Rio de Janeiro

Day 1    

Cristo

     We are excited this is our first chance to head to the beach!!  But wait, its raining, at least it was here in Sao Paulo.We had hope the sun would be out by the time we reached Rio De Janeiro.  We had some cloud breaks on the 6 hours drive but nothing that looked to promising, but we still hoped.  So we made it to Rio with no problems other than THE RAIN.  That´s right,  it was raining.   We checked into the Copacabana Rio Hotel, no, not the famed Copacabana Palace where the stars stay, with ocean views... we are one block back with a view not of the beach, but of one the many "Favelas" (slums) of Rio.  So we clean up and try to decide what exciting thing we could do now that we were in a raining Rio.  HHmmm?  I know, let´s go to the mall.  That´s right, the mall.  It was a decent mall, great for window shopping.  I would reccomend it to anyone who goes to Rio when its raining.  We made a few laps, found a decent restaurant and enjoyed some dinner, along with my Caipirinhas (my favorite brazilian drink).  

Cristo

Day 2

     The first thing we did was to look out the window, at the favelas, but then up at the sky.  We saw some blue, so with some excitement we head down to breakfast to meet up with her parents and make our  plans for the day.  We hit the street looking for a taxi to take us up to see one of the newest 7 wonders of the world (our second of the trip)  the Christ Statue at the "Corvado".  We arrange a price for the taxi driver to take us up and also to visit one other view point, so we are on our way.  Views of Rio are amazing, with great beach lines, mountains popping up from nowhere in particular, hotels, and even the favelas somehow fit right into place.  We enjoy this view for about 30 min when a huge wave a fog rolls in taking over the city, and without surprise, it starts to rain.  There goes the plans of enjoying the views and heading to the beach.  SO we hop back in our taxi and he shuttles us around to some various place in Rio since he feels bad that it is raining,  but we end up at the largest mall in South America or the state of Rio de Janeiro (the Barra Shopping in Barra da Tijuca. This neighborhood used to be one of the richest in Rio, now loosing to Leblon and Ipanema) ... I know its a big difference, but we couldnt remember.  As we enter it was not raining that bad anymore and it looks like its trying to clear up. So we only make one lap and hear a girl say that she has been in Rio for 10 days and has been to the beach once :( .  So instead of being at the mall we take advantage of our somewhat sunny day and HIKE for the closest beach.  We thought it was close but when the humidity is high and its about 25 degrees celcius and you are walking down city streets sucking in exhaust fumes it seems more like a hike.  We made it, took a stroll and we got our first glimpse of Rio and I could swear I was in Venice Beach, CA (or whatever the beach is where people are rollerblading andworking out) even though I have never been there.  Along the beach we passed some food stands serving the local cuisine, workout stations which included pull up bars and dip bars, along with some other stuff that I didnt know what it was, and we were always passed by runner and bikers.  Like I said it was like that beach in CA but everyone was speaking a different language.  Alright well we are not at our own beach and we still have some daylight left so we hail another cab and head back to the hotel jump into our suits and to Copacabana Beach ( I did see Ipanema, where the girl was from). So now, we were actually at the BEACH, with sun, sand, and FREEZING COLD WATER.  I am not going in.  I figure the water will be warmer in Australia (so we hope).  So with the sun still shining, a few hours later we make plans to head to Pao de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf Mountain), another viewing point of the city with hopefully no clouds.  Its another great view, with clouds in the distance.  We head back to the beach and get dropped off at the Copacabana Palace for some pics and a stroll back to our hotel via the beach.  Stopped for dinner at a beach side local shrimp restaurant (Vivenda do Camarão) and enjoyed our food while the sun set.  We also ran into a beach side market on the way back and enjoyed some more window shopping from the outside.

Largest Soccer Stadium (Maracanã)

Day 3

     Back to Sao Paulo.  No it´s not raining today..it´s a pretty real sunny day...of course, it had to be the day we had to head back.  Half way through our drive back, Alane´s father took us to the remote tourist town of Penedo.  It is a small community settled by the Finland people, who celebrate Christmas all year long.  The town center is set up with all sorts of gift shops and restaurants that are covered with christmas decorations and even fake snow on the roof tops.  The town also has plenty of bed and breakfasts, which are used by honeymooners and for weekend getaways since its half way between Rio and Sao Paulo. It is a great place for those who like to hike and enjoy a hiden waterfall after hiking. Jarrett and I will be back! 

Rio

Rio

Rio

Rio

Cristo and Alane´s Parents

Mom, Dad, and Alane

The in laws and Jarrett

Cristo

Favela

Rio

Rio

Copacabana Beach

Copacabana Beach

I´ve got him on my hands!!!!

The lovely couple

View of Sugarloaf Mountain

Sugarloaf Mountain

Looking down on Copacabana beach

Beaches

Rio

Copacabana Palace

Rio (Atlantica ave)

Penedo "Little Finland"

Penedo

Penedo

Penedo

What Santa Does in his down time

Penedo

Penedo

My first brewery in Brazil (in Penedo)