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Tour of Rio
Entry 78 of 79 | show all | print this entry |
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After getting the plane tickets we can finally relax and enjoy our last days here in Rio.
We bought the tickets to the Parade of the Champions in the Sambadrome. Since we missed most of the Carnival celebrations and parades, this was a simple consolation price. We arrived around 8pm and found our way around the Sambadrome, where the famous Rio Carnival Parades take place during Carnival week. People were dressed in colorful costumes and the stadium was bigger than I expected. There was a slight trickle of rain in the air, but it didn't stop the people from having a great time.
Each dance school exploded off with its fireworks, choreograph its unique dance, passionately beat its drums, and showed off its Queen. One after another, they showed their colors. "Dancing in the rain!"
We left just before the end around 4am and took the empty hyper-speed bus back to the hotel. Rio in the dark was not the safest place as we were both a little paranoid, maybe we should have waited for the sunrise.
Today, after getting up around 2pm in our hot and steamy room, we took the liberty of touring the Concovado mountains where the famous Cristo Redentor overlooks the city. At the top, the air was fresh, the panoramic view was wonderful, but it was somewhat disappointing considering the reality was nowhere near as beautiful as the postcards would have you believe.
After getting off the mountain the heat was overwhelming. To cool off, we took a stroll through the modern shopping mall. The mall was no different than any shopping mall in America, movie theatre, clothing stores, teenagers, and the food court, where in my mind, was the most beautiful place in the world to have a bite to eat.
The spectacular football stadium, the Maracana, was our next stop. "Futebol" in Brazil is a religion, it is played year round, in packed stadiums, on the grass, indoors, on the beach, by rich kids from posh districts, poor kids from the slums, white kids dreamed to be the next Zico, black kids looking for a way out of poverty. The Maracana, which seats around 100,000, was built for the 1950 World Cup, now, more of a museum than a place of worship. It was Juliette's first visit inside a football stadium, I think she was more impressed than I was.
Our stay in Rio was ending, our trip was almost over. Sad is not the feeling in my heart, there is only hope. One day I will come back to this wonderful continent of South America to experience all the things we missed this time. The Amazonas, The Salta, The Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego, and more......
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