Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 131

Lapa is probably the best night you can have out in Brazil. It is basically one big street party where people spill out of bars and clubs to drink and eat on the street. Lapa is right next to the steps that I spoke about earlier and is the place to be on a Friday night. Some of the clubs and bars are themed and have dressing up equipment so you can have a masquerade ball. The music can vary from mad Brazilian funk/Pop, Reggae, Hip hop and even Nirvana (that’s just in one club).........very random I know. Now is probably a good time to tell you about the local drink Caprinhi or Capivodva. The first is a locally spirit which tastes very much like tequila mixed with Lime juice and about 3 tablespoons of sugar. ... read more

So after the first game of passion I decided to come back to the Maracaña for a local derby. The stadium was full to capacity other than the bottom tier which was under renovation, there must have been 120,000 all over the stadium, in the stairwells, blowing their trumpets and playing the drums. Unfortunately the team we were supporting lost but as each of the 4 goals was scored you could literally feel the stadium move and copious amounts of beer (at least that’s what I hope it was) thrown all over you. Thankfully because it was a local derby the fans stuck together on there own sides of the stadium but this did not stop the fights and riots at the end of the night. This is definitely more dangerous than a local derby back ... read more

Ok so am not sure that words are going to do this night any justice but I will try to explain the best that I can so you can imagine. Background: Favella basically means shanty town, look at my Favella Tour for more info. The Favella Funk party is basically a nightclub in the middle of one of the biggest Favella sites in Rio and there is approximately 3,000 people partying hard in this big Favella, straight to Gay and from poor to rich. Hence the reason why you are not allowed to take cameras in because apparently Brazilian football stars are often partying (with another girl other than they should be). Music: Brazilian Funk and a little bit of Reggae and hip hop I was on my way to being drunk after the football but ... read more

The Convent Stairway These stairs are a mosaic made of over 2 thousand especially made tiles which were broken with a hammer, the 215 steps and are a tribute to the people of Brazil by being in the colour of the Brazilian flag, green blue and yellow. The artist began in 1990 and when he nearly finished in 1998 he decided to make the stairs a constantly changing work of art and therefore invites people from all over the world to send in a tile and he will send a photo of the tile in the step. The current tiles are from all over the world. The artist is called Selaron and he is a chillean painter, at the bottom of the stairs is a picture of a pregnant woman which he paints in all of ... read more

So unfortunately my first impressions of Rio continue, we have rain for 3 days solid and find ourselves getting very depressed (no excuse I know but Birmingham is sunny). So there is absolutely nothing to do other than get drunk and try and stay as dry as possible!... read more