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WHEN MY BABY...WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME I GO TO RIO...DE JANEIRO!!!!!!!
After a relaxing ferry ride from Ilhe Grande and then another interesting bus ride where I sang Peter Allen and Barry Manilow songs about Rio all the way....at the Copa Copacobana...you know the rest of it...I arrived in Rio De Janeiro full of excitement about getting to actually explore this city and try not to get anything stolen. I had met a couple of Aussie guys, one who had been there already, so things were easy to start with because I just followed him into a taxi and to our hostel. Being a tight arse and Brazil being expensive I chose the 24 bed dorm and thought that I'd see how it went. To fit all the beds in the bunks were stacked 3 high but luckily for all involved I managed to get a bottom one and avoid any unnecessary injuries over my stay there. So I had made it and there I was at the hostel full of stories of people being mugged and how dangerous Rio was and as a result was a little nervous about wandering around outside and concerned I might
Views from the Sugar Loaf
Andrea and Me looking out towards Rio de Janeirotake a wrong turn, not a good thing for a lone Aussie girl. After a while I gathered my confidence and figured that day light was the best time and I headed out into the great city that Rio is. I loved it straight away and I don't believe that there is any real need to be worried as long as you are not stupid. First mission was to find myself a new pair of thongs, and what better place to be than the home of Havianas! Not a problem getting them here the only problem is chosing which ones you want as there was shops full of them in all sorts of colours, shapes and sizes.....decided I'd go with Brazil colours and now I was sorted. Unfortunately the weather wasn't as favourable as it could be for the first few days, you know beautiful blue skies that you see in the postcards, so seeing the surrounding hills that Rio is famous for was not that easy. Saying that though it didn't seem to deter the locals from getting out in all their glory to parade around on Copacobana and Impanema beaches. Let's just say that the Brazilians seem to
The Christ Redeemer
The Christ Redeemer statue covered in cloud but giving a bit of mystery believe that less is better regardless of what body shape you are....men of all ages and body shapes were parading around in speedo short things which as we all know don't hide a great deal....and the women were no different with bikinis covering just the necessary bits. It's no wonder that they have had to invent the Brazilian wax otherwise things could be getting real ugly down on the beaches here!!!!!! I was going to buy a new pair of bathers but thought I should be getting more for my money and didn't want to course anyone else any kind of embarrassment. Even though there were a few scary sights it was actually great to see people just getting out there and not worrying about their bodies and embracing what ever shape they are. Anyway the beaches actually were really nice for city beaches, I would go as far as saying possibly the best city beaches I have seen other than a few goodies in Oz, and there was always lots of people watching material. Along the back of the beach they have numourous beach volley ball nets and soccer goals set up and people are constantly playing aswell as
Copacabana Beach
A vendor working hard on the beach selling bikinis some form of hand ball. They have their own brand of beach volley ball which consists of a blend of soccer skills and beach volley ball skills, very entertaining to watch. There is no wonder that Brazil has the best soccer team in the world as everyone was playing constantly, no one seemed to work, and I must admit that there were lots of fellas there that weren't looking too shabby either.......nice tanned fit looking bodies and the nice tight speedo shorts to top it off!!!! There was also a constant stream of people running, cycling, walking etc along the esplanade, people doing weight work outs at the public gym at the side of the beach, lots of people checking themselves out and a whole lot of people so concerned about their appearance that they seemed obsessed by it. Just a little bit of trivia for you...plastic surgeons in Rio are the highest paid professionals and it's not uncommon for young girls to take the money they get when turning 18 and put it into their bodies in the shape of big boobs. Anyway I cruised around the beaches for a day and just people watched and along with the
Copacabana Beach
Another vendor working hard on the beach selling rubber balls! beautiful people I saw the other side of Rio and that is the poor people. There seems to be a massive gap between the upper class and the lower class in this country, more so than I saw in Argentina or Chile. These are the people who probably live in the favelas (the slums) and who work damned harm at making a living. They are the people who spend all day on the beach trying to sell you anything from sarongs, jewellery, bathers, beach balls, cold beer, caiprihinhas, hats and anything else that they think you might want. They walk up and down the beach in the heat and soft sand and are constantly asking you if you want something. It's one thing that I noticed a lot in Brazil is that along with all the beautiful people who seem not to have to work there is a lot of people who work very hard to make ends meet.
