Blogs from Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, South America - page 4

Hi everyone! We have spent the last week in the amazing city of Rio! We have had the best time and are very sad to be leaving. We met up with 3 friends from uni so it was really nice to be in a bigger group. We had all booked to stay in a hostel in an area called Ipanema which is next to Copacabana. Its a lovely area with a shops, cafes, resturants and a main square. Our hostel is only 2 blocks from the beach so we have made good use of the close proximity! On our first full day (Friday 24th) we headed stright to the Christ the Redeemer statue which hits on Corcovado hill. We reached the top quite quickly and the views of the city were breathtaking. We learnt about the ... read more

After eighteen hours, two flights and numerous card games, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro. Driving through the city, directly to our left, cranes towered for miles, whilst to our right, favellas sprawled into the horizon eating up the hillside. The motorway became a clear indicator of the extreme wealth divide of a city in transition. Our first two nights were spent in the inner city area of Catate within walking distance of the Flamengo beach which became our first port of call. The beach, though not the biggest in Rio, lies in the shadow of Christ the Redeemer and overlooks Sugarloaf Mountain (affectionately re-christened "Sugar Hill Gang Mountain" by Pete). The views were truly spectacular despite the heaped cloads which hung heavy in the sky over the sea. As the weather improved on our second ... read more

Now we are at the end of our holiday which has been so good. We booked 2 different places to stay in Rio....the bad and the good. Our first 3 nights were up past the Sheraton near a favela (slum) and it looked so much better on the website...it had a pool and our delux room had sea views. In reality, our room contained a double bed and a broken DVD player. The pool was an empty jacuzi and breakfast was a toasted cheese and ham sandwich. Now we are at the well recommended Mango Tree. We ate one night in the favela and went there for groceries......it's quite safe if you don´t go too far. Tuesday The prettier side of Rio was seen with a city tour which included Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer), ... read more

Day 1: Landed in Rio yesterday morning and checked in to our hotel, eventually - wow the traffic is bad! Had a quick coconut to drink down on Ipanema Beach in the sun before jumping straight into the tourist trips. First up we visited Corcovado to marvel at the statue of Christ the Redeemer. It was excellent but really busy. The views into Rio were good although a little obscured by the haze. We then went passed the Maracana football stadium, closed while it's being upgraded for the world cup in 2014, into a cathedral, saw where the carnival parade takes place and onto Sugarloaf mountain. We rode the cable cars up to Sugarloaf mountain at sunset and the views of the city were truly spectacular. In the evening we sampled our first cervesa and capirinha ... read more

Heute ist Reisetag. Es geht nach Lissabon. Auf dem Weg zum Flughafen, habe ich auf einer Hotelterasse ein Kamerateam gesehen. Es wurde ein Interview mit Vin Diesel geführt, den ich erkannt habe. Wahrscheinlich Promotion für seinen neuen Film "Fast and Furious 5" der in Rio spielt und in Rio am Freitag Premiere hat. Am Flughafen gab es keine Probleme und der Flug ging pünktlich. ... read more