Rio Carnival 2012

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We´ve left it quite late to start the blog so have a lot to fit in! We arrived around 9am to a very hot Rio on the first day of the carnival, after a surprisingly easy 12 hour flight from Rome. Our hostel, Cafe Rio Hostel, is in Laranjeiras an area about 20 minutes from the main beaches. Luckily, our hostel is also just around the corner from the train up to Christ the Redeemer, so we managed to walk and see the statue before our bags could be checked in at 2. The views from the top were incredible, however it was a fairly quick trip as Hayden´s fear of heights took over when helicopters came extremely close to us so we headed back down after taking a few more photos.

Our first two days involved beaches and blocos (carnival street parties)! The beaches are beautiful; white sands and huge waves. Our first bloco was the biggest in Rio, 400,000 people head Ipanema beach to drink and dance. We headed down about an hour early to catch the sunset, which is one of the things really not to be missed in Rio! It´s amazing hearing the music in the distance and gradually seeing a bloco head towards you! We joined in the huge party for a few hours, and it wasn´t until we decided to head back that we realised the streets surrounding the beach had quickly filled with hundreds of very drunk people & the hour bus journey back to our hostel wasn´t the best!

Our third day was much more relaxed, spending the day on the beach and the evening at a local Brazilian restaurant (Toca do Juca). The language barrier has definitely been hard at times! We made note of a few of the local dishes but most of the time we´ve had no idea what we´re ordering, although it´s always been lovely!

We also visited a really nice bar called Palaphita Kitch in Ipenema overlooking the lake (Lagoa). We watched the sunset over the mountains with the most amazing view! It was a little pricey, but worth getting a couple of drinks just for the views!

The highlight of our fourth day was the bloco that took place right outside our hostel! We were woken by a very excited hostel owner at 8.30am to have a quick breakfast and head out to join the carnival. The street is fairly narrow so soon filled with thousands of people, creating a tremendous noise of music and singing. The atmosphere was excellent, with a lot more dancing and singing, and a lot less throwing up on the street! A nice intimate vibe compared to the giant bloco of Ipenema. Our hostel balcony meant that we could all escape to the hostel at times to watch the people below. We have many photos of all of the crazy costumes!

On our final day in Rio we visited Santa Teresta and Lapa, very vibrant and cultural areas. We visited the famous steps and Lapa arches in these areas which was thirsty work, so treated ourselves to a drink and some snacks. On offer were various pastries filled with shrimp, jerk beef, chicken and various other fillings. They were very cheap and VERY delicious! We also spent that night in Lapa with the rest of our hostel, drinking cheap drinks available on the side of the road and dancing in the street!

Rio has been incredible, even better than we expected. At carnival time it is definitely busy but it's such a great experience, and we still managed to do all of the touristy things!

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