Favelas, Football and The Rolling Stones
After weeks of anticipation we are finally in Rio. Our arrival in Brazil was marked with chaos almost immediately. After gettting through the enormous immigration queue we tried to find our luggage in a baggage hall full of people trying to get out of the airport and many carousels with no bagged on them. After some enquiry we established that our luggage would arrive on carousel 7. This actually meant, lying somewhere abandoned on the floor in the corner of the room!
Bags in hand we took a bus into Rio which was slow but non eventful. Got our first sight of some of the favelas and the more seedy parts of town before arriving at our hostel which shares a street with Cartier and ]other very exclusive shops. It seems Ipanema is the Knightsbridge of Rio. The hostel is lovely with pool, bar and plenty of nice people (unfortunatley nearly all from London!).
After we had settled in we spent our first day on the beach. Despite the hassle of people trying to sell you things every 5 minutes it is a stunning place to be. Feeling slightly security concious we decided to attach our bag to the sunlounger. As we got up to leave (after arguing with the vendor about the cost of the said lounger) we realised the bag was permanently attached! Thankfully we were not too far from the hostel so I ran back and grabbed our penknife (thanks everyone at AMA!!) to set us free.
Next day we decided to negotiate the buses. I had never actually envisaged how big Rio actually is, so everything takes ages. We went first to Santa Theresa, a beautiful cobbled hill where everyone travels by streetcar, and then up to Christ the Redeemer. Of course, having no idea of the distance involved we did not realise we had signed up for a 40 minute hike up a mountain, to then find we still had to take a minibus to get to the top. Thankfully en route we had met a nice Danish family with better command of Portugese who took us under their wing and made sure we got to the top. Apparently the views of Rio are stunning, but unfortunately it was a little too cloudy so we didnt get to see the full panorama. Finding yourself sailing upwards above the trees in a glass elevator to get to the statue was pretty amazing however.
The last couple of days we have been taking things a little more easy, doing some shopping, cooking and lots and lots of walking. Today we hope to go to a favela (our hostel runs tours) and tomorrow to a football match. In the evening the Rolling Stones are playing for free on Copacabana beach´. Nearly 2 million people are expected so I am sure it will be a little crazy! Then on Sunday we leave Rio and travel up the northeast coast towards Salvador for Carnaval.
February 20th, 2006 at 6:31 pm
Hi there! Sounds totally fantabulous. Just in case wondering about us here in KT, here’s a snapshot. Just working on a proposal. Freezing, wet, windy, grey skies today. Rained hard nearly all weekend in London. Everything a bit messy and chaotic here today - had floor sanders in at w/end so filing cabinets all scattered, cables unplugged and snaking around, walking around barefoot in case varnish tacky. I could go on … Glad that Swiss army knife came in handy. Ciao for now.