Rain, Shine, Sand and Song


At the moment we are in Foz Du Igaçu (on the border between Brazil, Paraguay and Argentina) but more of that later.

We had a wonderful time in Rio even although it took us a few days to warm up due to the non stop rain. Things started to get better on Thursday night when we headed to the Galitos Grill bar and had a lovely chicken before heading to a few bars. We ended up in a bar called Emporio where the music wasn´t bad apart from the occasional Jethro Tull. Many people say Brazil is a backward country, but I think this is due to their leading department store being C & A, Skol lager being the top selling drink and Jethro Tull turning up too frequently.

The next day we headed to the Maracana stadium to see if we could get tickets for a game, after over an hour on the bus we found out you could only buy tickets on the day of the game. So we headed into Centro (the business district) to have a wander and looked at a couple of churches.

It started to brighten up so we headed to Copacobana and walked along the beach to Ipanema stopping off for a beer on the way. That night we headed to the New Natural Restaurant which was a bit like having your dinner in Grassroots in Woodlands Road (you veggies would love it!). The other difference was that you paid your food by weight that´t the food bye the way not my weight otherwise our budget would be out for at least a month!

We then went onto a pub crawl in Ipanema where we drank in many pubs and ended up back in the Emporio. I noticed a guy who looked like Albert Hammond Junior III from the Strokes or whatever he is called. Later on he sat next to us with his girlfriend Lana and his friend Patricia. After talking to him about bands he was chuffed to learn that we came from the same city as Franz Ferdinand and Belle and Sebastian, as they were two of his favourite bands. The Emporio soon turned into a full blown Indie disco and we soon had too many drinks. We had a great night thanks to help by all of them being able to speak fluently in English.

Boy did we suffer the next day and it took us until after lunch to get it together. Late afternoon as the weather had picked up we decided to head to Christ the Redeemer. The famous statue of Jesus which stands high above Rio. The small train takes about 20 minutes to get to the peak but it´s well worth when you get to the top. The Statue is gigantic when you are up close, from the beaches you are left a little dissapointed looking up, but up close the statue is immense and with views over the sprawling metropolis. We took lots of photos so hopefully we can get some up on this page once we connect up the camera to the PC. We stayed up top until the sun set (well until it got dark - we didn´t actually see the sun).

Later that night back in Ipanema we headed to a grill reastuarant called Carretao Churrascania, the place was really swanky inside and a bit more upmarket that the other places we had been in. Ipanema is the rich area of Rio and at times at night it reminded me and Joanne of the SoHo district in New York with the high buildings, Yellow taxis and the busy Cafe culture. You selected your side orders from a fancy buffet cart, which contained many varied and wonderful delicacies. Once back at your table, waiters wander from table to table with large spikes which have had beautiful cuts of meat which have been roasted. The meat was truly brilliant and by the time we left we almost rolled back to out hotel.

The next morning was the first morning we woke up to blue skys.. so we headed straight to Sugar Loaf mountain. Again like Christ the Redeemer it´s difficult to describe these beautiful landmarks and views in my limited vocabulary. You take two cable cars to get to the peak (i´m sure Joanne turned another colour of Grey on these) but the cable cars where quite modern and whizzed up to the peak in no time. At the top we had great views over the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema and all the outlying districts to the north.

After getting our bus tickets for our next destination (Foz de Igacu) we headed to the beaches along with everyone else in Rio it seemed like. The beautiful white sands where mobbed with families, people playing football & volleyball, Samaba bands and the beautiful people topping up their tans. They also close the road infront of the beach, so the road is full of stalls selling wonderful smelling food and tacky trinkets and people are sailing past on skateboards, bikes and rollerblades. It´s just a pity we had only one day to really see the sunny side of Rio.

We then headed to the Maracana to hopefully see the Flamengo Vs Botafogo (local derby). We were told to go two hours before the game to get a good chance to get tickes and to avoid most of the traffic and to get a chance of the safest tickets. We got to the ground at 5:30 thinking it was a 8:00 Kick off but we soon realised with the crowds and the mobs round the ticket booths that it was a 6:00 KO. We had been warned many times before heading to Rio about how unsavoury some of the residents could be and we know of a friend who was robbed at gun point a few months back, so as we waited in the swaying crowd to get to the ticket booth was the first time we felt ill at ease since arriving, too many of the locals had too many Skols. By the time we got to the front there were no Cameira tickets left (Safe ones) all they had left where Geral...so we took two we could really aruge at 70p a ticket...

As we made our way to the turnstiles I was stopped by some guy who pointed to my Celtic top and said "AAAaahh I like the Celtic AAAhh Very Good... you guys are Catholics" with my stuttering Portugese I tried to explain how Celtic where an inclusive club with many supporters from all walks of life, but he was away before I got the second word out.

As we got in the stadium a policeman asked me who we were supporting so we plumped for Botafogo as Flamego´s badge is similar to the Rangers crest...so we headed into the Geral section which is just a shallow enclusre that runs round the pitch.. with all the possiblities of missiles and stuff coming from above.. Just at kick off a fight kicked not far from us and they sent in the police dogs.. a few minutes later an ambulance drove onto the terracing and the threw a young guy in the back who looked like he had been stabbed...it was quiet after that.

The game was ok..lots of diving and yellow cards... but what made the game really great was the fanatical crowds. When the teams scored firecrackers, Flares, massive banners all over the place... but my favourite was the largin coffin in Flamengo colours that was held up when Botafogo scored.... The game finished 2-2 but the atmosphere was the stand out for us...

After the game we headed back to Ipanema and had a few drinks when we bumped into Patricia and Lana again...it was good to round off out time in Rio with our new friends.

To sum up our week in Rio... we had a great time and the natural beauty of the place is stunning and the people are so friendly..

We´ve also noticed that there are many unwritten rules in Rio

1) All children under the age of 18 must do their best to hinder traffic in anyway they can, the best examples of this was the kids who dragged the large wheely bin into the middle of the road and two climbed on top and then one on top of the other shoulders and started juggling when their other mate would go round the stopped cars with a hat...another example of this was the kick boxing kid who would get a girl to stand in the middle of the road with a plastic bottle of water on her head and he would run around a bit before high kicking the bottle into the air....

2) All girls under the age of 30 must wear unfeasibly high shoes, jeans that look if they have been painted on and bra´s two sizes to small (Vinny, Davie & Gary - If your still having problems booking a weekend away ... get onto Sleazy Jet and see if Rio is one of their new routes - It´s only 60p for large cold beer )

3)Rio has also signed up to the international unwritten law of Taxi Drivers - Where every last one of them will try to rip you off at every opportunity

P.S. Rio´s bus´s are brilliant for 30p you can go anywhere in the City... they might shake the bones a bit but the have more character than a smelly taxi any day

To sum it up we had a brilliant time in Rio