Travel
30-minutes after boarding the Varig plane from Buenos Aires and drying our tears, we were in Brazil. The seaside, moonlit mountains and an illuminated Jesus in the sky marked our arrival in Rio de Janeiro. The place I’d secretly imagined I had come from. The soccer, surfing and samba of it all called to me.
Funky, beach house greeted us as we signed in at Mellow Yellow, our terraced hostel boasting a Jacuzzi and restaurant on the top floor. With a room named futebol, it was only fitting that I got a Ronaldinio locker and Kirsten scored a Ronaldo one. Our first morning, we awoke from a chicken ensulada-induced sleep with a fan cutting through the brazilan humidity to the accompaniment of our Texan and Australian roomies snoring. The cheese, ham, toast and watermelon breakfast which only finished at 1pm daily hinted that Rio was not the city for relaxing. The loud, musical streets told us we could sleep when we were dead.
We thought we were being productive in persisting with our sightseeing schedule to go up through Corcovado National Park to see the statue of Christ (Christo Redentor) on an overcast day. All we “saw” was an outline of Him through the mist and the aerial view of the city looked like sweet nothing on our side of the clouds. There isn’t much that makes up for wasting 100 reals and not being able to see the symbol of Rio, other than the sweet, slushy pulp of the acai berry sprinkled with granola. Perpeptual backpacking brokenness ensured that this berry product and salty popcorn made the perfect lunch.
Note to self and all those jumping into group cabs from the hostel in search of parties. Do not heed the advice of foreigners pretending to be tour guides. You’ll find yourself standing beneath the arches of Lapa, officially soaked and wondering why you bothered creating waves in your hair with curling tongs. You will have bypassed the obvious location of entertainment where the locals are busting out and find yourself in a dark warehouse resembling somewhere from you nightmares where progressive, have-to-be-high music deafens you. Not the stellar first impression of Brazil I had hoped for.
- Freezing!
The temperature outside right now is 41; inside my house the thermometer reads 47! Fortunately the sun is beaming in the windows on the northeast side of the house. I will ask Donald to light the pilot on the heater for me, but I'll set...
- What To Do In Rio When It's Raining And You're Broke
Firstly: Cancel your samba lessons until further notice that you may have money again. 2) Escape the storm and enjoy some acai (so cheap but lay off the granola they charge you for). 3) Walk through Rio Sul Shopping Center exclaiming how expensive all...
- Don't Cry For Us Buenos Aires
Never could I have imagined that we would get an extra day in Buenos Aires. But rechecking our tickets confirmed just that. An unexpected 24 hours in my Argentina and we were clueless as to how we would savour it. Only the day before, we had exerted...
- 5 Continents Ago, In Buenos Aires.....
I cannot say that it was love at first sight as I drove into the city of Buenos Aires. My initial blurry-eyed glances of its dark streets were through the cab windows at 2am on the way from Ezeiza airport. I was however simultaneously surprised and...
- Countries And Their Costumes: The Rio Carnival
Rio Carnival is one of the most magical events in the party calendar. People from across the globe come together to watch parades flock the streets of Rio de Janeiro and catch a glimpse of the colourful costumes. Last year Rio de Janeiro saw 850,000 tourists...
Travel
30-minutes after boarding the Varig plane from Buenos Aires and drying our tears, we were in Brazil. The seaside, moonlit mountains and an illuminated Jesus in the sky marked our arrival in Rio de Janeiro. The place I’d secretly imagined I had come from. The soccer, surfing and samba of it all called to me.
Funky, beach house greeted us as we signed in at Mellow Yellow, our terraced hostel boasting a Jacuzzi and restaurant on the top floor. With a room named futebol, it was only fitting that I got a Ronaldinio locker and Kirsten scored a Ronaldo one. Our first morning, we awoke from a chicken ensulada-induced sleep with a fan cutting through the brazilan humidity to the accompaniment of our Texan and Australian roomies snoring. The cheese, ham, toast and watermelon breakfast which only finished at 1pm daily hinted that Rio was not the city for relaxing. The loud, musical streets told us we could sleep when we were dead.
We thought we were being productive in persisting with our sightseeing schedule to go up through Corcovado National Park to see the statue of Christ (Christo Redentor) on an overcast day. All we “saw” was an outline of Him through the mist and the aerial view of the city looked like sweet nothing on our side of the clouds. There isn’t much that makes up for wasting 100 reals and not being able to see the symbol of Rio, other than the sweet, slushy pulp of the acai berry sprinkled with granola. Perpeptual backpacking brokenness ensured that this berry product and salty popcorn made the perfect lunch.
Note to self and all those jumping into group cabs from the hostel in search of parties. Do not heed the advice of foreigners pretending to be tour guides. You’ll find yourself standing beneath the arches of Lapa, officially soaked and wondering why you bothered creating waves in your hair with curling tongs. You will have bypassed the obvious location of entertainment where the locals are busting out and find yourself in a dark warehouse resembling somewhere from you nightmares where progressive, have-to-be-high music deafens you. Not the stellar first impression of Brazil I had hoped for.
- Freezing!
The temperature outside right now is 41; inside my house the thermometer reads 47! Fortunately the sun is beaming in the windows on the northeast side of the house. I will ask Donald to light the pilot on the heater for me, but I'll set...
- What To Do In Rio When It's Raining And You're Broke
Firstly: Cancel your samba lessons until further notice that you may have money again. 2) Escape the storm and enjoy some acai (so cheap but lay off the granola they charge you for). 3) Walk through Rio Sul Shopping Center exclaiming how expensive all...
- Don't Cry For Us Buenos Aires
Never could I have imagined that we would get an extra day in Buenos Aires. But rechecking our tickets confirmed just that. An unexpected 24 hours in my Argentina and we were clueless as to how we would savour it. Only the day before, we had exerted...
- 5 Continents Ago, In Buenos Aires.....
I cannot say that it was love at first sight as I drove into the city of Buenos Aires. My initial blurry-eyed glances of its dark streets were through the cab windows at 2am on the way from Ezeiza airport. I was however simultaneously surprised and...
- Countries And Their Costumes: The Rio Carnival
Rio Carnival is one of the most magical events in the party calendar. People from across the globe come together to watch parades flock the streets of Rio de Janeiro and catch a glimpse of the colourful costumes. Last year Rio de Janeiro saw 850,000 tourists...