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Published: June 25th 2008
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Christ The Redeemer
A truly magnificent sight. Our travel day to Rio was a rainy one (we've been so lucky with the weather!) and so donned in our ponchos we caught the ferry from Ilha Grande back to Angra dos Reis. We chose to travel via 'Fast Connection' to Rio - which was basically a mini-van jammed to the rafters with people and luggage not too dissimilar from our very own taxis back home. However, our taxi had the added luxury of an on-board TV screen. The driver slotted in his favourite DVD (of an overweight, sweaty guy singing in Portuguese who looked like he was about to drop dead from a heart attack any second), pumped up the volume, and we were off. After a couple of hours, we sidled into Rio at the mercy of our increasingly erratic driver, and were eventually dropped off in Ipanema, at the infamous Crab Hostel.
Man, that place was a hole - you had to walk down this long dark passage, through a prison-like gate into a dark and dingy reception area. The hostel itself was like a semi revamped office block, so we had to climb a couple of flights of narrow stairs to eventually reach our room.
Gazing out over Rio
Sugarloaf mountain in the background. Our room wasn't too bad - the big plastic crab on our bed was a bit creepy though!
Eager to get out of there and explore the streets of Ipanema, we found a welcoming little 'cerverceria' that brewed its own beer - those two pitchers went down a treat! After more walking, we ended up at Shenanigans - an Irish pub (!) in the heart of Ipanema where we enjoyed a few pints of Sol and chilled out after a long day.
Our first full day in Rio, and first up was a trip to Corcovado to see the statue of Christ the Redeemer- one of the new seven wonders of the world. We caught the little train up to the top of Corcovado mountain - the sweeping views across Rio once we reached the top were breathtaking. You could see right around the city - from the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, across to the Rio yacht basin and Sugarloaf Mountain, the bustling city below, the favelas (or shanty towns) squeezed in between, and the massive Maracena soccer stadium which can seat almost 200 000 people.
Of course, the highlight was the statue of Christ -
Ipanema Fun
Items for sale included ice cold capairinhas, skewered prawns, grilled cheese, sarongs, jewelry and beer. his outstretched arms blessing the entire City and its people below. The statue is about seventy years old if I remember correctly and was funded entirely by donations from the parishioners of Rio. It really was a magnificent sight.
That afternoon we walked the long stretch of beach from Copacabana back to Ipanema. Unfortunately the weather was a bit overcast so we didn't get a chance that day to experience a true sense of Rio at play. Rio is an expensive city, so to manage our budget a bit, we stocked up on food goodies and a couple of beers at the supermarket and spent the evening playing canasta and having an eighties music appreciation evening back at the Crab! This did not go down well with the snotty owner of the place who after 10pm claimed that we were breaking 'the Brazilian law of silence'. Given that we really weren't making a noise, and given that we really were the only people staying in the hostel, we became rather irritated. Eventually David said to the front desk guy (who was the owner's unfortunate puppet and spokesperson) that the place was "a pit" to which he replied in a
Super Size Me
Andy enjoying a large frosty "Skollie" at Ipanema. priceless moment of truth, "I know". Clearly that owner does not need the money. Oh boy - you gotta love The Crab!
Our second and last day in Rio was a beauty. After a breakfast of scrambled eggs at a local coffee shop (we just couldn't stomach another breakfast of white rolls and cheese), we hit the beach! The sun was out in full force and with that came all the Rio revellers one would expect to see on the beach - grannies in string-tie g-strings; men in skimpy speedos (and yes, David was one of the speedo clad himself); beach volleyball and soccer players and vendors selling everything from sarongs to capirinhas. A general happy feeling of bustling beach time fun prevailed. The boys had a blast body surfing in the surprisingly big waves. As the afternoon closed in on us, David, Andy, Lisa and I enjoyed one last round of ice cold Skollies together at the yellow plastic table and chairs overlooking the Ipanema sunset. It was our last day together since we had a flight that evening to Sao Paulo and then on to Costa Rica, while Andy and Lisa were spending two weeks in Peru
before reuniting with us again in Montezuma, Costa Rica.
Brazil was truly an unforgettable experience! We highly recommend it as an affordable holiday destination!
Await David's next blog entry from Costa Rica.
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Paddy
non-member comment
Howzit!!!
Hey dudes! This is my first comment on a blog so apologies if it's an "un-bloggish comment"! Glad to hear about all your awesome travels! Wow! South America looks amazing. A bit worried as to whether Dave can see anything through those massive goggles he's wearing for sunglasses, but maybe they're to hide the effects of all the capirinhas!! All the best dudes - we're off to the UK in 3 days, so will keep you posted on how our adventures kick off!