Rio... Rio... Rio...

Rio de Janiero is everything you could hope for- beautiful beaches, beautiful people, a loco nightlife, great culture, and yummy food. I was nervous because I had heard stories about people being mugged while in Rio, but like during all of my travels it just came down to being safe, not carrying anything too valuable on you, and being smart. My photos while in Rio are limited because I simply didn't carry my camera with me all the time- not to the beach and especially not out at night. I stayed at a pretty lively hostel that had a huge bar and provided transportation to some of the attractions and nightlife in Rio. I met some great people while in Rio that I traveled with during most of my time in Brazil. I met Ben and Kate on my way to see Christ Redeemer, which is the immense statue of Christ that overlooks all of Rio. You can honestly see it from everywhere in the city and it is impressive to see it all closeup and personal. I was staying in Copacobana so I was just a quick walk to the beaches, both Copacobana and Ipanema beach. Both beaches are gorgeous, filled with women and men in barely there bathing suits (and it doesn't matter if you have the body or not), and people walking around selling bathing suits, towels, and all types of food.

The other main attractions in Rio are 'The Loaf' which is really named Pao de Azul and you take a tram up to the topis a great place to go see the sunset. There are also the botanical gardens, the Lapa steps, and lots of museums. We went to see a local futbol game- not as crazy as the ones in Argentina- and had a late night swim at the Copacobana Hotel. One important thing to do in Rio is to see the favelas, the slums of Rio. They are shanty towns crowded onto hillsides are units of irregular self-constructed housing that are typically unlicensed and occupied illegally. The poor-quality residences are built randomly, houses on top of houses though a network of stairways and alleyways that you have to squeeze though. Often the favelas are run by drug lords (the one who ran this one was 21 yrs old) who make millions of dollars which they use to pay off the cops so they don't raid the towns. 60% of the people in Rio live well below the poverty line. I feel it is important to see this side of Rio and get outside the tourist, wealthy areas of the city to see how most of the people live.

In Brazil on the street corners there are often fresh fruit smoothies and pastries grab and go stores. Acai is the fruit smoothie that all the locals get; it is chalkfull with tons of vitamins and protein and is a deep purple color. It is delicious (especially with granola, banana slices, and honey) and I think I got one everyday while in Brazil- it is going to be the next big thing. Additionally there are lots of Brazilian BBQ/steak places, called churrasios, where you sit at the restaurant and people walk around with meat on sticks. Additionally there are stalls with kebabs, corn on the cob, and churros filled with chocolate - covering all your basic food groups.

OK, lets get to the nightlife. Friday night is the lapa street party which is basically three streets packed with people. The streets are lined with stalls selling kebabs, women with trays full of tequila shots, bar stands that can make you any drink you desire- caipirinha is the traditional drink in Brazil, and lots and lots of people. There is an awesome drum band that plays under the bridge located at the end of one of the street. In addition to the street party there are lots of clubs that line the street offering you a place to party when the street gets too packed. Saturday night we wanted to go see how the locals party so we went to Casa Rosa, a Lapa club/bar located in a renovated house. One room had a live Brazilian band, another room had a DJ playing all the hot hits. When we arrived we noticed that in the court yard there was a mechanical bull and everyone was dressed up like farmers. After some investigation we learned that people were dressed up for the spring harvest festival- the time of year that farmers harvest crops. Anyway we had a great time mingling with all the locals, dancing some salsa, and yes I did dabel with the mechanical bull, not one of my finer moments. On Sunday night the Favela Funk Party which is a huge club- we are talking 10,000+ people- dancing samba (a crazy shaking everything you got dance).

And that about wraps up Rio... Rio... Rio...