We have arrived. Theres just something about this city... we don´t quite believe that we´ve made it this far. It seems to unrealistic that we´re in the Rio de Janeiro laying on Ipanema beach watching the sun set behind its curved hills while listening to the musical Portuguese of thousands of scantly-clad beachgoers.
But we are and we´re here and to me its the perfect ending to the perfect trip. Arriving at 10pm on Friday night we made our way to Leblon (fancy part of town next to the beach!) ready to do some couchsurfing. Well, apparently the guy had misunderstood us that thought there were 2 of us instead of 5. Yea... so he was really nice and let us sleep on his floor for that night anyways, and the next day we found ourselves a perfectly placed hostel in Lapa, the alternative center of Rio.
So now we´re living right in front of a huge white aqueduct with live music and dancing to the right and the left of our hostel. When we´re hungry we step outside and literally walk 2 meters and get ourselves some great street food (Grilled meat sticks or huge hot dogs with corn, raisins, eggs, chips and beans on top) or just cross the street for some caipirinhas that we can drink on our terrace overlooking the nightlife. So thats pretty much what we´ve been doing in the evenings here...
On our first day we went to the Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) for some spectacular views of Rio and its beaches. Its probably the weirdest placed city I´ve seen, I mean its a pretty stupid place to make a huge city cuz its dotted with steep hills jutting out of the ground and surrounded by curving bays everywhere, so the city is left hugging the contours of water and its hills. But this combination of unspoiled rainforest hills, deep blue water and a mass of buildings scattered throughout the area makes it a really amazing city.
The language is impossible to understand but we don´t care cuz its so nice to hear. Its also a bit weird to see people in black suits walking down the street next to others in tiny bikinis, plus, I don´t think I´ve ever seen such a diversity of people all in the same place. Its like if someone picked up the world and shook it and someone from every country landed in Brazil.
So after admiring the view until sunset we went out partying next door, and the next day we decided to relax on Ipanema beach. Being Sunday the beach was so crowded that you just saw a neverending patchwork of umbrellas and people until the sea spray impeded you from seeing any further. That night a street performer that we had met in Buenos Aires spotted us and invited us to a party of other street performer and circus people friends. So we walked up a huge hill and down a maze of pathways reminding me a bit of Hanoi to find this cool party full of people from all over the world.
The day after we visited the Morro Santa Teresa, died of heat and walked to the Christ statue overlooking the city. The views weren´t as nice as from the other hill but it was a nice walk through the rainforest. After that we went to the Uruguaiana market which was teeming with people, but lacked anything interesting to buy (Except for sugar cane juice!!). And again we hung around our area at night, watching some live music and talking to street sellers until late...
Today is Charles´ last day so we´re on our way to Copacabana beach before his plane leaves tonight.
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