Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
TWINS ON TOUR!!!
hey everyone!
I know its been a few days, sorry, here´s the catch-up!
So we left off with our day of sunning it up on Ipanema beach last Friday! We thought we were hardcore not getting an umbrella but after about 15mins realised we needed one! Got a little red! That night we went to lapa, which is the party central of Rio. We went there with the two girls from London we met the day before & our Irish buddy from our hostel. Well all I can say is it was mental! There are bars everywhere, discos, samba bands playing on the street and just an all round carnival atmosphere. We hopped round a few bars then just ended up walking around the streets like everyone else going from samba bands to sounds! You just buy drinks from vendors on the street and then walk around like carnival. We had such a wicked time. It was boiling hot as well even though it was the early hours of the morning! Carnival is going to be something else if that was just a Friday night out! We found an Rnb/Hip hop club too, but it was like a sweat box! We went back there about 3am and stayed till about 6 and when we came out we looked like we had stepped out of the shower! Oh and we also met twin guys from New York, which was really funny!
Also we had a new roommate, a Russian women in her 50´s, so the prison cell is even hotter and more cramped.
Saturday we went out to look around ipenema and check out the local sights. There was a big market and also some samba bands rehearsing around the square. Around 5ish it started raining and i mean heavy rain and rained the whole night! So much for leaving the rain behind us, although it is still over 20 degrees.
On Sunday we went to the Maracana stadium to watch a football match. Some others from the hostel had already bought tickets but we tagged along to buy them at the stadium. We meet some footie fans on the bus on the way to the stadium and they took us under their wings and looked after us... ahhh the universal language of footie! We got into a queue when we arrived to buy our tickets and it was long so we were getting a bit scared but one of the guys went and found us tickets from a tout and they were legit so we got them at a good price actually cheaper than the other people we were with! The match was lively to say the least! They take the carnival attitude to the matches and there were flags and flares and drums and lots of chants and songs. The team playing were Flamenco and Boavista. We were supporting Flamenco as our new friends were, but turns out they were the best team anyway... and won 2-0! We made some friends with the locals as the beer was flowing, you can drink in the stadium! and meet the cutest little girl who was only about 5 and her dad had brought her along. After the match we went back to eat and get ready for the Favela funk party later on that night. Its a club in a Favela that the locals go to but they do a tourist trip and take you along and stick you in a VIP area away from the locals and bring you home. Being us we didn´t want to stay in a VIP room with all the gringos so went downstairs to party with the locals and had a wicked time. These people can dance i have never seen whining like it!!! Its all about the booty over here and you gotta be able to shake it!
it hasn´t stopped raining since Saturday night so we are well peeved but better to be in the rain in Brazil the London town! Moved to a new hostel in Copacabana as the prison cell was getting too much so we have moved into a private room fro the last two days here before heading off to Salvador. had a few trips to fit in before we leave so went to Christ the Redeemer statue and samba city. Once again it was raining so the view wasn't the best but it was still pretty amazing. On a clear day you can see views all over Rio, but we had to make do with the view through the clouds! Next went to where they hold the carnival parades which is Sambadrome, a big long wide street with like football bleacher on on side and boxes on the other. The floats & procession's all go down the middle and that's the main carnival thing in Rio. After that we went to see where the costumes are made and i (ray) tried one on.
Today we went on a favela tour to the biggest Favela in Rio and also one of the newer smaller ones. The big one houses about 90,000 people and it is basically a separate city within a city. The houses rise up the mountain side and on top of each other and they are all on different alleys. There is only one main road so if you dont know your way around your in trouble. The favela is run by the amigo dos amigo gang not the police, which actually makes it quite safe as no one want to cross the gang lord and bring the police in! The smaller one only housed 3000 and is a new Government projects to improve conditions in favelas. This basically means that after continual pressure the Gov wanted to look like it was doing something for the people in the favelas so they are trying to make a few improvements in the newer ones. basically though they ignore the problems and pretend they dont exist. It was so frustrating to see the contrasts between the rich and the poor as they more or less live on each others doorsteps, the favelas are all near the rich city so the people can find work and all the rich do is put up extra security and try to ignore it.
Anyway I´m sure you have heard enough for now so we´ll be off. will try do it more regularly so they aren´t so long in future! xxx
- comments