Carnival Magic

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Well today was the day that me and Fi had been eagerley anticipating since deciding that we would go travelling. Today we had tickets for the Sambadrome and we were due to watch the carnival and on Valentines day. It is a really good day for the both of us.

With the carnival not being until later on we decided we had to kill some time and there was only one thing that Fi wanted to do during the day. This was another visit to the beach. She is convinced that in order for her to come home with a good tan she must pospone all daily tours/excursions and just simply sunbathe.

This is of course makes the blog easier as there is only so mush you can write about sitting on the beach reading a book. We did get the met to the beach around 12ish after an early morning exaggerated lie in and lazt morning. We went to the Copacabana as it had been our favourite beach the day before. It was rather busy however as it was a festival weekend so it was very hard to find a suitable space to chill. We did eventually manage and even got ourselves a couple of chairs and an umbrella (which is essential given the heat).

We were therefore set for the next four to five hours. It did have a very holiday feel about it which i cant decide whether this is a good thing or not. I suppose its a good thing as you want to feel nice and relaxed.

After the heat of the sun had colled down and the evening nearly upon us it was time to go back and get readyfor our evenings nights out. After we had both got ready - Fiona looked stunning in her special carnival outfit! - we were on our way out to walk the 10 blocks to the Sambadrome. When passing reception we had the rather frustrating and dissappointing news that our valuables (money) which had been put away securly could not be accessed as the manager was not in and therefore they did not have the key. Gutted! This meant that unless we found a cash machine which we could get cash out on we only had 50 reais (roughly 18 pound) to spend throughout the evening. A little bit annoying as it meant we were on a budget and couldnt fully relax.

After the short 15 minute walk we had arrived safetly to the sambadrome and entered into sector 3 - our seats for the evening. Our seats were ideal as we were the second stand in on the sambadrome street. This meant we were at the begining which was the best place as you got the most action. At the back you had to wait for longer before the parrade gets to you.

The carnival started at 9 where we got to see our first samba school - Unio da Ilha.

By the way for anyone who is unaware carnival is a competition whereby different samba schools around Rio compete against each other. They get roughly an hour to parrade down the sambadrome street which is about 1km long. They get judged on the following; dancing, costumes, music, floats, storyline, theme, originality and timing.

The first school Unio was based around Dom Quihote and spanish novels. I was amazed as to the attention to detail and just the shear size of the parrade. They all use roughly 3000 people and have about 12 massive floats. As far as watching people dance it was quite an enjoyable hour watching this school and it gave us a glimpse of what was to come over the next seven hours.

The next samba school was called imperatriz and their theme was about religion and tolerance. It was quite a good parrade but it was not as entertaining as the first group. After this group had finish it was really only then that i thought about how long the night would be going on for. We were only a third of the way through and it was already nearly midnight!

The third group was called Unidos da Tujica. Their parrade was based arounf mystery. This was an outstanding parrade that was really entertaining to watch, they even had a float dedicated to batman, so instantly i could relate to it. All the locals seemed to love the music and showed us their full array of dance moves. So we were getting lessons both on the streets and in the crowd.

The next group Viradouro came at a really good time as they were not as good, infact they were probably the worst. This was a good thing though as it gave us just about an hour to sit down and rest our legs and refresh for the final two groups.

The final groups Salgueiro and Beija-Flor and as the history of results showed these two have been the most successful over the last 10 years. So we were fortunate to get to see them in action.

Both these parrades were very good and provided us with a fantastic ending to a wonderful evening. By the time we left the sambadrome it was just after 5.30 in the morning so the party had well and truely gone on into the early hours. So much so i was contemplating whether to get breakfast on the way home. I opted against it, instead chosing the comfort of a nice air conditioned room and a good sleep.

Today was the perfect valentines day and we had a really great day together. Carnival was amazing and a real once in a lifetime experience

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Comments

[Rob]

Nice!
Hey guys, thanks again for sharing your updates with us. The recent 4 or 5 entries have been a fun read once again. Glad you didn't get injured on the bikes and you set the ground rules in advance, very smart. The best part about your blogs is how real they are, some blogs are full of exaggerative b.s whereas I know this sounds wierd but its exciting that the truck brokedown and thar you were stuck without money, its real life at its finest. Keep it real ;o). I also love how you share updates about the local food eaten, lack of sleep, and rare showers. . . who thought travelling what be such a challenge eh! Anyways, love you both and safe travels and we'll your next updates. Rob and family.