Our week in copacabana (its long but worth it! )
Trip Start
Feb 23, 2008
1
25
43
Trip End
Jul 04, 2008
Rio de Janeiro,
State of Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil
Saturday, May 3, 2008
For my b-day we laid out on the beach and bought some fish on a stick from a guy walking around the beach. After eating Chris thought he had a fish bone stuck in his throat. He was miserable so we went home. I decided to go for a run on the beach path (a great running path!) to let him be in misery (and his gagging was getting to me). I hoped it would be dislodged by the time I got home. Unfortunately it wasnīt. I popped a bottle of champagne anyway and hoped he would feel well enough join me in the celebration. He was a good sport and we drank champagne and went out to a nice dinner in Ipanema. Because of the dropping dollar and Brazilīs booming economy dinner was crazy expensive. These local have got cash! We saw a $70 shrimp cocktail and $70 lobster omelet on a menu at a casual restaurant. If you are going to pay $70 for lobster do you really want it in an omelet?? BTW-later we found out the "fish bone" Chris swallowed was actually a broken piece of metal from his permanent retainer!!
The studio was perfect for us! We would wake up and go down to a local juice bar for breakfast.
fuzzy pic of our condo. but its the only one!
I would get an Acai w/ granola and a salgada (little fried snacks like coquettes) and Chris would get a salgada and a cafe. If you go to Brazil to need to try the acai! It is a berry from the amazon that they freeze and blend up into a soft sorbet. You can get it with banana or granola. It is awesome and so good for you. We would hit the beach for a little bit we then would go on some excursion. For example--Pao de Acucar-you take a scary tram up to one landing and then another tram to the top of Pao de Acucar (sugar loaf mountain). It is really relaxing up there and you can take in the views laying in lounge chairs and drinking a beer without the distraction of a lot of tourists. It is relaxing and the views are great.
-Corcovado-a tall skinny mountain peak with the famous Jesus Christ statue on top. You take a rickety train most of the way and walk stairs the rest of the way to the top. The statue and view is overrated. There are just way too many people around-you can barely find a place to stand and look at the view. Plus everyone is trying to take pictures of Jesus and you are always in the way. Pao de Acucar is way better.
-Trolley to Santa Teresa-The trolley is the crazy train! It is only one trolley car and totally open air. They pack people in and have people hanging off the sides. The trolley goes very close to some walls and I was afraid the people on the outside were going to get smashed, but I guess they know what they are doing! Plus people just jump on the sides the whole ride I was afraid someone was going to jump up and grab our day pack. It was a fun experience, but hold on to your stuff!
-Walking tour of the City Center-This was a bust. We decided to go here on a Sunday and everything was closed. Really there is not much to see here anyway. It is mostly basic buildings. We wanted to eat lunch but all the restaurants were overpriced-so we ate the grossest street hot dog I have ever had. It was covered with the kitchen sink-potato strings, mayo, ketchup, mustard, corn, peas, onions and some other crap. Avoid any stand that wants to put peas on your hot dog!
-Walking around Leblon and Ipanema-These areas are full of rich locals and are really posh. It was run to walk around especially after a football game between Flamenco and Botafogo (two Rio teams). The streets were wild. Unfortunately, too wild as we almost got mugged twice on a main street surrounded by people at 9pm at night! One time by a group of 5 favela kids that surrounded us and sent us running into the street. Another time by 3 "shoe shine" guys that cornered us and grabbed Chris pretending (or really having) to have a knife. Again we broke away and ran into on coming traffic. I cant believe we didn't get hit by a car either!
These muggings should not be happening as often as they do. We talked to a lot of tourists that had the same experience. We saw virtually NO POLICE the week that we were there. I canīt believe they just let that happen. People always ask me in all my travels if I ever find a place I could actually live. I LOVED Rio, it is gorgeous and has a perfect blend of city and beach and I could see my self there (except I would have to learn Portuguese)-but there is NO safety. We were afraid to walk 2 blocks from our apt after 7pm when it got dark. Rio was very stressful in that sense.
.
me at Pao de Acucar
