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Published: November 29th 2007
Maracana Stadium
Football at its best.Only in Rio can you bump into gorgeous men walking down a busy city street at 10pm in the evening wearing only speedos. What a crazy, beautiful, exciting city this is. The movement of people around the streets, beaches and parks gave Rio an amazing vibe that lasted from early morning to late at night.
As we were here for a week and a half we decided to rent an apartment and found ourselves a compact and bijou 1 bed flat just a stones throw from Copacabana Beach. We were practically next door to the Copacabana Palace, but we don´t like to brag.
We have done all the main touristy things, like a trip to the statue of Christ and taking the cable car to Sugar Loaf Mountain, but the best thing about Rio is just being here, hanging out on the Copacabana or Ipanema beaches, shopping for a new pair of Havianas, or just sipping a caipirinha and watching the world go by.
A visit to Rochina favela enabled us to see the contrats between the rich and the poor. Houses cling to the hillsides of the city and are connected by a rabbit warren of
narrow alleyways that give it a claustrophobic feeling. Life goes on there and there seemed to be a strong sense of community however we were made aware of the power of the drug barons in these areas and we were told that we were being watched at all times.
One of the many highlights of our time here was going to see a football match at Maracana Stadium. The match was between two local teams and the score of 3-2 to our team ensured plenty of action on the pitch. However, the most amazing thing was the enthusiasm of the crowd, and although the stadium was only half full it was filled with the noise of drum bashing out a samba beat. As we left the stadium the party really began and we all danced out onto the street to celebrate (wouldn´t this be good to see at Chelsea?).
Although we have spent longer in Rio than any other single place on this trip so far, we didn´t feel like we had long enough here. On our last night at the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain watching the lights flicker on Copacabana Beach, we promised ourselves we will
definitely return someday.
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john
non-member comment
Amazing
...as usual! (Can you not go somewhere grotty next time - make us feel a bit better - oj.) Safe Journey to Oz. Give my love to Dorethy! JPx