A family in Ipanema
Trip Start
Oct 16, 2008
1
20
35
Trip End
Apr 16, 2009
Rio de Janeiro,
State of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Sunday, December 21, 2008
We arrived in Rio in the middle of the day and had a mild panic attack when only one of the backpacks came out from under the bus. But after a few minutes of sign language, we got the other side opened up and it was squished among the stuff that had been sent unaccompanied. We took a taxi to the hotel in Ipanema, and saw the Sambadrome and Copacabana on the way. After getting cleaned up we went out to get some lunch and found a lanchonete that was bursting at the seams with locals - we figured that was a good sign. We enjoyed enormous portions of very good food, everything is served with rice, beans, salad, fries, and fried maize, and a buzzing atmosphere to boot. Walking back we saw the plethora of juice bars, fruit for sale on the sidewalk, the mangoes, melons, papaya and pineapples all in season made the streets smell delicious.
After the obligatory post-bus siesta, we wandered down to the beach and got a coconut to drink - everybody else was doing it - purely for the novelty because none of us really likes it. We strolled along the boardwalk, watching people, admiring the mountains at the end of the beach, looking at the sunsent, trying to get used to the fact that we were actually in Rio de Janeiro.
The next day we took the metro into the centre of town to look for a bookshop that might have a Portuguese phrasebook, bought a couple of novels for Christmas reading. We saw the famous Candelaria church and stopped for a buffet lunch which had everything on it from sushi to schnitzel. We were also looking for an agency to book us some bus tickets so we woulnd't have to go back to the bus station prematurely. Hilarious waste of time, when we finally found them (not easy) they wanted to charge us $200 for a private taxi. When we got back to Ipanema, after more searching and false positives, we stumbled on the right place and got tickets for something like $10 apiece.
Saturday was beach day - swimming and playing in the sand at Ipanema with all and sundry. We whiled away the afternoon with a few beers back in the room and then went out to sit on the side of the road with half of Rio and their kids to wait for the Santa Claus Parade to start. When it finally did - 90 minutes after it's scheduled start time - it was fantastic. Imagine all the choreographic and costuming skills of the people responsible for Carnivale put to work for the happiness of children at Christmas time. Brilliant.
Sunday the perpetually overcast skies finally cleared and we could see the top of Sugar Loaf mountain for the first time. We knew we wouldn't have time for both the Sugar Loaf and Corcovado (the one with the big statue of Christ on it) so we chose the Sugar Loaf. We went up the cable car and enjoyed magnificent views of the city and the bay, Rio's setting really is truly spectacular, like no other city on Earth. The only regret was that we left the bulk of our cash and all credit cards back in the safe at the hotel, so couldn't afford the seven-minute helicopter trip around Corcovado. Next time. We accidentally took the long bus home, which was excellent because we saw parts of the city we would never have gone to and it gave us a better perspective of how it all fits together, in between bodies of water and vocanic plugs. We walked the full length of Leblon and Ipanema beaches and picked the absolute perfect restaurant to cap off our visit to Rio, with great food, impeccable service, and a view of the ocean to boot. A superb day. Tomorrow, off to the beach town where we will spend the silly season.
