California Othon Classic Rio de Janeiro

... 9% of the time- it&#8217;s amazing all the time&#8230; you do the math!<br>After the first couple of days we grew more accustomed to the busy life of Rio. We found our routes, chose our favorite foods, and knew which people were approachable. Our Portuguese grew stronger, and we found the conversations that we accessible through our well established Spanglish.<br>On Friday we decided to go to Impanema Beach. It was just as beautiful as Copacabana, if not even more ...

... by the African locals reclaiming their land by using deadly violence. After growing up the rest of her childhood in South Africa she moved out on her own to Dubai, UAE and has been working her butt off at BMG and other music type vendors. I've heard that UAE is incredibly expensive to leave in and also under intense scrutiny and strict rules, but the flip side seems that you can earn a small fortune for dealing with these facts. Unfortunately the economy hit ...

... alot of guys running and a few doing chin ups but I thought it would be much more poserish. Ipanema is meant to be one of the most stunning beaches in the world and I can see why - there is a back drop to one side of mountains which is gorgeous.<br><br>On the way back to the hotel we saw a black guy with an Ireland t-shirt on him - bizzare! He came out coz he ...

... poorer area. As soon as we all got out of the cab the guy in front of me got his watch stolen and his wallet pick pocketed. It was very crazy. Every Friday night they have a massive street party there and there were so many people about. There were a group of drummers playing samba beats and people dancing about them. It was very cool, but you still had to be on your guard. We found a very good Caprihina stand and had a drink before we went in ...

... like that one in many of them <br><br>Appart from these two nights the rest of the days went by with blocos more or less funny and meetings with couchsurfing people more or less boring. I dont mean to sound negative, it is a huge party sure, but, at least for me, there was something missing. Maybe I have to try again, another reason to come back to Rio.<br><br><br><br>

... party happenin'! It was absolutely bombastic! the hall was packed with people, and I mean Packet! over one hundred musicians mainly plain all kinds of percussion instruments (if you can call them instruments) and the beat was just captivating.. you couldn't help moving your hips and feet. we stayed till around 3am. I didn't take my camera but my friend did. So I will post pictures once I get them from him.

... there is a lift and then escalator to the top and although there were quite a lot of people there, there was room for all of us to see and "Ooh" and "Aah". We looked at the view of the statue and Rio from every angle and direction and then took up position at a table overlooking all of this for a cup of coffee before heading back to the train. This was where I had another very positive reaction to my white cane, the ...

... to politely decline all the people shouting "AMIGOS! CHAIRS!" at the top of their lungs. <br><br>It got a bit much after the 12th offer inside a minute, so we tried to charter a route down the beach which would take us nowhere near any of them. Easier said than done ;) <br><br> <br><br>As you can see it wasn't a good beach ...

... city, and the bay from up there. It was really relaxing to watch the sun go down and the city light up. Favelas were scattered all over random mountainsides. Statue is 127 feet high and faces the city with arms outstretched. I got a little picture happy so you can get up close and personal with Christ when I get home. <br> <br>Was escorted to the hippie fair (outdoor Sunday market) this morning before spending a long while at the Amazon Botanical Gardens and then ...