Rio de Janeiro

19.05.-26.05.11

On Thursday morning, 19.05.11 at 9.30am, the parents of Monica picked me up at her apartment in Montevideo and were so nice to drive me to the airport.

My flight with PLUNA Airlines to Rio de Janeiro was very smooth and I had a brilliant view over the huge city of Rio when we landed 2.15 Minutes later. At the airport I took the airport bus to the city and from there a taxi straight to my hostel. Philippe, the owner of the "Books Hostel" put me into a private room for the first two nights as there was no bottom bed available in the reserved six bed dorm. Wow…how nice of him! I wish this would happen more often!

Friday, 20.05.11
I went into town to the office of TAM airline to confirm my flight to SALVADOR. Then I strolled around the city centre and ended up at the ferry port where I met a nice lady from Niteroi. Niteroi is across the river and apparently very nice. After she convinced me I took the 20 Min. ferry with her to Niteroi. Over there I walked along the coastline from where I had a great view to the skyline of RIO DE JANEIRO. Later on I walked to the "CENTRO CULTURAL CARIOCA" where I enquired for Samba lessons. The owner invited me straight to the open Samba night which was on that night. I would have loved to go but unfortunately I couldn't find anyone who wanted to join me.

Saturday, 21.05.11
On Saturday morning I went up to SANTA TERESA with the old fashion tram. It was great fun! Later on I walked through the nice cobbled stoned area and had a coffee in one of the many nice cafes. In the afternoon I took the metro to COPACABANA BEACH. Wow…I was absolutely amazed about the long and white sandy beach. There were also all kinds of people walking, jogging and cycling along the road and the atmosphere was just amazing. I sat down for a while at the beach and just soaked in the great atmosphere. The wind was quite fresh but there were still some people swimming in the ocean.

Sunday, 22.05.11
It was a beautiful day and therefore I decided to I took the bus straight to the train station of the "Christ Statue". But I got a huge shock when I arrived there. Millions of people were queuing up for the train which takes you right up to the statue. So I decided to take the private bus even though that it was a bit more expensive.
The view from up there was absolutely brilliant and I think I have never seen anything like that before. Unfortunately there were so many people up there that it was very hard to take one photo with me and the Christ without any bloody tourist in my photo!!!

I spent about 3 hours up at the Christ Statue just as the view was sooo beautiful from up there. When I arrived back at the bottom of the hill I took the next bus to "IPANEMA BEACH. On the bus I met two very nice guys from Columbia who I exchanged emails with and promised them to catch up in Botoga in Columbia. I went off right at the IPANEMA PARK where the Sunday Market was on. After I watched the sunset at the beach I went back to my hostel.

Monday, 23.05.11
In den morning Iwent to the MOSAIC STAIRCASES in Santa Teresa which was only a 5 Min. walk from my hostel. I was positively surprised as I didn't expect such a long staircase with so many interesting and colourful lied tiles. Check out my photos from Rio and you will find a lot of photos from beautiful international tiles!
After lunch I took the bus to the BOTANICAL GARDEN. I strolled through the gardens for 2 hours and it was sooo relaxed and quiet. It was good to have a break from all the traffic noise of the city.

From there I caught another bus to the PAO DE ACUCAR. I went up there at about 4pm with a Swiss cable car and again I had an amazing 360 degree view. As it was a gorgeous and sunny day everyone who still stayed up there for a few hours got to see a fantastic sunset. And later on when the lights of the city went on the view got spectacular and surprisingly my photos turned out quit well!

Tuesday, 24.05.11
At 12.15pm I met the tour guide Zezihoe at the Metro Station in Botafago for a Favela Tour in ROCINHA. After we met Elisabeth and Cheryl from Singapore we took the Mini-Van to the biggest Favela in South America. We spent 5 hours strolling through the little and dark alleys of the favela and Zezihoe provided us with a lot of information. He knew a lot about the life in Rocinha as he grew up there himself. It was very interesting how close the Favela was to the next rich neighbourhood and the beach. When I arrived back at the hostel at 8pm I was very tired from the walking and soaking in all the information.

Wednesday, 25.05.11
My last day in Rio de Janeiro was supposed to be "my beach day" but unfortunately I spent 2 ½ hours at the Chiropractico. She was very expensive and therefore I was even more upset that she couldn't align my spine as I would have loved her to do.

However, the last two hours of a beautiful afternoon I went to the COPACAPANA and IPANEMA BEACH and enjoyed the sun and the white sandy beaches.