Reveillon Rio!

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  Rio de Janeiro, State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Thursday, January 1, 2009

Dave Freeman wrote a book called 100 Things To Do Before You Die http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/2627669/Author-of-100-Things-To-Do-Before-You-Die-has-died-before-completing-his-list.html, number 11 is Reveillon Rio: New Year's Eve party on Brazil's Copacabana Beach; getting to Rio for New Year was planned to be the conclusion of this trip.  Prices here are crazy, the city is definitely cashing in on the season.  Originally I wanted to stay in hotel but when I first looked back in July the cheapest I could find was 300 pounds for one night... Hmmm, back to the hostel plan then.  In the summer I booked El Misti, a hostel a mere five blocks from Copocabana beach.  At the time all I worried about was the location, I wanted to be able to walk home at the end of the party.  Then, as I became more familiar with hostels, I got the fear that in my summer time ignorance I had booked a dud.  Thankfully it was OK, and I am very glad none of us had to sleep on the top of the triple bunks!  We have done loads in Rio, Ill go through it day by day...

First up had to be the major tourist attractions: Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain.  The weather in Brazil has been so unpredictable, forecast thunder and rain nearly everyday Ive been here.  So far the doom weather reports have been mostly unfounded, but Christ and Sugar Loaf really do need good weather to make it worth the effort.  Our first day wasn't a stunner but Jane, Kat and I agreed that we should go whilst the weather is iffy - if we wait, the weather could get worse.  So we took the cog train up the ´Hunchback´, a 710m-high peak overlooking Rio to the Cristo Redentor statue.  It is a huge iconic monument built in the 1930s I think, commissioned by the Church and publicly funded through tax.  Then it was left to rot.  It wasn't until the 1980s that it was renovated - its an obvious cash cow - and it was visited by the Pope.  The views would have been amazing but we were so high up above the clouds we couldn't see very much.

Getting into the tourist groove, the next day we went to Sugar Loaf Mountain (aka Pao de Açucar).  We queued for at least an hour and a half to take the cable car up the 396m mountain.  The weather was back on top form which was just great as this is the real place to get the views over Rio.  The city is built around the mountains and jungle forest, it is such a beautiful city with amazing wildlife, including monkeys!  Photos are now up on www.flickr.com/photos/bongo76.

Late in the afternoon we then headed to Copacobana beach.  Of all the beaches in Rio, Copacobana is supposed to be the roughest.  Guide books warn you not to take anything important, no jewellery, no cameras, not even much money if you can.  It didn't seem that bad though, I cant say I felt I was about to get mugged or assaulted.  The beaches here are ´serious beaches´, not as fun as Florinopolis - the sea gets deep quickly, its not as clear or warm and the waves are too big for any beginners surfing.

In the evening I met up with Igunn, a friend I met in Buenos Aires, for some sushi just down the road in Ipanema.  Ive been told that Brazil has the biggest Japanese population outside of Japan, there was a big wave of immigration after the war http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Brazilian - there are lots of great sushi bars around town!  Sitting outside there were some Capoeira performers; Capoeira is an Afro-Brazilian art form that ritualizes movement from martial arts, games, and dance http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capoeira - you might recognise it from the old BBC One idents http://br.youtube.com/watch?v=sB6dZX4fE9Y  On the street it was breathtaking, the stunts they did bare foot! Sadly I didn't have my camera as it was safely locked up in the hostel, as recommended.  Boo.

Ingunn and I arranged to meet the next day to visit Santa Teresa, the bohemian part of town.  Cobbled streets and aging mansion blocks, tourists take the tram from Centro to get there.  Back in Tourist Land, the queue for the tram was well over 90 mins, but well worth the wait.  There isn't really anything to do there, but as both Ingunn and I are into pictures and cameras, we spent the afternoon looking at the gorgeous shop fronts and graffiti.  Again, its not the safest place to visit and tourists are advised to stick to the roads with tram tracks.

Wednesday was New Years Eve, what we've all been waiting for!  The hostel had an all-you-can-eat-and-drink party starting at 5pm... The drink of choice here is Caipirinha, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caipirinha made with some local sugar spirit, mixed with more sugar, limes and ice.  You can also make it with vodka.  Its a killer, the sugar content along can give you a massive hangover in the morning.  Ive never had a long drinking widow anyway - if I start at 5pm I will be in bed by 9pm!  So us old ladies prepared with a snooze and then a lovely homemade pasta dinner, and then joined the rest of the somewhat-smashed-already hostellers.  The thing to do at a Copacaban New Year is to dress up in white, I had my white shorts and t-shirt from C&A at the ready.  Last year Fat Boy Slim and the Black Eyed Peas played Copacobana beach party - this year, despite being sponsored by Coca Cola (of course) we just had a local Samba band. Rumour had it that Ipanema had cancelled its party this year because the locals are fed up of tourist pissing in the streets, the rubbish etc.  I wonder if maybe the dreaded Credit Crunch has something to do with it.  Now being the only beach party in town, Copacobana expected around 2.5m on the beach.  In fact it didn't feel that crowded - it was busy but not jammed.  The music was good, the view of everyone in white was fantastic, the weather was (mostly) warm... No photos yet as it isn't a good idea to take your camera to the beach - I have a disposable camera waiting to be developed.  Despite charging ridiculous prices for a bed, the hostel locked us out until 3am - a quick visit to a juice bar and then to bed.

New Years Day was another hot one but also mostly shut.  Ingunn and I decided to hire bikes and cycle around the lake.  Not much to report there.  Met Jane and Kat for the remainder of last nights pasta dinner and then out to Copacobana Palace for cocktails!  Barry Manilow has a lot to answer for; all three of us have been humming At the Copacobana for days!  In its day the Copacobana Palace probably was a Vegas-type place, show girls with yellow feathers in their hair, but now its just an expensive hotel.  Striding through pretending we stayed there, we got as far as the pool before someone asked us what room we were in.  Unable to hang around the main hotel areas we were shown to the visitors bar, which was just as nice.  I had an Apple Martini whilst Jane & Kat had a Kir Royale.  It was a tip top way to draw Copacobana to a close.

I have a few days until I leave Rio.  I was going to check out some of the more colonial cities or maybe head back to the coast, but instead I have decided to move hostel to Ipanema...

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