Blogs from Botafogo, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 5

Advertisement

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo February 20th 2010

Today we were due to change hostels again, this time moving away from the main beach area and into the pleasant suburb of Botafogo. We had already been there acouple of times this week so we were very comfortable with the area. After a couple of bad weatehr days in rio we were hoping we would wake up to nice weather as we wamted to get to see the christ statue, which you can only see when it is a clear day. Today our prayers were answered. We woke up to see there was not a cloud in the sky. We were determined to make the best out of the day, so we got up at 9am and planned to make ur last walk around Copacabana, strolling along the beach front and enjoying the gorgeous surroundings ... read more

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo January 26th 2010

Okay, We are on our own again after 46 days on tour and I will confess that writing these blogs has become hard work but the end of this journey is around the corner so will put up with it and do my best, here is our final few days in Rio Our hostel has a weird setup with the showers and toilet being at the back of the property and is barricaded off during the night which makes getting there somewhat difficult. Although we had booked mixed rooms Jay & I are split and the air-conditioning in my room doesn’t work and it is rather hot and humid and there is not sleep for me tonight. In the morning we done the bathers and head out to Copacabana to do as the locals do ... read more

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo November 22nd 2009

FAREWELL RIO DE JANEIRO 22.11.2009 Huomenna matkustan executivo-bussilla kaksikymmentäkolme tuntia Foz do Iguaçun putouksille, joilla sijaitsee Itaipun voimalaitos. Sehän juuri pamahti ukonilmassa pari viikkoa sitten. Koko rannikkoalue pimeni. Kaksikymmentäkolme tuntia! Se konkretisoi, miten valtavan suuri maa Brasilia on. Se on maailman viidenneksi suurin talous. Asukkaita noin 200 miljoonaa. Mielipiteeni Riosta on kaksinainen. Kaupunki on kaunis ja elävä. Kaupungin topografia ja arkkitehtuurissa näkyvät historian kerrokset kiihottavat mielikuvitusta. Musiikki - samba, bossa nova, paso doble - on mieltä tyynnyttävän kaihoisaa. Samba ei ole Helsingin sambakarnevaalien yksitoikkoista präiskettä, vaan pikemmin hienostunutta ja murheellista. Silloin kärsitään saudadesta, melankolista. Laulaja katuu elämässä tehtyjä virheitä ja kaipaa jonnekin pois. Kunpa olisin vain ymmärtänyt san... read more
Rio6 012
Rio6 059
Rio6 062

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo October 5th 2009

So we finally arrive in Rio De Janeiro, the free upgrade was a bonus on the flight and got to the Hostel late on. The Hostel seems nice people are friendly and the decor is a little 1980s but we are here and we can explore tomorrow.... read more

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo September 24th 2009

Well, we made it. That´s surprising considering the trials it took to get here. I want to say thanks to Brad for taking me to Checker Auto Parts to get a new battery for my ´91 pick-up that was sitting void of life in the middle Fox street at 9 pm, 8 hours before I had to be on my way to the airport. After an hour and a half wrestling with the ol´SOB we got it started and I made it home. Jess and I made our morning flight after three hours of sleep. 24 hours of airport inflation and sitting like a pretzel in economy...apparently you can´t even donate a kidney to get an exit row these days. We flew Denver to Boston, to Washington D.C., to Sao Paulo, and finally to Rio. ... read more

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo September 22nd 2009

So we arrive in Rio after the 6 hour bus journey which wasn't bad at all...infact we drove through some wonderful scenery. At the bus station we went to get a taxi however one company refused to take us as we didn't have an address of where we needed to go, just a general area (Botafogo). Luckily another company understood English so we could explain we're heading to an area to find a hostel...didn't realise that would be problem. The driver was desperately trying to pursuede us against going there as it was more for locals and not many hostels around (he apparently didn't know of 1)... he kept trying to get us to go to one in Copacabana, we reckon he was on commission or something. We stuck to our guns though! When the guy ... read more
Copacabana beach
Give us a wave!
Lizzy at the lake


What day is it? "Is it Sunday today?" A definite good sign when you are trying to wind down is when you forget what day it is. After spending the rest of Friday hiding out from the rain we decided that we had enough of doing nothing and determined that we would get going on the touristy things. First up after a relatively painless accommodation change was tackling the Sugar Loaf. I was sure that Philippe would be sitting this one out what with his dislike of heights and all, but to my surprise and great pride, he bought his ticket and stepped aboard the first cable car. You can take two levels of cable car. There are great views of Rio from both stops, but the second mountain is a hell of a lot steeper ... read more
Gulp
Philippe, Christ and Sinead
Copacabana


You know, I had a title all lined up for this blog. It had been kindly donated by Michael Paynter, but events overtook me, and the title was changed. But Mike, you can take solace in that you have been namechecked in a world famous blog. Well, maybe not world famous, but perhaps famous in England. At least my mum and dad read it occasionaly. So then, Rio de Janiero. The very mention of the place is enough to get you mugged apparently. But I've been around Latin America quite a while now, and consider myself pretty street smart, so I wasn't going to get too worked up about that. However, for whatever reason, it had never really been a place I was overly excited about visiting, and I was kind of there as it is ... read more
Sugar Loaf
Rio Sunset
Arcos de Lapa

South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro » Botafogo April 11th 2009

Don´t mind the date on the photos. Need to get new camera. It kept on displaying same date on all photos Maracana Stadium Local teams play in Semi Final. Flamengo v Fluminese Result 1 - 0 to Flamengo. Brazil as far as I know won the World Cup here when they hosted it. It seats over 100,000 people. There was a game where Brazil were in the final and the stadium held a massive 200,000 people. It´s no longer allowed nowadays. This football match was the highlight of Rio for me. The atmosphere was electric. I never experienced anything like ever before. Superb! Our hostel organised tickets for the game. 70 reals which included bus transfers to and from the Maracana Stadium, A guide and also the tickets of course! There was 18 people from Our ... read more
Maracana stadium 1
Maracana stadium 2
Maracana stadium 3


Our 27hr bus ride from Salvador to Rio was reasonably pleasent, the chairs were comfortable and they reclined to almost flat with a leg rest, the only bad thing was that we were seated at the back of the bus right next to the toilets! Being next to the toilets on a 27hr bus trip full of gringos with Brazil bellies is the last thing you want. We managed to get by with the beautiful scenery. The vast difference from the outskirts of Salvador (very barron, dry and poor) and Rio (very green, lush and more wealthy) was amazing. The 27hrs seemed to pass by very quickly. We arrived and got to our hostel with no problems, checked into our first dorm room of our travels and headed out to check out the neighbourhood of Botafogo, ... read more




Tot: 0.141s; Tpl: 0.006s; cc: 10; qc: 92; dbt: 0.0854s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.3mb