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Published: July 30th 2008
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Rach:
The sun was setting when our plane landed in Rio de Janeiro, staining the sky a watery pallette of pink and purple, and I knew instantly that I had arrived somewhere special. Even the roads leading us out of the airport were lined with palm trees.
As our bus crawled through the busy, colourful streets of weekend-Rio towards the beaches the tiredness that had been weighing on me just minutes before evaporated and all I wanted to do was explore this place that I knew, even in the darkness, was going to be the best place I had ever been to.
As soon as we got to our hotel in Ipanema, we dumped our backpacks in our room and made straight for the beach - until this moment I hadn´t actually realised how, having lived by the sea all my life, I´d actually felt quite trapped being land-locked for so long - the sand squeaked beneath my feet, the waves were spectacularly big and crashed into the sand with almighty force and rising up beyond the horizon I could just make out the elusive shape of the iconic Ipenema mountain against the now inky sky.
It was in
the morning that the wonder of the city was revealed in all its sunny, bustly glory. I can honestly say that Rio de Janeiro made me question the existence of God; it seemed that everything we had been looking for it provided. The mountainous landscape rivals that of all we had seen while in Peru and Bolivia, yet there are also infinate stretches of white sandy beaches, more vegetation than I have seen since I arrived on the continent and warm turquoise waters dotted with hundreds of tropical islands all set to the backdrop of a bustling, happy, friendly, cosmopolitan city. I know just how the omniscient Christ the Redeemer must feel standing atop Corcovado Mountain, embracing the paradise I feel sure was created by him.
On that first day we walked under the endlessly uninterrupted expanse of blue sky along the length of Ipanema beach to Copacabana, with our feet in the sea. It was on this walk that we discovered the free gym on the beach (which Jake found to be better equipped than the one we´d been paying a fortune for back home) and realised just how fit and heath consious the Cariocas (people of Rio)
really are. From sunrise to long after sunset the running track which stretches the whole four and a half kilometers of Copacabana and the length of Ipanema as well is full of the tanned and toned, still in their Speedos, pounding the pavements and at night time the beaches are floodlit for the various football and volleyball teams and aerobics classes. I´ve seen one fat man since I arrived and even he was doing sit-ups on a bench.
That, and of course the undeniably spectacular setting of the city, maybe goes some way to explaining the constant happiness that seems to be forever present on the locals faces. Everyone is just so happy and friendly and always seems to be enjoying long bank holiday weekends, if the busy beaches during the daytime and regular fetes and parties are anything to go by.
And, miracle of miracles, on our first day in Rio our money finally arrived in my bank account! Which was a very good thing as the Brazilian Real has recently gained a lot of strength against the pound and since we had arrived from the poorest country on the continent to one of the most expensive we
Lovely Cocos
Sold all along the beach, the barmen chop the tops off with an axe and you drink the water through a straw. were really feeling it. But, as they say, you pay for what you get and where Rio is concerned I feel we are paying a very good price indeed.
Jake:
I would be remiss not to mention Bob´s Burgers in the first account of this grand city. This fast food chain (just like McDonald´s but without their calorie restrictions and, bless ´em, their ´healthier options´) has branches throughout Rio. A Bob´s Burger is a mere 2 real (65p), a steal in a city littered with independant restaurants which would charge 15 real for a cheese and ham toastie and not feel the slightest twang of remorse. Regretably now, having lived a few metres from a Bob´s for nigh on a month, I have difficulty engaging in even the least strenuous of activities without wheezing like a dog pulling too hard on its leash. As a silver lining, though, one particular serving woman appears to take a special delight in our appearances, and has taken the liberty to recall ´the usual´ (4 Bob´s Burgers and a Chocolate Sundae for Rach) when we visit now. So, here´s a big thankyou to Bob´s for his cost-effective menu and heres to the
woman who serves us, because she´s just a absolute gem.
As you have probably worked out from our pictures we decided to visit a zoo. This was on around the third to fifth day (we´ve been here a while now so you´ll have to forgive my vagueness). Situated beside the (in)famous Maracana Stadium this trip took us the furthest yet from our Ipanema/Copacabana bourgouis comfort zone. I put the little ´in´ in brackets because I have heard tell of certain trajectiles thrown between the crowds there: dead chickens are amongst them as are bottle of urine! As I was saying this is the closest we had come to the working class half of Rio, which is situated literally next to the high-rises of the high-rollers. I can safely say I was more than nervous seeing the beaches and palm trees melt away through my taxi window to be replaced by the peppered spectacles of favelas (slums). I had read and watched a good deal on Rio de Janeiro prior to my flight and found that certain blogs and especially the film ´City of God´ had succeeded in breeding in me an inherant sense of distrust and fear of any
street which was not clean, well paved and full of rich and beautiful people. Let me tell you, having lived here for long enough to know what I´m talking about, Rio is flippin´ brilliant, thats all there is to it. Don´t you travellers worry your pretty little heads about danger, its all good here. I´m not so ignorant as to believe the favela kids just want a sit down and a cup of tea with the tourists who flash their cameras and wallets about, but thats no different from London. In fact, probably a good deal safer than London thinking about it. And even if there was a lot of crime, (which there isn´t) and things were like they are in City of God (which they aren´t) then it´d still be worth it. This is without a doubt the most wonderful city I have ever had the privalege of visiting, and where it got its dangerous image god only knows. (But I will still be telling tall tales of guns and gangsters when I return, thereby doing my part to perpetuate the misconception for the sake of sounding really cool. Because it is cool people. You cant deny it.) Having
rambled on again I will come to a close quickly. Zoo was good, check out how much of a freak the ant eater is! Kristan if you´re reading this I´ve found you a bar that you can buy and begin your career in the Brazilian drinking and socialising industry (which is a big one), I took a picture I hope you like!
Peace, R-Bizzo and J-Kwon
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