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Published: March 3rd 2006
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Copacabana Walkway
Tommy No Papers steps out amongst the Cariocas. I took a seat and tried to take it all in. I was in Rio, but it felt like I was on another planet. I looked around me. These were some of the most beautiful girls I'd ever seen. The music played and I tried to collect my thoughts. At once I caught a smile from across the room. Our eyes locked. She had dark eyes and long blond hair. But it was something else that caught my attention. The way she moved her hips seemed so natural. This was the way a body was supposed to move. The way that Brazilians seem to know instinctively. One subtle motion from her and I knew what I had to do. I stood up and walked across the bar room floor. I stepped out of my normal life and into a South American dream. It was just another day in Rio.
Obviously there is a lot that is better left to the imagination. All I have to say is this in Brazil it feels like things that you imagine can actually come true. My friend and I had decided that we should take a trip somewhere. Over e-mails we threw out all
The Beach
It is impossible not to be relaxed in a place like this.
sorts of ideas, but it wasn't until January when I suggested going to Rio for a week that things got serious. As soon as I got his e-mailed reply I knew I was going.
We flew Varig, a Brazilian airline. I have to say that I do not recommend it. The service is not the best. On the return flight no cabin member came around to collect our trays. As we were about to land I actually had to get up take our trays and take them to the galley myself. I walked right past the flight crew as the prepared to buckle themselves into their seats. It must happen often because they didn't seem to mind. The food was borderline inedible, but hey that's Varig for you. It did the job though. It got us there.
We were staying on the legendary beautiful stretch of sun and sand known as Copacabana beach. The taxi left us off at out hotel. We stepped into the warm Brazilian street scene. It was quite a change from the cold drizzle that I had left behind in New York. I needed this trip in the worst way. I needed to put
A stroll in the sunshine
Chicas idling away the day... the winter and a lot of other stuff behind me.
Brazil is the perfect place to change the course of how you are feeling. The rhythms, the warm sun on your face, the colors, and the complete lackadaisical self-assuredness of the Cariocas just draw you right in. The girls strut by all fit and tan. How can you continue to be an uptight westerner in this environment?
After getting our bearings we headed down to the beach. We took a few photos and then went back to the hotel to change and drop off our cameras. We had heard many bad things about the crime in Rio. I was cautiously wary, but my friend was suspicious of everybody. It just so happened that the worst thing that would happen to us all trip would happen that day.
The surf on Copacabana beach is great. It is perfect for body surfing. I couldn't believe my luck. I love to bodysurf. I think if I could to anything in the world. That would be it. I know it is clichéd, but when I bodysurf I feel at one with the water and I can just blissfully trance out. After
Corcavado
Christ loomed in the mist making the experience slightly mystical. spending all my summers on Long Island and a year in Australia watching and learning from the Aussies I have grown quite proficient at it too. However, I was still surprised that I seemed to be the best body surfer on my section of the beach. In Australia everyone is a pro, but here that just wasn't the case. People kept taking sidewards glances as I rushed by on top of the water. I even got the thumbs up sign from one Brazilian youngster who was impressed by a particularly long ride. However, I couldn't hold a candle to the way they played a game of volleyball with their feet.
With that out of the way I think you can understand why I was in the ocean swimming, while my friend guarded my belongings. After a good set of waves I came back and my friend said some guys had tried to steal my shorts. My friend had been sitting on my shorts to protect them when I guy started waving something in front of my friend's face. My friend could tell something was wrong and when he looked around there were my shorts hanging out of a basket
Caipirinha
The perfect drink to segue a relaxed soul from a day on the beach to another dose of Rio's nightlife. that another guy was carrying. My friend walked right over to him took the shorts back and said "Come on". Luckily they sulked away into the shadows of that warm afternoon.
After that day we would never again bring anything of value to the beach. We even left our sandals at the hotel. We would step across the hot pavement of Avenue Atlantica in bare feet, having only our bathing suits on and the shirts on our backs. I would toss my shirt in a rumpled heap, as if to say it's nothing valuable so go ahead and take it if you want. No one ever did. Rio actually felt much safer then I thought it would. I walked around no problem, ate at lunch counters in the middle of the city, and took taxis all around the city. To tell the truth, when I was in Buenos Aires two years ago I felt more unsafe.
Over the week we went all around the city. We went to the futbol stadium. We saw Christ the Redeemer on Corcavado hill. Actually, we saw his feet and a whole bunch of fog. Well, it wasn't all that bad. It was actually very thrilling because they we were standing under this immense shadow. It made the statue seem more spiritual as if just like God himself you can't quite make out his face. However, it was very dramatic when a strong gust parted the clouds and there stood Christ in all is splendor. Only to become shrouded in mist again a few moments later. We also went to Ipanema and Lapa. In Lapa the Brazilian music beats poured out of all the open-air bars. They drummed right into me. I was intoxicated on Samba and the hum of activity. The nights were filled with what seemed like limitless possibility.
My friend and I were good traveling together because we did stuff together, but we were totally cool with doing stuff on our own. One of our favorite things to do was to go to our hotel bar after a sunny day on the beach filled with body surfing and drinking from coconuts. The bar was on the fourth floor and had a great window that looked out over Copacabana beach. We would observe people ambling off the beach and people setting up for another exotic Brazilian night. The pale yellow taxis driving by were like little splashes of color next to the artistic mosaic that is the Copacabana sidewalk.
Our bartender would put out a plate of salted nuts for us. The nuts had a great satisfying crunch to them. He would then mix us up some Caipirinhas full of lime, sugar, and alcohol. The first day there they bit at my tongue, but by the time I left it was like drinking a soothing limeade. We would just ramble on about life. My problems were coming to an end. He had some new stuff to deal with just over the horizon. Almost every night as the skies darkened I would take my leave. It was great to wander the streets of Rio alone in the purple twilight of evening and let everything soak in. The adventures I had and the people I met will linger in my mind long after this trip. Obrigado Rio.
Note: This journal covers the week of April 2-April 9. The photos were taken with a disposable camera, but the grainy quality seems oddly fitting for Rio's hazy decadence. added october 25, 2005
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MariAnne Souza
non-member comment
You brought me back to Rio!
Hey, Tommy - thank you for writing about your vacation in Rio. I love to hear of someone's first time in there. I was there for Carnaval, 1992, and I am dying to get back there. My husband is from the south of Brazil (3 hours from Florianopolis, Santa Catarina); so, every time we return to Brasil, we, of course, go back to be with his family. Maybe Rio in 2007. I know what you mean about the Brazilian, girls/women. I felt so insecure at first, but then I realized that it's just impossible to compete with that Brazilian look/attitude/joy of life. That picture of Christo Redentor IS mystical - very cool. I'm glad that the 'shorts' incident is the only brush with danger that you guys experienced. Copacabana Beach seems to be more dangerous that Ipanema. Anyway, you wrote a great synopsis; truly excellent writing skills. Mari Anne