north side to the south. Corruption, poverty, drug gangs and violence dominates the north where many of the favelas (a bit like shanty towns but will explain the name given to them shortly) are and later in our trip we were to discover that out of something like 502 favelas that exist across Rio, the government have gained control of only 5. It´s a sad and harsh reality to meet as you enter such a vast city, especially when my visions had previously existed of football/volleyball on the beach and carnival parades.
About half an hour later, and what seemed like worlds away (in reality about 7 districts from Centro Rio de Janeiro), Rich and I found ourselves in Ipanema - a sassy, urban part of Rio with tree lined streets (not a rarity in Rio, however - one of the many things I loved about the city was how green it was with trees and plants in every nook and cranny that they could fit!!), fashionable outlets and a lagoon to the north of the area and a stretch of golden sand, the Atlantic and loads of islands dotting the coast to the south. It was hard to remember that so many favelas were near by (in fact, the largest favela in the whole of Latin America was only a couple of miles west of Ipanema, so we were told by the nice taxi driver).

A stroll down the beach, a coffee, our first struggle with the Portuguese language (and not to be the last), and a look around our hostel later, we found ourselves walking the main street looking for our first meal in Brazil. In true fashion, Rich and I couldn´t decide where to eat but that made the adventure more fun; looking at all the different restaurants from pizzerias to little snack shops on the corners of streets to cafes where you paid for your food in terms of how much it weighed - so much variety, no wonder it was hard for us to decide! Eventually, we found a place. Now, like I´ve already stated, Portuguese wasn´t our strong point to say the least, so reading the menu was a little challenging... and instead of asking for help with what was in each dish, we decided to just go for what sounded fun and interesting (whilst I think forgetting the most important part, tasty!). I ended up with sliced raw beef with gratted cheese, garlic sauce and bread sticks after Rich reassured me it was like a traditional beef and rice dish (that lying little b*****!). However, it wasn´t that bad! In fact, it was rather tasty! Then there was Rich´s dish... beef in gravy, rice, garlic crumble, black beans, a poached and wait for it... a banana! And, yet again, it was rather tasty! It may´ve been the long journey or something in the beer, but I can now highly recommend beef and banana!

Saturday 4th July

After hitting a few bumps in our plans early Saturday morning, we hit the tourist route and went up Pao de Acuar (Sugar Loaf mountain). We took a local bus from Ipanema to Urca. Oh, and getting on the bus was fun... not only did we have the language barrier to contend with but an actual, physical barrier to contend with too, with me getting stuck in the tiny turnstiles everytime!
On approaching the 396m high mountain, the weather was not looking that peachy; cloud, mist, fog all hinted of rain. You can get a cable car to the first hill then another to Sugar Loaf or you can climb the first and get the second cable car up and across. Or, if you are out of your mind and have been drinking far too many capirihanas then you can rock climb up the face of Sugar Loaf. We took the second option - a compromise! The walk was steep and it was very muggy through the forest. Yet, we saw monkeys on the way up so it made the trek worthwhile. Got a cable car to the top and at first it was completely grey - visibility zilch. Then, with a stroke of luck, the clouds began to disappear, the sun shone through and Rio appeared in its full glory - it really was beautiful. A trip I´d definitely recommend doing and do the trek if you can, makes it more fun and varied.

Night came and so did Lapa - the samba district of Rio. Got off of the bus at the Arches and what an area it was - bars and clubs everywhere but the best were mini bars and stalls in the street with people drinking and dancing around them (reminds me of a night out in Swindon after hitting the clubs but minus the drunken idiots and fighting!). Walked around for a bit then found a small, traditional samba bar with a live band and locals dancing around the chairs and tables. We joined in with the drinking and (attempt) at dancing. Was refreshing to find an authentic place like this!

Sunday 5th July

Cultural and more typical touristy stuff today! Hit a hippie market in Ipanema with amazing paintings and jewellery stools (for once stayed away from the jewellery but bought 2 paintings instead!). The afternoon consisted of seeing the many faces of Rio: a trip up to Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer - the 30m high statue that overlooks Rio and in fact is not Jesus, but Rio´s patront saint that commemorates Brazil´s independence); a look around (but unfortuanetly not in) the Maracana Stadium - the national stadium for Brazil (saw Pele´s footprints in cement like the stars in Hollywood!); a stop in the Sambodromo, the area where Carnival takes place... and its historical relevance is greatly felt as that was where samba was legalised after a woman cured the emperor of a disease and that was her gift as thanks - I´d love to see carnival and watch all the different samba schools of Rio compete for the title of best school in Rio! (oh and Sambodromo is right nect to the first favela of Rio - a place where soldiers after the WWII settled and bought a plant called "favela" with them and hence the name for such areas now); and, finally, a trip to the Cathedral which holds up to a mamouth 20,000 people and is set in the modern area and that is reflected in its architecture - built in 1979, the tipee shaped, concrete structure sits comfortably between skyscrapers and high rising apartment blocks. It was a really good tour - inforamtive, varied and interesting to drive through the different districts of the city and get a fell for its history and culture.

Later that night we changed districts and hopped over east to Copacabana. Not sure why as we didn´t end up going out and left early Monday morning for Ilha Grande but I guess we just wanted to do something different!!

Rio really is a marvelous city and we only got to sample a tiny bit of what it has to offer... but what we did sample was amazing and I can´t wait to go back to experience more!