At the Copa.......
Trip Start
Mar 29, 2007
1
9
Trip End
Apr 18, 2007
Rio de Janerio,
Brazil
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
We didnīt have much time to get settled in the hotel because we wanted to catch both Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. WOW. We got to Corcavado (CtR) by taxi which was a death ride. Hilariously funny. The statue was beautiful and the views over the city were spectacular.
After Christ we took taxis to Sugar Loaf. We took cable cars to the top. It was getting dark by this stage and the city was really lit up - it was beautiful and very peaceful.
Arrived back at the hotel and went to dinner at a 5 star seafood restaurant which was an experience - every kind of fish and shellfish imaginable was served
Cathedral de Sao Sebastio 1
. Pretty cool place. Afterwards we went to the Copacabana Palace which is a huge 5 star hotel for drinks. Very plush indeed!The next day we headed straight for Copacabana beach. The waves were huge so some of the boys went in to see if they could surf them with no boards. It was Sunday morning and the place was jammers. Great atmosphere and really nice people (they were even selling freshly cooked shrimp!).
That afternoon we went to the footballing mecca that is the Maracana Stadium for a cup final between Botafogo and Cabofrienze. The atmosphere was amazing - never experienced anything like the noise. The fans are fanatics!!! And how cool is this - we saw a bicycle kick goal in the Maracana! Brilliant brilliant day. Went for dinner later that night to a place called Carretao in Ipanema (which had amazing food - ate like pigs) and ended up in the Irish Bar upstairs (Shenanigans - there had to be one this trip). Played darts to the wee small hours - great night.
Next day we headed to Ipanema beach which was a lot quieter than Copa - possibly because it was a Monday morning but took a walk around the shops and then took a taxi to the Cathedral de Sao Sebastaio
Cathedral de Sao Sebastio 2
. It's quite a strange conical shaped building (we actually saw it from Corcovado!). We've never been in a Cathedral like it - absolutely breathtaking. Later that night we went for dinner again to Carretao - just the two of us - ate so much we were nearly sick but it was a brilliant way to end the holiday. Boo.
The next morning we had to leave Rio to come home and Tracy had one of her feelings that something was going to go wrong. I finally to accept that everything was going to be okay so imagine what was going through my head as I pushed the taxi up the street in rush hour traffic to try and get it's battery started!!!!
One thing we have to say is that we did overestimate the dangers of Rio. It is dangerous if you don't check out what to do and where to go first but the people we met were very friendly and it was an absolutely brilliant city to visit.
