Flamengo - get in!!! Wednesday 27th Feb 2008

Trip Start Feb 11, 2008
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Trip End Ongoing


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Where I stayed
Girl from Ipanema
(Rio de Janeiro hotels)

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Sunday, March 2, 2008

Excellent day! Started with a trip to Sugar Loaf mountain in Urca. There are two viewpoints, first Urca hill and then further up to Sugar Loaf, both reached by cable car. We were greeted with spectacular views of the city - we could see the Christ and all of the beaches, Copacabana, Flamengo, Vermelha, and the cute Botofogo bay, which is dotted with boats. Again, we were lucky as the sky was clear blue.
When we arrived back down at the bottom, we checked out Vermelha beach, which was rated highly in the guide book but although quiet and relaxed, it was very littered and the waves were churning like a dirty washing machine! We decided to try and find another little beach, which we'd spotted while looking down from Sugar Loaf. After about a 20 minute walk, we found what we discovered to be Urca beach, with the Sugar Loaf mountain as a backdrop. It's a small, pretty beach with very calm waters, unlike all of the other beaches we've been to in Rio. It wasn't very busy either so we enjoyed lazing by the shore for a while before getting the bus back.
In the evening we went on an organised trip to the football. Football matches are very accessible and cheap in Brazil, unlike the UK, which is great for the football mad locals. To Brazilians, football is life and it's not surprising that they have won the world cup five times as they have some world class players. We went to world famous stadium, Maracana, and watched local team, Flamengo, beat Peruvian team, Cienciano 2:1 in the Libertadores 2008 competition, which is the South America/Latin America equivalent to the Euro Championships. The stadium holds 90,000 but tonight there were about 50,000. Flamengo is the largest supported football team in the world, with 32 million supporters in Brazil. They had just won another important cup a few days ago and so the fans were in high spirits. I've never been to a football match before but my first experience was wild! They fans were so passionate, singing and chanting, waving massive flags, beating drums, shaking white, red and black balloons (team colours) and even letting fireworks off in the crowd! I was slightly nervous that I'd end up with a firework on my head! It was an amazing experience and not really being a huge football fan myself, I couldn't help submerge myself in the excitement and passion around me and even cheered when Flamengo scored! The crowd went wild when they scored - it was an experience that will stay with me for sure!
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