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Rio de Janeiro
So we arrived in one very hot and sticky Rio on Wednesday 11th of February and made our way to the area of Catete where we were staying. Our first few days of what was going to be an extremely short jaunt into Brazil, had been on a non stop bus journey up from Foz de Iguacu. The highlight of which was the frequent stops at service stations, with huge pay per kilo buffets, fresh fruit juices and delightfully unhealthy fried pastries.
Our first day in Rio was spent exploring the Centro, trying, and failing miserably to make ourselves understood in Portuguese, and silently praying for the gloomy looking clouds overhead to go away. Alas it wasn't to be, and that night the heavens opened, and what seemed to be months worth of rain came from the sky and flooded the streets, somewhat stranding us in our hostel. The one thing I thought might be guaranteed on our trip, and what I'd been looking forward to for ages, was a sun bathed trip to Ipanema beach, but the rain came, and was to stay with us pretty much all of the time we were in Brazil. With constant rain and clouds we put off a trip to the key sights like the famous sugar loaf mountain - Pao de Azucar, and the statue of Cristo de Redentor, in the hope of a sunny day. Instead we spent our days exploring the shopping streets of Ipanema, visiting various sights and going out in the area of Lapa to see an ace Samba band and join in with the crazy street party.
Food remained a highlight in the rainy days (as ever for me) and we enjoyed sticks of grilled cheese covered in Oregano, huge Prato Feito lunches; plates piled high with rice, beans, meat, and feijao, and amazing fruit shakes. When we did finally make it into Ipanema beach, there was a Carnaval procession making its way rowdily along the main street, with lots of the followers using the beach as a big open air bathroom. But even despite this, the beach was breathtaking, and down by the edge where the huge waves crashed against the white sand, we were the only people.
Alas our time was nearing an end in Rio and the sun still wasn't shining so we decided to head up to the statue of Christ early on our last morning, the clouds cleared enough for us to see the bays of Rio, with the islands out at sea, and the view was amazing. Surrounded by 100's of people standing around with their arms splayed for a photo op, we decided to join in. At last the sun came out as we visited the beach of Catete. We finished the afternoon with some friends from the hostel, going to Maracana football stadium to watch a match between Botofogo and Flamengo. As we left Rio the sun was shining and the atmosphere was already heightened in preparation for Carnaval, but we were headed for Salvador further North where we'd heard the party was even better!
So we arrived in one very hot and sticky Rio on Wednesday 11th of February and made our way to the area of Catete where we were staying. Our first few days of what was going to be an extremely short jaunt into Brazil, had been on a non stop bus journey up from Foz de Iguacu. The highlight of which was the frequent stops at service stations, with huge pay per kilo buffets, fresh fruit juices and delightfully unhealthy fried pastries.
Our first day in Rio was spent exploring the Centro, trying, and failing miserably to make ourselves understood in Portuguese, and silently praying for the gloomy looking clouds overhead to go away. Alas it wasn't to be, and that night the heavens opened, and what seemed to be months worth of rain came from the sky and flooded the streets, somewhat stranding us in our hostel. The one thing I thought might be guaranteed on our trip, and what I'd been looking forward to for ages, was a sun bathed trip to Ipanema beach, but the rain came, and was to stay with us pretty much all of the time we were in Brazil. With constant rain and clouds we put off a trip to the key sights like the famous sugar loaf mountain - Pao de Azucar, and the statue of Cristo de Redentor, in the hope of a sunny day. Instead we spent our days exploring the shopping streets of Ipanema, visiting various sights and going out in the area of Lapa to see an ace Samba band and join in with the crazy street party.
Food remained a highlight in the rainy days (as ever for me) and we enjoyed sticks of grilled cheese covered in Oregano, huge Prato Feito lunches; plates piled high with rice, beans, meat, and feijao, and amazing fruit shakes. When we did finally make it into Ipanema beach, there was a Carnaval procession making its way rowdily along the main street, with lots of the followers using the beach as a big open air bathroom. But even despite this, the beach was breathtaking, and down by the edge where the huge waves crashed against the white sand, we were the only people.
Alas our time was nearing an end in Rio and the sun still wasn't shining so we decided to head up to the statue of Christ early on our last morning, the clouds cleared enough for us to see the bays of Rio, with the islands out at sea, and the view was amazing. Surrounded by 100's of people standing around with their arms splayed for a photo op, we decided to join in. At last the sun came out as we visited the beach of Catete. We finished the afternoon with some friends from the hostel, going to Maracana football stadium to watch a match between Botofogo and Flamengo. As we left Rio the sun was shining and the atmosphere was already heightened in preparation for Carnaval, but we were headed for Salvador further North where we'd heard the party was even better!
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