Overseas_ash's travel blogs:
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Starlog 130673
Entry 3 of 8 | show all | print this entry |
Yesterday afternoon saw the sun in full glory and we
made the most of it heading to the beach. There was a
fair few amount of people about and the much vaunted g
string appeared.
>
Every female (and one male) was wearing one..now
matter how fat or how young (some as young as 4 or 5
had them which is kind of disturbing..they are
trained young).
>
There was much activity on the beach...beach soccer,
foot volley
(volleyball without using your hands..looks bloody
hard but they are damn good) cycling, running,
> pushups, workouts..all sorts of things. I was
content
> to watch all this activity and not move much. From
my
> strategic point on the beach I could see Sugarloaf,
> Christ statue, naked Brazilian women..it was a
> delightful way to spend a few hours.
>
> As the sun got swamped by the clouds (which are so
> damn prominent in Rio) it became cooler and people
> stopped sunbaking so the whole area became like a
> giant outdoor gym. Many buffed bodies were pumping
> iron and other too hard stuff which made me feel
Ø inadequate.
There was competition beach soccer which was great to
watch. Kids prob in their teens and they were
fantastic. I so wanted to play so I sought of hung
arounf the sidelines with an expectant look on
my..kind of like the fat kid at school who never got
to play...flashback.... A couple of times the ball came
out with me and I would skilfully kick it back....over
the guys head.. or into some small kids face so I had
to move on.
>
As day became night...the hawkers came out in force.
Selling everything from number plates to football
shirts to watches to
> flight centre gift vouchers they were everywhere.
> However they haven't been to the same school of
> pestering that the Bali brigade have been to and if
> you shake your head they move on very quickly. Youth
> of today..they just don't work hard any more.They
need to do silver sales training if they want to
generate more business
>
> Walking along the Avenida Atlanica (parallel to the
> beach) there is a plethora of restaurants to choose
> from and so we settled at one with a nice view of
> the hawkers...i mean the beach..well at least i
assume
> there was a beach behind those hawkers. Most
> annoying hawkers since the mulleted Glenn played for
carlton
> in the early 90's.
>
> I again tried the local drink (caiprinha) and this
> was much stronger. Damn strong. After just one I was
> pretty drunk. Now I know I often have girly vodka
> drinks but even i dont succumb that easily to
> alcohol.
> So i tried another and yada yada yada woke up at 2am
fully clothed on my bed.
Wanted: Rio Weatherman.
This morning awoke to another full sky of clouds. The
weather report last night said 29 and sunny but there
was not one bit of sun in the sky. This supposed city
of sun was given me very little of it. The weather
report here is incredibly inaccurate. They make the
guys in melbourne seem fantastic. Every day day they
get it so wrong. I really wish they predicted
hailstorms so we would have so much sun.
Even on the streets every hundred metres they have
signs with the time and the temperature and they all
vary from 15 degrees to 30 degrees.Now i know weather
can fluctuate but not that much. i'm high on the hill
walking over the bridge to the mcg. and way up on high
the clock on the silo says 23 ..no wait 16 ..hang on
47 degrees.
Anyway with Cubulo and his mate Nimbus spread far and
wide there would be no morning beach action. I got out
a travel guide which suggested Tijuca Forest as a good
place to go for walks, animals, waterfalls etc- so we
hailed a cab and headed off. Unfortunately Carlos has
no idea where to go and dropped us off at the wrong
place- the Jardim Botanico (sounds similar hey?) not
being one to argue..at least not in portguese we got
out and he said he would wait for us and take us back.
Sweet.
The botanical gardens were..well as one would
expect..flowers, plants, all the stuff that gives Don
Burke a chubby. I Am not don burke however (yes its
true) and was sadly none too impressed. I walked
around for a while, all the time monitoring the cloud
situation whilst writing a new song "Please let the
sun come out on me"" which I would like to share with
you now...apologies to Elton John
Please let the sun come out on me
I am in Rio, but it is just clouds that I see
I'd like just a little bit of sun.
To see some Gggggggg.
Oh I would give anything.
To have the sun shine down on me
I am rather sad.
We had an hour to kill to wait for the driver so
passed it by walking down a busy street inhaling car
fumes. When we returned to the gardens the driver was
waiting and took us back. He then charged us 50
bucks..this time I argued but he wouldn't budge so I
flung 50 at him and stormed off in a huff.
This afternoon we had a tour to Pao dázucar..or
sugarloaf to you no Portuguese speaking plebs. We took
the scenic route and got a mini city tour on the way.
One area of interest was Sao Conrad a very affluent
suburb with tennis courts and swimming pools. On the
other side of this suburb is a favela (slum..won't you
ever learn portugese??) a shanty town built on the
side of the mountain which is obviously very poor..
until recently no electricity (oh my god no foxtel)
and poor sewerage etc. Despite the obvious differences
the people on both sides get on very well and there is
no trouble. Can you imagine this happening in Toorak?
I didn't think so.
We passed through downtown which was packed full of
people, cars, glenn hawkers and wasn't particularly
interesting. Most people don't venture to the city ,
just to the south where the beaches are and with
pretty good reason. We did stop off at their main
cathedral which was huge. It holds 25,000 people..
that's a lot of praying action. It was a very ugly
church nothing like the ones you see in Europe.
On to sugarloaf which is the huge mountain and the end
of Copacabana beach. Two cable car rides to the top
provide a panoramic view of the clouds. On other days
it offers views of the city. I couldn't even see Nada.
Which is lucky for him coz he would have been sick of
me singing my new song. It was quite strange being up
that high coz we were in the middle of the
clouds..(they're nothing like fairy floss up close).
At times the clouds parted to give us a good view
which was delightful.
One annoying thing about the tours is that the guide
normally brings along a friend to do some video
footage so they can sell a video at the end of the
tour. Gets very frustrating as they film you up close
and follow your every move. Getting on and off the
bus, buying a drink, picking your nose, picking Fionas
nose, Fiona slapping you and so on. God damn I came
away from Melbourne to get rid of that fishbowl type
attention.
Th eone problem I have is tipping. I don't mind
tipping its just that I am awkward at it. I have it in
my hand and when I shake try to discreetly put in the
guides hand but it never works. It either stays in my
hand, falls to the floor or flies away. It just
doesn't feel natural. And its also bad getting off
after the Yanks as they are big tippers (well not
really but they tip in $USD which makes it look big)
so I feel guilty afterwards..but as I said in an
earlier email..we are a 3rd world economy as well. But
the tips add up - we give 10 real each time
Many people (6) have asked me why I am typing so many
emails. Well its for the fans. No actually it is coz
there is free internet 1 floor below my room and so
all it takes is 15 minutes to keep you informed. I am
certainly getting out and about ( we have been on the
move since 8.30 this morning and it is now 7pm... I
haven't even eaten yet) just instead of lying done for
15 mins or watching Party if Cinco on TV I type. Once
we leave Rio there will be far far less emails.
Anyway that's enough from me. (Hooray you say)
By the way I have bcc éd you all so that when you
reply it doesnt go to everybody...shauna.
Until next time.
Ciao
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