Blogs from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 220

If I would have only two words to describe Rio de Janeiro then I would use "not impressed". Yes, yes I know everyone claims that Rio has the most beautiful setting in the world, is full of girls in little bikinis laying on beautiful city beaches but I still think it’s not that great. I did the usual tourist things like going up and say hello to Christ, view the city from above from the Pao de Azucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) and have a look at the admittedly exceptional setting the city has. A mandatory stop at Copacabana and Ipanema beach (which were more or less deserted when I was there) were also on the program. My problem with the city is that it lacks flair and has apart from the well known sights not ... read more

Well today folks, I write you about my lovely time on Ilha Grande yet from the drank and depressing bus station in Rio de Jenairo. I arrived on the island after a hectic travel schedule all the way from Argentina with of course, Jacky. Our bus picked us up quite late and we made our way back into Brazil after a very fast on board lunch. Puerto Iguazu is a border town right beside Foz de Iguacu on the Brazil side. Our bus ride took us all the way back to Sao Paulo in 16 hours, with lovely films, cocktails and comfortable seats. We woke up in Sao Paulo and immediately jumped aboard another bus that would take us to the coastal town of Angra Dos Reis. We finally arrived to Angra Dos Reis after 8 ... read more

All right. Good news and Bad News. First the Good news. I broke the Camera. We went up to Corcovado. Amazing view half-way up, took some awesome pics of the city. I jumped down, and back up onto a wall to get a different view, and kinda didn't make it up onto the wall. The camera was in my hand, and I smacked it onto the wall. Camera go boom. No worky. No more photos. Sorry everyone. It kinda wrecked my whole mood yesterday. On the good side, it was entirely cloudy up at the top, and really impossible to see the Cristo statue. Every once in a while, it would clear and you would get this sorta foggy outline, but you had to be fast on the button. Anyway...an altogether anticlimactic trip to the famous ... read more

Hey yáll. After a gruelling, but scenic, 22 hour coach journey we´ve now arrived in Iguassu. But before we said goodbye to Rio we had time for a few more treats... Firstly, the Champions of Carnaval parade: This was a showcase of the best floats from the 4 day Carnaval the previous week. Taking place at the Samba Drome in front of over 100,000 spectators, the 8 hour festivities epitomised the Brazilian passion for colour, extravangance and music. A truly unforgettable experience. The following day, we took in a game at the Maracana. It didn´t quite reach the fervour of White Hart Lane on a Saturday afternoon but it came close. The game finished Fluminese 2 Vasco 2 and the latter had a certain Romario playing for them. (I´m sure this guy was 30 in the ... read more

Okay, so for the last few days, life has fallen into a pattern of waking up in the early afternoon, and wondering what to do with ourselves. Usually, we end up eating something, then heading downtown. Yesterday, we went late down to the Center of the City, and toured around the Ipanema area (we had done Copacabana previously). Included in our tour were the famous Bar of the Garota da Ipanema (the bar where Vinicius de Moraes and Antonio Carlos Jobim wrote the famous song) and the Toca de Vinicius (a less touristy, more music-oriented version of the same thing) I hit a music store and almost died. We finally went shopping at a mall and found some decent buys. The only problem with that whole venture, is that I forgot the battery to the camera ... read more