Rio

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What is the first thing you should do after arriving in Rio after a sleepless 24 hour bus journey? Yeah, that’s right; head down to Ipanema beach for a few beers in a pre carnival parade and then go to a samba school until 4 in the morning.

We flung ourselves into Rio and it didn’t really stop for the next 5 days. It didn’t really start too well. We got there mid afternoon after spending 24 hours on the hottest bus ever (the only way to deal with it was not to move - seriously!), to find that the hostel was double booked, and we’d been allocated a bed in the owner’s mate’s flat. The flat itself was fine, but the fact that the mate and his other mate were now both sleeping on the couch was a bit strange. After resolving ourselves that we’d find somewhere else the next day, we made a short 5 minute walk to Ipanema and found ourselves in the middle of a parade. We’ve no idea what it was about, but it definitely had a gay feel to it. Perhaps the big hairy camp bloke dressed as Amy Winehouse gave it away! It was basically lots of people dancing behind a few bands, so we got a few beers from the beer lorry that dissected the parade and watched from the side.

Samba

The parade went on for a fair while, so we took our first walk along Ipanema beach as the sun set. Rio definitely had a buzz about it. Later that night we checked out some of the hostels to see if they had space for the next day and ended up going to a Samba school to see their rehearsals for the carnival in 10 days time. The school was called Mangueira. It was out in one of the favellas, so when 20 mostly young white tourists hopped out of a minivan, we were fairly conspicuous. The atmosphere was really good though. All around the samba school were makeshift bars selling food and gorgeous, strong and very cheap caipirinhas. The inside of the school can only be compared to a bigger version of the infamous Ruebens in Leigh. For those of you unlucky enough not to have visited this institution, a central dancefloor is surrounded by bars and chairs at the bottom and balconies above.

The evening consisted of the dancers practicing their moves. The dancers were shepherded around by an older bloke in a loud shirt with a whistle, but to the untrained eye it all seemed a little chaotic. On one of the balconies above, about 30 drummers thumped out rhythms whilst a couple of singers nearby corralled the crowd in singing Mangueira’s carnival song. Unfortunately we can’t recite it or tell you what it said! Then at a certain stage of the rehearsal it became a free for all and we found ourselves in the middle of the dance floor, frantically trying to move our feet as quickly as the far better Brazilians beside us. Needless to say we failed, but at least we had a go. The locals must’ve appreciated the effort, as an older lady took a shine to us and fed us cheese on a stick and gave us free beers. She was a proper matriarch though, and bossed all of her relatives around. Particularly the young girls who were getting eyed up by the local boys. The best comparison might be a Brazilian Peggy Mitchell, but her warmth was something that came to characterise the Brazilian people we met throughout the trip.

Needless to say the next day we were knackered. After eventually rolling out of bed we managed to check into another hostel and give the blokes their bed back. The hostel was aptly named the Girl from Ipanema. By the time everything was sorted we really didn’t have much time to do anything. I’d persuaded Lynne that we should go to watch a footy game at the Maracana that evening, particularly because it was a Rio derby. So we hit the beach for a couple of hours.

My god, Sunday afternoon on Ipanema beach is horrendous! There were that many people on it, you really couldn’t tell if the beach existed. We managed to squeeze our sun umbrella into a free space towards the back of the beach, but getting down to the water took 10 minutes as you zig zagged past families, gay men checking each other out, lots of toned bodies and piles of rubbish. It was completely different from the night before and far from the picture you imagine when you think of Ipanema. Fortunately, it must just be a weekend thing, as later in the week it was far more relaxing.

The football game at the Maracana was between Vasco (in black and white) and Fluminense (in green, white and red and nicknamed “the tricolours”). It was a great experience. A bit like going to the Britannia but not as good football. Even though the stadium was about half full (only about 50,000!), the crowd created a cracking atmosphere. Unlike in England most of the crowd were in the ground half an hour before the game and started to chant, bounce around and clap in unison. We were in a mixed area along the side, so got a good view of the hardcore fans at either end. Unfortunately, the quality of the football didn’t live up to the crowd. The finishing was pretty awful. The match finished 0-0, so we never got to experience a Brazilian “mental”, but I can imagine it would be something to see! We’ve even gone technologically upmarket and bought a USB cable for the phone so we now have videos of the crowd!

Over the next few days we got stuck in to being real Rio tourists. We did a walking tour of central Rio and saw some fabulous colonial buildings that we’d never expected. We visited the modernist Cathedral. It is pretty hideous from the outside, but once inside the massive stained glass windows create a real sense of peace. We also took the old tram to Santa Teresa. From here you get great vistas of Christ the Redeemer, framed by favela houses sprawling up the hills. We didn’t know it at the time, but it is an area renowned for robberies with a Spanish couple we met being robbed at knife point on their first day there. Fortunately, we returned with everything in tact and some good pictures.

The following day we took one of the local buses to Cosme Velho, to see Cristo Redentor. The buses in Rio are driven by madmen who must think they’re world rally champions as they fling their passengers from one side of the bus to the other. Still, they’re cheap. From the bus stop we got the cog train up the mountain, hoping for fabulous views of the statue and Rio below. Oh, how wrong we were! As we ascended the escalator to the viewing platforms, all we could see were the creases of his gown. Anything above the waist was covered in thick cloud despite it being a lovely sunny day below. Christ the Redeemer was the one thing in Rio Lynne was desperate to see. She was not happy!!!

We waited for a long time, crossing everything in the hope the cloud would clear. Lynne’s mood didn’t improve until there was a momentary break in the cloud and the face of Christ was revealed. The fact the statue was shrouded in cloud and backlit by the sun gave the moment of revelation a strangely mysterious feel. The detail of the statue is incredible but also a fantastic feat of engineering. It definitely doesn’t disappoint and it is a remarkable symbol for the city.

To complete the tourist sights we made it to Sugar Loaf mountain on our penultimate day in Rio. The day couldn’t have been more different to our time at Christ the Redeemer. The sky was perfectly blue and the sun scorching. The view from the top is superb. You get to see all sides of Rio, even the planes banking in to land at the domestic airport. It was also a special day as we found out Gus and Sarah had just had a baby girl, called Emily Alice. We thought we’d mark her birth with various photos around Rio. We also had a walk along Copacabana beach. There is nothing wrong with it, but we can’t say it has the allure that the song suggests it once did. (Although Lynne thinks the song is about a nightclub not a beach - I don´t know the words so can´t say?)

Our six days in Rio were great. We managed to avoid all the horror stories of muggings etc by just being careful. We even didn’t have anything nicked off the beach when we went for a swim. Rio is a pretty full on destination. On the bus to Ouro Preto we realised just how knackering it had been. Rio was particularly busy because carnival was close and so our hostel options were lacking, and everything was expensive. For all the hostel’s plus points (like loads of information), sleeping was like sleeping in an oven. The ceiling fan did absolutely nothing. Lynne blowing in my face would have been more refreshing! Our advice would be to splash out on the aircon. You won’t regret it!

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Photos

Vote for Mangueria
They didn't actually do very well

The view from Sugar Loaf
Copacabana to the left

Ipanema
Not on a Sunday!