Bye bye Zaandam , it's Rio's turn


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South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro
November 2nd 2017
Published: November 2nd 2017
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Zaandam Zaandam Zaandam

In my defence, I almost always took the stairs!
Busy night in the Crowsnest Lounge , it was the ships Hallowe'en party. Surprisingly , quite a number of pretty good costumes.



2 hour delay disembarking in Rio. Seems the Brazilian authorities were not happy with something. We carried off our bags and it was an easy operation. We were not able to book the Latam Air flight to Miami as Air Canada does not have a reciprocal agreement with them. Next closest time would be 2140 with American to Miami or United to Houston and then later , Delta to Atlanta. Joined Jit and Manju at their hotel on Copacabana Beach for the day. Walked around like a couple tourists. Beautiful views , nice beach with white sand and good looking surf. Had lunch on the beach and were accosted by a record number of street vendors. Someone looking to accept our money for almost anything you could imagine. Nice sand sculptures but they wanted a fee for,taking photo's. Best deal was the dude who dropped off a small sample of roasted nuts on our table. Nice of him , right! Now if you tasted them , when he came back minutes later , he would want
TalentTalentTalent

Amazing graffiti
to be paid. Seen his skit before. Tried this on us 3 times. Guess he forgot our indifference. Then a guy wandered around singing something indiscernible and wanted a payment. Told him I thought his performance was awful!



Oh , lunch was surprisingly good. Tried fried sardines for the first time! Kathy wanted to call Sugar Loaf Mountain , Candy Loaf , this made everyone giggle. Jit's explaining her reasoning was even funnier. We felt that Rio has a spectacular setting , and a very upbeat "beach vibe". Busy, busy place! We also got a look at some of the other side and the infrastructure , pretty shabby. We were told not to go into any of the favela's ( slum areas) as we would not be safe.



Nice cab to the airport, but in rush hour. Felt bad for the driver. Over an hour and the fare was only 32 USD. People selling snacks all along the traffic , like right in the traffic! Drinks , coconuts , chips , candies. What an enterprising society. Never did see anyone actually buying from them. They looked like garnished Christmas trees with all the product
CopaCopaCopa

Famous walkway! The Wave a Walk.
hanging from them. We are talking hundreds of sellers.



Biggest/nicest Duty Free shops of any airport I have been through. First class airport.

Kate bought a Rio Starbucks mug so that was all she needed.



Got seats on the Delta flight to Atlanta. That's where we are now. Delta used to run a very classy operation. Nice aircraft , 767-400ER. They poured a glass of wine to go along with the crud they served so that was okay.



Thanks for reading about our adventures! Hope you enjoyed some of the stories.


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Ahh.Ahh.
Ahh.

Kept singing Barry Manalows Copa song!
Vendors Vendors
Vendors

I couldn't believe they were in the middle of the highway with cars going 80 km!


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