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Published: March 3rd 2006
Christ The Redeemer
And Russ the PretenderLike the title says...words cannot possibly describe what Rio is like during Carnaval. At first, I didn´t think much of Rio...just as another city with a beach. The city is overwhelming with its contrasts and the people.
The first thing that I did was meet up with Hassan at his place. Next day we got our keys and the whole gang met up. Oggie, John and Hassan are the partners in crime here. The next day we went to the travel agency to get ripped off like every freaking GRINGO should. When I talked to the locals, i found out that we paid at least double for the Carnaval tickets along with a bunch of other things. But how fun is that if you don´t get raped with the prices?
So the first thing we did was go to the Samba rehearsal for the school called Portela, which means eagle in Portugese. I ended up buying their shirt cause it looks really nice. The samba school was definitely a fun place to be. Everyone was dancing and having fun. People actually like to have fun here. This is the first time where I saw the girls dancing the samba
and let´s just say it's really...and the Russ means REALLY sexy! I still have no idea how it is possible to shake that ass like that....WOW. After a couple of beers i was really into it. not that I need the beer to begin with when it comes to dancing. The samba drums have this funny effect that you get into this trance mode and then you just can´t stop dancing.
The next day we took the Rio by day tour which was worth it. It saved us time and money. The view from Cristo Redentor, or Christ the Redeemer was insane. I must admit that Rio is definitely the city with the nicest setting (natural surroundings) I have ever seen. Then we went to Macarana stadium with a capacity of 200 000 people but since FIFA does´t allow people to stand only 97 000 are allowed inside. Too bad I couldn´t see the game. oh well.
Next on the agenda was Sugar Loaf mountain. It is a really cool experience especially during sunset so I think I got some really good shots from that place. The view is once again really incredable as you will see from
the pictures.
The day after that, we went to join the Carnaval parade. Our school was Alegria de Zona Sul. We had to buy the costumes which set us back around US$100 but it was a lot of fun. So many people watching you is definitely a different feeling...especially if you don´t care but are just enjoying yourself. Dancing in that heat and the costume should be a part of anyone who is into dieting. No bull, just weight loss...haha.
After that, we went to Lapa which is a district in Rio and the party there is just crazy. It definitely resembled Sodom and Gomorah from the Bible. Everyone goes crazy to the samba drums and once again, everyone has fun. I don´t think I will ever look at a party the same way again...you can´t possibly beat the atmosphere, energy and the amount of hotness...if you know what the Russ is saying here. simply an overload. And the Brazilian girls are not exactly the known as introverts.
Anyway, later on, I decided to go to a restaurant called Mario´s like the guidebook recommended. It says that it is a nice buffet for $16. So we get
Sugar Loaf Mountain
Picture from the first of two stations there, and we get incredible service right from the start. We go to the buffet and it really is the best seafood buffet I have ever had. Absolutely nothing tasted less then amazing..including the octopus...I don´t know how they do it. Then we got some peach shots to calm down the stomach. Reasonable assumption is that everything was orgasmic. We even got some Cachaca alcohol to buy as a gift. It looked nice. Now here comes the best part. We get the bill. It came out to around $500. No one had a credit card and no one was willing to wash dishes for the rest of the year to pay if off. Luckily we had just enough money to pay for the meal. We kindly returned the gifts that we supposedly already bought and went on our merry way. This would be a good chance to dine and dash, and it would be worth it. Some of us have been training for this event by running 10 km marathon but at the end we decided that Brazilian jail sex simply was NOT worth it. =)
The last thing on the agenda was watching the Carnaval in Sambodromo. These
Sugar Loaf Mountain
Picture from the top guys don´t let tourists ruin their parade cause they are grade A schools. Funny, it actually rained on our parade. and that´s when the wolves came out and started selling friggin plastic garbage bag raincoats for $20. However, this is where my cheap eastern european genes kicked in and I went inside until it stopped. i took about 200 pictures and god knows how many movies. Nothing like being obsessed. However, I am still not as bad as Oggie who must have some Japanese heritage because he is the worst for taking pictures...EVERYTHING is photographed...nothing escaped the shooting wraith of Oggie.
The carnaval parade was awesome. It feels different when so many people are watching you. The next day we watched the parade as the professional schools don´t let anyone else into the group. I can´t believe we stayed up for 12 hours waching the whole thing and dancing. Once you get into the samba drum phenomenon...you can´t stop dancing.
One more thing I have to mention is that I absolutely love the freshly squeezed juices they make out of every possible fruit imaginable. Naturally I am trying the exotic ones. That is about all I have for
Joining the Carnaval Parade
Our costumes for that night. Rio right now. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
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Sue
non-member comment
nice pics
Hey Russ, it sure looks like you guys are living like royalty over in Brazil wether you like it or not!! The pictures look amazing and I must say you look like christmas ornaments in your Carnaval costumes. hahaha