Hi Guys!
It brings me great pleasure to bring you the Rio blog because it was such an amazing place to see, and now we get to show it to you! We were also there during Carnival, and with only 4 full days in the city, it made for a very busy, sleep-deprived adventure. I'm writing this from our next stop in Santiago, and although it's been days since we left, I feel I am still catching up on sleep.
The first night we arrived to an Air BnB (which I think I had booked back in November!) and got settled. We were on the 17th floor, and had a great view over the city.
That night we took the metro (yay no buses!!) to Ipanema Beach to see what was shaking. There had been a bloco (street party) there during the day and there were still heaps of people dancing in the streets, partying, carrying on. We didn't always get pictures of the partying action, partly because I didn't want someone to gank my phone and also because I needed my hands free to drink more delicious caipirinhas
The next morning we hiked up Pedrá da Gavéa, which was 2 1/2 strenuous hours up- but totally worth it for the views over Rio.
There was one kind of crazy section called the carrasqueria. It can be done without climbing ropes, but it's a lot easier if you have them. We lucked out and used a group's rope both on the way up and down.
Cabeça do Imperador- or the face of the emperor. Can you see him?
You know when you're walking down the street and you look back and you're like, whoa, I was on top of that today!
We were so wiped that night from the hike, we had to go home and collapse!
The next day we gave to Carnival! We went to the Sargento Pimenta bloco in the morning. They played "Beatles-Samba fusion" and it was awesome. Kind of nice when you actually know the words to the songs.
Representing Canada with my
Maple Leaf
Having a quick nap, Carnival is exhausting!
We also headed to Lapa and saw the Aqueductos de Lapa and the Escadaria Selaron, a famous staircase in Rio. There were tons of people everywhere we walked that afternoon, partying, dancing, having a great time. It totally enhanced the main tourist attractions to have a bloco going through it!
My poor Maple Leaf was getting a little smeared from all the partying and the heat.
We headed to the Sambadromo at 10 pm that night, the time the first samba school would start heading down the parade route. Each samba school has 1 1/2 hours to wow the judges with their original samba song, percussion, costumes and floats. The Sambadromo is a purpose-built stadium with a long stretch in the middle, and grandstands flanking it on both sides. The first school started their procession, and the crowd roared. The reason they need an hour and a half is because there are something like 5000 people per samba school and 6 to 8 huge floats that make their way down the middle of the Sambadromo. So it's a big deal!
There were 6 samba schools in total that night. 6 had performed the night before, and the top one of these 12 best schools in Rio would be crowned the winner on Ash Wednesday. We stayed until the last school, and watched the sun rise over Rio on our walk back. How could you leave when such amazing things were happening right there in front of you? The stands were packed even when we left, all the locals were partying and cheering on their favourite schools.
Last photo of the night, time stamp 5:29 am
Sunrise on Christ the Redeemer
We slept in the next morning....until 10. Then it was time to hit the streets, no time to waste!
The first stop was Pão de Açucár, which is a large rock jutting out of the Rio skyline (ok, there are a few of those). There is a gondola going up this one, so it was a little less strenuous than our last viewpoint.
Next was the Christ the Redeemer statue, a highlight of our trip and one of those 'must-do's' if you ever find yourself here.
The next day we spent appreciating the beaches of Rio. We started on Copacabana and worked out way south to Ipanema. It was so hot, I had to get a caipirinha!
That afternoon we did something real crazy- we went para-gliding! We had discussed doing it even before going to Rio, and once we were there and saw other people doing it, we just had to! It was an amazing experience, I'll never forget running down that ramp, running out of ramp and then the chute just taking you, so you're just flailing your legs for a few seconds before you realize you're flying!
This was an awesome cherry on top of Rio, it was honestly my favourite city I have ever visited, ever. It has so much, it would be an amazing place even not during Carnival. It was a hard place to leave, that is for sure!
Location:Calle Sara Del Campo,Santiago,Chile
