Cariocas for a week

We slowed it down here in Rio and it has been great.  It was a natural destination to chill since the beach dominates the pulse of the city.  We love the greeting they use instead of “Have a good day”, it is “Have a good beach”.  We made our reservations long ago and were advised that during the high season around Carnaval we would need to commit to one place and we worried we would tire of it after 8 sleeps, but No.  We are well suited to life as a Carioca (the name of someone from Rio).   I hope my life crosses paths with this vibrant city again.

So what does one do in one week in Rio de Janiero?

• Rent chairs and an umbrella and enjoy the beach of Copacabana (2 blocks from our apartment!)  This includes watching a plethora of vendors pass by and flagging down the occasional Caipirinha (heavenly iced beverage with lime, sugar and an alcohol made from sugar cane).   We were especially entertained by the vendors selling bikinis which were hanging around the periphery of an umbrella. At least those vendors could enjoy the shade of the bikini’s which the other vendors (selling anything from sunglasses to grilled meat – that they would grill on their portable grills they hauled with them) could not enjoy.
• Bodysurf endlessly – to the point of injury unfortunately.  Chad sprained his calf and Liam  got sand rash on his chin and shoulder.
• Wander to Ipanema beach to watch the sunset and the gradual flicker of the city lights turning on. As well as various activities such as volleyball, some form of beach tennis, and the occasional foot-volley match, which is like volleyball except you can’t use your hands or arms.
• Take a cog railway up to the infamous Christ the Redeemer statue on the top of Mount Corcovado.
  • Ok, this deserves more of a narrative.  Icons like this tend to be overdone. This one deserves its due in my opinion.  First of all, waiting at the bottom Chad spotted the most adorable Marmoset scurrying along the cables.  I got more of a memory of the adorable little bugger than a picture, but a full grown half pound monkey sends my heart a flutter.  That was when I recognized there is jungle that covers Corcovado right in the city and at the top rests Christ the Redeemer.  I love the wild mixed in with the urban here in Rio, little pockets of jungle sits on hills all around.  Apparently this is one of the factors that helped it get UNESCO World Heritage status.
  • Then the train, sure with a HUGE statue like that folks will want to get closer to it. The train makes sense, but I was surprised to hear that the train opened in 1884 to take people up to this incredible vantage point.  The train is a historic landmark in its own right.  And cruising up through the jungle was great with the trees periodically giving way to sweeping views of ocean, forested hills, and city.
  • The platform up there is small and we were all in awe that this massive statue was completed back in 1931 on this perilous peak. It was awesome to see the views and the statue up close, but the massive crowd was less delightful.  However, the views of him overlooking the city as we cruise around to other sights is no less impressive.  He changes each time we see him as the clouds and light shift.
• Buy some Rio Olympics 2016 stuff.  They are still working on all the preparations at the Olympic park but many events will take place at Copacabana beach where we swim and we toured the Maracana, their biggest futbol venue and site for the opening and closing ceremonies.
• Go to the Carioca Futbol Championship.   During Carnaval their regular football league is on hold, as the country is busy partying, but they do have a tournament of all the Rio teams during this break.  We picked a team for our loyalty, bought a jersey and some tickets and went to a match.  The team we cheered on was Vasco, the only team with their own home stadium, as most of them share the Maracana.  It wasn’t sold out by any stretch of the imagination but that didn’t suppress the energy in the arena.  We walked in and were immediately struck by the passion of the crowd.  They sang nearly nonstop.  Somewhere in the crowd there were folks playing music to lead the crowd and the most enormous flags waved the whole time.  Kids 10 and under get in free to watch the games so there were loads of families.  And in the end, Vasco won 4 to 1.  It was a great experience!
• Go to a Fair.  Every weekend there is a fair and we went for lunch before the football match.   We could have spent all day if we had allowed the time.  There were a few carnival rides, endless stalls selling everything from souvenirs to everyday necessities, and music around every corner.  Some were more old school traditional Brazilian music, some high energy pop tunes with dancers up on stage, and some DJs spinning favorites.  And each had its own crowd of folks dancing along.  And we asked the waiter what he would recommend for lunch.  It was a jerked beef meal deal for 4 people.  Sold.  So delicious!  Excellent meat with fried potatoes and cassava, beans and rice (kinda like New Orleans) and some pico de gallo.  Heaven!
• Go to the Juice Bar to order a frozen smoothie of Acai berries (native to Brazil) for $2.50.
• Feel the energy of Carnaval coming up.  Our first glimpse of this was back at Iguazu where the local drum corp was practicing near our apartment for hours each day in preparation for the Carnaval parade.  Here in Rio we see the kiosk each day adding more silly costumes and feather boas, etc. to their collection of things to sell.  We see folks coming from or going to the block parties that are happening all over the city.  Kind of looks like ComiCon is in town.  Super heroes seem to be popular.  And on the beach I heard a pounding drum beat and followed my ears to find a band and some samba dancers dressed to the nines.  The men in brightly colored suits and the ladies in matching sequin and feather outfits.  I sometimes miss the language advantage I had with Spanish when I could sort out the who, what and why of what I see.  But here I just watch and enjoy with a healthy sense of wonder.
• Discover the guarana fruit.  This grows in the Amazon and flavors many of the sodas here.  The fruit is funky looking with a bright red peel and the fruit inside looks a bit like an eyeball.  Apparently this is the magic ingredient used to give Red Bull it’s kick.  Kids found a yummy soda with a bit more of a kick than coca cola, but less than Mountain Dew.  It is soo good!  I also heard guarana syrup sweetens our delicious fruit smoothies.
• Watch the clouds dance around us during sunset on the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain.  We can see these mountains from our beach in Copacabana so it was fun to take the gondola to the top to see the beach from the mountaintop.  And seeing another vantage point of Christ the Redeemer was cool too. We were again impressed by their technological achievements back in the day as we learned the first cable cars up to this 1,300 foot peak began running in 1912.