From the top of Pão de Açúcar, I fell in love with Rio de Janiero.
We arrived from an 18 hour bus ride in the late afternoon. After dumping our bags off in our 9 person hostel room (picture bunk beds on crack- 3 beds loaded ontop of each other instead of 2), we left to wander.
Our first tourist stop was the famous teleférico, Pao de Acucar. It is an interesting aerial tramway that takes you to a high point with stunning views of Rio. Being tourists in the city famous for muggings, we thought it best to leave our camera at the hostel. Not the smartest move...but lucky fo us we met a couple of french people who happily snapped some pictures of us and promised to send them. We also made plans to meet up later for drinks in Lapa (known for it's night life).
We had a good time that night, sharing some stories over drinks and getting to know our new friends (Asmaa et Souhail). We ended at a samba club until late (as we missed the last metro) and left at closing.
Day 2 was a rough start due to the festivities of the night before and we spent the morning fighting the Finnish for breakfats (long story, best to be told later). We hopped on a tour bus in the afternoon and were shuttled around town in a most embarrasing way to all the hot tourist spots. Lesson learned, skip the city tour. Later that night we treated ourselves to the most amazing churrascaria- Picao! It was all you can eat (as most are) but the 'extras' spread was incredible. There was even sushi! We shared 2 delicous bottles of wine (one Chilean and one Argentine) and ate meat until we nearly passed out. The favorite was picahna, a meat we learned of in the north that was the most tender meat served in Brazil. Greg and I had such a good time, we were the last of 2 tables left in the massive restauraunt.
Day 3 was full of big plans, the beach. We spent the morning at Copacabana beach laughing at all the ridicoulos wrinkled old people and red faced tourists...tried to have a swim but the waves crash down so close to the shore it made for an exciting challenge in keeping your bathing suit on. We spent the late afternoon in Santa Teresa, Rio's bohemian scene, and ate at Espirito Santa which provided a green terrace to eat and enjoy the view.
Day 4, our last full day and honestly one of the best days of the trip. I don't think I can explain exactly why, so I guess it will just have to be recorded as such. We did, however, have to fight the damn Fins for breakfast once again (argh). We spent the morning downtown, trying to change the last of our random money so we could scrape by withour getting to a ATM. Mission accomplished, we wanted to check out a famous cafeteria for lunch. Greg and I had a long lunch (and dessert), enjoying our conversation and the atmosphere of the old style cafeteria (see pictures). We eventually made our way to Ipanema beach and loved every minute of the remainder of the day spent there. There was sun bathing, people watching and swimming involved. After our last ocean swim was commemerated and the sun god had gone off to bed, we ran back to our hostel in a torrential rain, wading through shin deep waters. The day ended with dinner and early turn in, as we had to get a 3am taxi to the airport.
It was time to say goodbye to the beach and hello to the mountains of Bolivia.
I loved the hot humid weather of Brazil, the sand in my toes and salt in my hair. I cried just a little when I said goodbye to my flipflops and bathing suit as I pulled my boots out from the bottom of my pack. Goodbye tan, see you in Columbia!
Rio de Janiero is a wonderful and enchanting city! We can't wait to find another excuse to go back (there is still so much to see in all of Brazil). Did I mention how wonderful Brazilenos are? We met some amzing characters and felt very welcomed everywhere we traveled.
We arrived from an 18 hour bus ride in the late afternoon. After dumping our bags off in our 9 person hostel room (picture bunk beds on crack- 3 beds loaded ontop of each other instead of 2), we left to wander.
Our first tourist stop was the famous teleférico, Pao de Acucar. It is an interesting aerial tramway that takes you to a high point with stunning views of Rio. Being tourists in the city famous for muggings, we thought it best to leave our camera at the hostel. Not the smartest move...but lucky fo us we met a couple of french people who happily snapped some pictures of us and promised to send them. We also made plans to meet up later for drinks in Lapa (known for it's night life).
We had a good time that night, sharing some stories over drinks and getting to know our new friends (Asmaa et Souhail). We ended at a samba club until late (as we missed the last metro) and left at closing.
Day 2 was a rough start due to the festivities of the night before and we spent the morning fighting the Finnish for breakfats (long story, best to be told later). We hopped on a tour bus in the afternoon and were shuttled around town in a most embarrasing way to all the hot tourist spots. Lesson learned, skip the city tour. Later that night we treated ourselves to the most amazing churrascaria- Picao! It was all you can eat (as most are) but the 'extras' spread was incredible. There was even sushi! We shared 2 delicous bottles of wine (one Chilean and one Argentine) and ate meat until we nearly passed out. The favorite was picahna, a meat we learned of in the north that was the most tender meat served in Brazil. Greg and I had such a good time, we were the last of 2 tables left in the massive restauraunt.
Day 3 was full of big plans, the beach. We spent the morning at Copacabana beach laughing at all the ridicoulos wrinkled old people and red faced tourists...tried to have a swim but the waves crash down so close to the shore it made for an exciting challenge in keeping your bathing suit on. We spent the late afternoon in Santa Teresa, Rio's bohemian scene, and ate at Espirito Santa which provided a green terrace to eat and enjoy the view.
Day 4, our last full day and honestly one of the best days of the trip. I don't think I can explain exactly why, so I guess it will just have to be recorded as such. We did, however, have to fight the damn Fins for breakfast once again (argh). We spent the morning downtown, trying to change the last of our random money so we could scrape by withour getting to a ATM. Mission accomplished, we wanted to check out a famous cafeteria for lunch. Greg and I had a long lunch (and dessert), enjoying our conversation and the atmosphere of the old style cafeteria (see pictures). We eventually made our way to Ipanema beach and loved every minute of the remainder of the day spent there. There was sun bathing, people watching and swimming involved. After our last ocean swim was commemerated and the sun god had gone off to bed, we ran back to our hostel in a torrential rain, wading through shin deep waters. The day ended with dinner and early turn in, as we had to get a 3am taxi to the airport.
It was time to say goodbye to the beach and hello to the mountains of Bolivia.
I loved the hot humid weather of Brazil, the sand in my toes and salt in my hair. I cried just a little when I said goodbye to my flipflops and bathing suit as I pulled my boots out from the bottom of my pack. Goodbye tan, see you in Columbia!
Rio de Janiero is a wonderful and enchanting city! We can't wait to find another excuse to go back (there is still so much to see in all of Brazil). Did I mention how wonderful Brazilenos are? We met some amzing characters and felt very welcomed everywhere we traveled.
2 comments:
I couldn't agree more! Reading your post brought back all the memories of when Kate, Putnam and I fell in love with Rio...miss you guys!
that's sick Ala! i just got done checking out all the pix, wow, how amazing is that water??? everything looked beautiful, well besides you and Greg showing all that stuff in your teeth.. ahahaha.. jk. luv u guys!
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