The hostel I stayed in was in Copacobana so I spent most of my time around that area, which is safe for us tourists until late at night. One of my favourite things about Rio was the countless juice shops
Copacabana Beach
Men playing their style of volley ball which combines volleyball and soccer...of course they are wearing their little speedo shorts! that lined the streets...no photo as was to concerned to pull my camera out....where you could get my favourite açai or any type of juice straight up along with all sorts of snacks like omeletes, burgers, empanada style things and then just stand at the counter and eat or drink your order. Other things that took my fancy were the people who seemed to always be happy and smiling, lovely green hills when I saw them, island like way of life, very proud and patriotic people, passionate people, the ingenous ways of making money like the young boy standing in front of cars at red lights juggling blind folded (he was great), the short amount of time it took vendors to get umbrellas out to sell when it started to rain (all of 10 mins), havianas, football, brazilian style volley/soccer ball, small bars everywhere were people are enjoying beers as early as 9am, samba, the beaches, the surfers, the mountains, the dodgy people, the fruit and veges, people fully set up with card tables playing random games of cards in the street and the amount of people wearing the country colours in all shapes and forms.
So since they
tell me that Rio is one of the party capitals of the world I decided that I should go out and check out this rumour. Not really into going to one of the clubs and the one recommendation that I got from Bluey I was told was full of prostitutes and a place that males might like more - thanks Bluey again for another great tip!!!!! Every Friday night in a part of Rio called Lapa they have a street party. What this entails is a lot of people decending in the area, the bars opening their doors, the streets for blocks filled with people, samba music plays, if you can shake it you do if you can´t you still try, you can buy beers on the street, get yourself a shot of dodgy tequila for quite cheap, of course there are people trying to sell all sorts, it´s full of dodgy people and as the night goes on it gets seedier and seedier. I arrived at Lapa with a group of about 7 guys so I felt completely safe the whole time, now I look back none of them could probably helped me out if needed anyway, but I
had a great night drinking watered down tequila which in the morning I was thankful for. Still in the middle of the city Rio had a island feel rather than a city feel and I loved just watching it all go by. By about 2am though more and more locals were falling over themselves and the joy of it all was wearing off as people started to talk shite and get a little friendlier. After jumping in a mini bus with some friends I got dropped off down the road from the hostel and was a little concerned as apparantly you´re not supposed to walk the streets at night right? Luckily and in true Brazilian fashion a lovely young man who lived in the same area and was on my bus walked me home and made sure that I got there safely - see mum I´m responsible!
I guess when you go to a place like Rio it´s kind of obligatory to do some sight seeing. I did go and visit a favela (a slum, more about that later), have an experience of a lifetime watching a game of football (more about that later aswell) and managed to get
Havaianas Thongs
The national footwear one nice sunny morning to go and see Rio from the Sugar Loaf. The Sugar Loaf is this massive rock that was pushed up from the earth however many years ago because of volcanic action and now sits out from the mainland a little and gives great views of the city. Some people say that Rio is the most beautiful city in the world, not sure about the first ranking, but I will agree that it is stunning and I was thankful to be able to see it even if jut for a few hours. The Christ Redeemer that stands on a hill, which no doubt you all will recognise, and is able to be seen from most places in the city, spent most of the time hidden behind clouds while I was there. I did get the chance to see it a few times but the day I decided to head up the hill to see it at close range the clouds decided to come on in. The morning was great so I was hopefully that the weather might hold out, but no, I could barely see the top of the christ and definately couldn´t see any of the
Impanema Beach
Views of Impanema Beach apparantly amazing view that you get from there. Not too concerned about the Christ as I thought it held more mystery covered in clouds, see photo, but wished I could have seen the view. Also spent a morning in an area called Santa Teresa, which is the first area in Rio that was developed years ago when the Portuguese arrived. The buildings are old colonial and very beautiful and yet another different angle that Rio has.
After just 5 days in this incredible city it has left me wanting to spend more time to explore and just sit back and watch it all go by. I am intrigued by how it operates, the people and the general vibe that is Rio. Don´t think I could live here but could definately spend some time hanging out. I only scratched the surface and I definately liked what I saw and am extremely happy that I decided to come to Brazil even if it was only for a couple of weeks. I would come back for the juices and fresh fruit and veg alone and then there is all the other things......WHEN MY BABY.....WHEN MY BABY SMILES AT ME.....I GO TO RIO...DE
Views from the Sugar Loaf
Christ Redeemer on top of the mountain just coming out of the cloud JANEIRO!!!!!!!!
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