A weekend in Rio de Janiero

We woke up early to pack everything into our day. It was perfect weather – bright, hot (35 degrees) and sunny in the middle of winter. The airconditioning had been broken in our room the night before so I could definitely feel the heat!

Our first stop was Christ the Redeemer. We were lucky to have two Portuguese speakers with us because I’m not sure we could have worked this method of getting there with no language skills. We took an Uber to a park in Copacabana and walked towards some vans. A lady tried to sell us a tour but we just wanted access to Christ. She pointed us to a ticket office, it was $74 real to go, including a van ride. The van took us directly up Corvacodo, winding through the jungle covered streets with nice pastel houses sheltered behind concrete walls with security cameras. We weren’t even at the top but we could see the view growing more impressive behind us. Then we transfered at a gift station into another van which drove us to the top. There were stately concrete stairs that led up to the statue, gift shops and cafes on the corner. We even saw monkeys! The statue was a lot bigger than it looks from a distance. We joined in with the other tourists trying to get both ourselves and the statue into the picture, photographers lying on the ground. The view was beautiful from up there, you could see a 360 panoramic view (by walking around the tourists).

Then van dropped us back in Copacabana for lunch. We had it at a place called Sofa Cafe, like a nice Starbucks with fresh food. Tatiana found it very funny that we wanted to have coffee and salads for lunch. She normally has a two hour sit down meal of rice, meat and beans. From here we walked down Copacabana from the Palace to the best place to get an Uber for Sugar Loaf. I had a mango flavoured ice cream to cool down as we walked on the famous patterned walkway. There was constant beach volleyball happening and hundreds of people set up at the Postos and everywhere in between.

The queue for Pan de Azucar was long and hot. It was early afternoon on a Saturday, probably the busiest time to visit. Eventually we got the the cable car. It zoomed up to Urca, the first peak jutting out of the jungle. It was incredible how steep the rock faces of the two mountains really are. The view was great from the first one, but even better from Sugarloaf. It was the classic Rio view looking down Copacabana and Ipanema beaches with the two brothers mountains, Christ the Redeemer and many other mountains all visible.

A dusky fog had settled all over the city. It was like a grey woolen blanket hanging over the ocean where the hoizon suddenly became opaque and disappeared. After taking as many photos as possible, we descended. From here we got another Uber to a rock jutting out between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. There were a hundred people or so ready to see the sunset. Tati and I got a beer and sat down, only to find ourselves sitting directly next to a nice Spanish girl who was in our dorm room. It was a beautiful sunset, all the more perfect because it was like an exact postcard from Rio, as stereotypical as it gets. Someone was playing guitar, men wandered around selling more beer and snacks. Everyone clapped as the sun set behind the mountains.

We walked back on Ipanema beach past all the boys playing soccor by the waves as the sky went dusky pink. It was dark by the time we got home.

Then it was time for showering and getting ready for the night! We got another Uber (honestly, thank goodness Tati has data for this) to a place near Lapa our hostel receptionist recommended. It was in Centro, a place I distinctly remember Lonely Planet cautioning about. The actual place looked posh, with a 50 real entry fee, but that didn’t matter. On the corrner of the street there was a party happening! It was a restaurant with a live 5 woman samba band playing. Everyone was standing around their tables, dancing, use the salt as hand shakers. We tried queueing for a table but we ‘captured’/pulled into the restaurant by a dancing group. They tried to make me Samba and laughed at my attempt. I remember being stuck in the middle of the circle, looking at everyone learing into me like Baz Luhrman’s Moulin Rouge. After 10 seconds, I realised it didn’t matter and started dancing. Once they found out we were from NZ they loved us and kept making us dance. One lady invited me to her birthday party tomorrow. They were so happy some tourists had joined one of the local spots. We had a cheap dinner of meat and rice, then danced caipirinhas until 10.30 when the band eventually finished. It was so much fun.

Eager to see what was in Lapa, we got a cab a few blocks away. Lapa was more mainstream, loud, people spilling out of bars onto the street. Our taxi driver took us to a place with live samba music. It was cool, a big open brick building with huge windows. We danced but it was a different feeling from the other. The music was so loud it felt like my eardrums were going to burst. The lights were on (strangely) and the football was on the telly. But everyone was samba-ring away like it didn’t matter. It was amazing seeing some of the ladies dance. Around 2am we got an Uber home. Our driver was stopped by a drink-driving police check but there were no problems.

We slept in until 10am the next morning. I packed my bags for Costa Rica (no easy feat in a compact hostel with the lights off while others slept). Then we checked-out, put bags in the locker and had breakfast at a bakery down the road. I had a chicken croissant, espresso and a passionfruit and strawberry fresh juice. Tati bought a dozen cheese-bread balls for us to snack on. Back the hostel we rejoined Susie and Joao.

We all got an Uber to the famous tiled stairs in Lapa. There were tiles from all over the world – included four from NZ! We took heaps of photos and then it threatened to rain.

We also checked out the Museum of Tomorrow, just to the see the building.

We had lunch back in Ipanema around 2pm at a really good restaurant called Balada. I had an hamburger, chips and the best Acai bowl yet in Brazil. I had to do it for my last afternoon!

It was pouring with rain and we sprinted (literally) back to the hostel, running through the door drenched to the point the receptionist offered for us to use the shower. We said a big goodbye to Tati and Joao!

Now we are still in the hostel, showered, ready for our 1am flight to Costa Rica!