Carnival - Schoolies Week on crack...


Advertisement
Published: February 24th 2014
Edit Blog Post

Blocos




From what I’ve seen so far, I’ve decided that Carnival is just Schoolies Week on crack. I've seen a lot of teenagers running around drunk and half naked. It’s a really positive vibe, but if I’m honest, it’s not really my scene. Give me a quiet beach or a hike any day. I know, it’s really sad to say - but it’s true.

I’ve been to a few bloco parties…some by mistake and one on purpose. A bloco party is a street party where people walk behind a float playing loud music. There were literally thousands of people at the ones I’ve seen. Police close down the streets and everyone floods in.

I danced and walked in the first few I saw, but today I stood to the side and watched it all pass by. First, there was a wave of people dancing, singing and drinking down the street. Most people were dressed up to some degree - I saw Christmas elves, angels, cave men, Indiana Jones and the ones not dressed up were wearing festival wear. They were followed by the drums; a hundred people banging some pre-arranged rhythm in sync. Then, the float, which was a huge decorated bus carrying people with microphones singing (yelling) the same verse over and over again. Following the float was the rest of the people partying down the street. The rhythm is really catchy and you find yourself caught up in the crowd and energy really quickly, it’s a real festival vibe.

Interspersed in the crowd were lots and lots of small street vendors - mainly selling water, vodka and beer but also selling jelly tubes, icecream, tequila shorts (on trays with lemon and salt), plastic crowns, bunny ears, and shots of rum. I saw more men than women dressed up actually. After the parade passed by, there was an army of cleaners walking along behind with brooms and bins to clean up the mess. A very ordered event, considering.

Despite the overwhelming number of people in the street, I just can’t get over how courteous and polite the Brazillians are. There is a real community vibe here. I saw people picking up money for other people who had dropped it, every time I came up next to someone they immediately let me through first and people were just unbelievably kind and patient with each other, despite the mosh pit environment. I never ended up finding the people I was supposed to be meeting there, but I had a fantastic time none-the-less. Despite having to come home and nap – might have had a vodka or two… Like I said, it was really fun, but not something I’d want to do every day.



My feijoada experience




The other day, I found a nice little restaurant at Copacabana and sat down for a bite of lunch, as you do. On the menu was a traditional Brazillian dish called feijoada. It was described as one of the chef’s specialties and cost $15….Being the seasoned traveller that I am (not), I decided to try it, although I had no idea what it was. When I ordered it, the waiter rolled his eyes….which I thought nothing of, until the food came out….

First, he brought me a shot (I have no idea what it was – but I think it might have been to prepare me for what happened next), then a plate of oranges, then a plate of rice, then a plate of pork crackling and some white flour stuff and then a plate of some green spinach stuff and, finally, a huge dish of stew...and, not just any kind of stew. Stew made with beans, and feet, and ears, and all kinds of fatty parts of meat that I didn’t even know existed on an animal. I am proud to say I tried everything. I am honest enough also to say that I will never eat it again.

It was actually totally embarrassing, I was that stupid white non-portuguese speaking traveller girl sitting by herself at a restaurant with a huge table of food. The waiter and I actually had a big laugh about it, and he tried to bring me more alcohol. Moral of the story – go with the flow, but don’t be surprised if the flow is totally gross.



Jardim Botanico




Went to the Jardim Botanico (Botanical gardens) the other day, and spent a really nice three hours wandering around and taking photos of things. It was a really lovely place, with a great view of the Cristo Redenter’s back (that wasn’t meant to sound sarcastic). It’s a beautiful place, but if you only have a few days in Rio its probably not somewhere you HAVE to go, it’s really just a beautiful botanical gardens. I caught the bus there, for $1.50, and it was pretty easy to work out where to go. The ride there took me about 15-20minutes but going home – traffic was terrible. It was 4 pm, and it was literally bumper-to-bumper for miles. Apparently the Mayor has closed down a major road recently, because he wanted to turn it into an underpass, but as a result he has cut off a major vein to the city and the traffic in Rio is really appalling now. I hear that it was always bad, but now it’s just terrible! It is going to be a nightmare for the World Cup. The way home took an hour and the bus was jam-packed. When I got up to leave, we went past three stops (stopping at every one) before I could get close enough to the door to get off. When I got off the bus, my bag was unzipped (little bastards) but no one got anything because I have this awesome new shoulder bag I bought from the market which you have to unzip, unclasp and fold over to get into….hence, no shifty little fingers got in there. It was a reminder about being careful though…



Beach Hike




Also went on a beach hike to a place near another beach called Barra. I don’t remember the name of the place we went to though. The tour guide picked me up from my place and drove me and the other two tourists through bumper-to-bumper traffic for a few hours until we arrived in this little fishing town next to a beautiful beach. There were a lot of people selling freshly caught seafood and restaurants consisting of plastic tables and chairs positioned in abandoned buildings. In other words, it was real nice. The kind of place you would visit for a day or two and wake up 2 months later…

We hiked for a couple of hours, through a favela (which had satellite dishes on the houses!) and into a national park. We took a break on a rock that had a beautiful view of the coastline leading back to Rio proper and continued on to a ‘wild beach’ that you could only reach through the jungle. It was nice. We even saw a turtle, but it was dead….and smelly…

Met a little travel buddie on the tour, a Sydney-sider who had just spent three weeks in Mexico. We had a few laughs and decided to head to Christ the Redeemer together the next morning…


Christ the Redeemer




At the risk of saying something everyone already knows, Christ the Redeemer is that big statue of Christ you see in all the pictures of Brazil. It sits on Corvocado mountain and you can see it from almost anywhere in Rio during the day or night (when its lit up). So, of course, I had to tick it off the list. Maxine and I caught a taxi to the base of the mountain and caught a train up to Christo. While on the train, we met another Aussie, Mimi, who is spending the next 9 months travelling South America (sound familiar?) Needless to say, we all hit it off and spent the next few days together. J The statue itself was really impressive and I was really quite moved by it…being not religious, that surprised me. It’s hard to describe, but its almost like a father figure standing watch over Rio…kinda nice…

Anyway, tomorrow morning I’m off to Ilha Grande, an Island a few hours away. Its quite underdeveloped, and has no ATMs or night life. I’m not too sure what the electricity will be like where we are staying, let alone the Wifi, so I might be out of range until I get home on Thursday.

Till next time,



L

Advertisement



24th February 2014

Amazing Lauren!! Your so brave to go and travel on your own. Extremely proud of you and love reading about your experience :)
28th February 2014

Thanks Paula, I love seeing the piccies of your little bump getting bigger and bigger! Can't wait to meet the lil one... xx

Tot: 0.108s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 9; qc: 53; dbt: 0.0536s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb