Blogs from Brazil, South America - page 546

We went exploring today into Centro which is the city of Rio and the business hub. Absolutely packed, people everywhere. We tried to do the cultural thing and visit the National library and a few museums but they were either closed or to be frank - rather dull. We spent ages walking to find a Palace and then had a walk around the square where slavery was abolished in Brazil. We then hopped on the ´Bonde´ up to Santa Teresa which used to be a Bohemianesque sort of place. The tram is quite an experience as it runs through Lapa (which is a ´lively´ neighbourhood) and as such young scallywags jump on and off the tram and try to nick valuables. We managed to escape unscathed though and were amazed when we got to the top ... read more

Så er vi kommet hjem igen efter turen til Ilha Grande. Helt igennem en fantastisk ø og tilmed med en spændende historie. Ø'en, der ligger en times sejlads fra provinsen Rio de Janeiros fastland, har tidligere været skueplads for indianeres kamp om de gode fiskeområder. Efterfølgende har øens mange små bugter i 1600-tallet været brugt at pirater til at gemme sejlskibe og en masse tyvekoster, og myterne om endnu gemte skatte lever stadig. Senere blev øen brugt som første stop i Brasilien for slaveskibe fra Afrika, som en del af den berømte slaverute. Øen begyndte senere at blive beboet, og var efter sigende et livligt sted, indtil det brasilienske retsvæsen i 1940'erne oprette et topsikret fængsel på øen for at huse nogle af landets farligste kriminelle - frygten for fanger på flugt fik hurtig lokalbefolkningen til ... read more

Thursday morning saw the intrepid five up early and without Aidan for once. However, his hand could be felt (not literally) in proceedings as he had organised a three hour bus tour for us in Rêcife, Olinda, and all points in between. Our guide was a very enthusiastic English-speaking Brazilian named William, with his driver whose name presently escapes me. Both could speak English and ein Bisschen Deutsch; I reckon they must have taken turns doing the driving and the touring. Anyway... William soon had a groggy Irish family roaring and whooping, putting everyone in a pretty good mood. Nothing unusual there, you say. We went along the beachfront of Boa Viagem on our way to Rêcife Antigo and William pointed out all the exercise and sports facilities that are free to all to use; it ... read more

My long awaited trip begins........................ ( unfortunately my photos weren´t put on the cd correctly so i have lost most of the) When we arrived we headed straight for Copacabana beach which was only down the road from our lovely hostel! The beach was huge with white sand and huge waves In the Evening we went to a local football match where the atmosphere was just amazing, we joined in with the locals singing and dancing! The following day we decided to see the sights and went to Chrsto Redentor- Corcovado, Rio De Janeiro. This was quite amazing! The statue is huge and the View of Rio was stunning- a lot nicer than seeing it on the ground! We also went up to sugar loaf mountain and watched the sun set over Rio. It continued to ... read more

Well we have finally decided we have enough information to be worthy of a blog entry... So well then, we arrived in Rio on the 4th of October and were met at the airport by the wonderful Tina. After dropping our bags off at Tina and Adriana´s Copacabana hostel, Tina took us up the ´superfly mountain´just incase we fancied a spot of hang-gliding. About half way up we were stopped and searched by the police (this is basically a money making scam in which they hope to find something/anything wrong and then accept a bribe to let us off). They had a thorough look through the car and I was subjected to a body search (I needed a cigarette afterward!). In fairness they were quite pleasant asking which football team I supported. When I mentioned Tottenham ... read more