Rio de Janeiro, Brazil by storm!

OK, we are going to travel back in time for a moment. In the Spring of 2009, David and I took our first big trip together. We both had 2 weeks off work to play with so we began planning and boy oh boy did we plan…..we planned for months!!

 We both love all things Latin- we love the language dialects, we love the variety of cuisine, and we love all the unique but similar cultures. Although both of us studied spanish in school- David in Mexico and me in Spain, neither of us had ever been to South America.

 Here is what we came up with: 5 days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; 5 days in Buenos Aires, Argentina & 5 days in Santiago, Chile.  What a whirlwind!!! Of course we wish we had more time but nonetheless, we had the best time and here are some highlights we wanted to share.

 Stop #1

 Rio in one word- LOUD. By loud I don’t mean obnoxious, I mean passionate. It is vivacious city that is very proud. The colors around the city are so vibrant and the people so very confident and accepting of both themselves as well as others. The language is portugese and when they speak it, it come out very melodic and actually quite romantic. With the currency of the Brazil Real, you can buy to your hearts content because its a great exchange rate to the american dollar! One thing to remember is that South America is below the equator which means that the seasons are flip-flopped. So…we went in our “spring” which was really their “fall” season.

 One caution, Rio is known for its crime so please be careful with your belongings. We were victim to their famous pickpocketing abilities ourselves! Part of the experience but also avoidable.

 We searched all over TripAdvisor for accommodations. We went back and forth between hotels and B&B’s and finally decided on going the B&B route. We felt that we would get a deeper level of intimacy with the culture as well as meeting other travelers from around the world. Plus the fact that they are cheaper than hotels but include breakfast was right up our alley. We ended up hitting the nail on the head with that. We had a great time with our hosts at the B&B and met some fellow travelers who ended up joining us at a soccer game while in Rio. We had a great time! This of course is just our personal opinion- I am sure hotels in Rio are wonderful too.

 Anyway, we stayed at the Pousada Pitanga in the historic Santa Teresa neighborhood. It was a fun place to walk around as well as being relatively close to the beaches both by taxi & via the subway system. We loved it!! The owner, Lydie Antoine- we such a great hostess and the accommodations were definitely locally flavored. Each room was unique in their decorations and her breakfast was amazing- different and fresh fruit juice from Rio every morning!

 In Santa Teresa, we strolled along the windy streets every day. There were old trolleys that helped to shuttle people around. We ate at 2 of the most amazing restaurants down the road from the B&B for dinner. Sobrenatural has the best seafood spaghetti & Espirito Santa had some delicious Feijoada (a traditional brazilian dish).

 Upon arrival in Brazil, we went directly to the famous Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer), as it was Good Friday and very meaningful to us.  This statue of Christ sits on a mountain high above Rio and has amazing views of the entire city and the beaches. This statue is world famous and people come to Rio from all over the world to see it. It was so packed with tourists and we have a feeling is like that all the time, but wow was it worth the crowds……a peaceful experience suspended above such a magnificent city.

It was just our luck that a huge rival soccer game was going on while we were there. It was actually the semi finals of the Brazilian Cup with Botafogo & Vasco duking it out! It was at the famous Maracanã– one of the largest stadiums in the world. It was an unforgettable experience….especially since we were pick pocketed and lost our money! Crazy fans though- and they let off fireworks IN the stadium!!

Another great view of the city and its beaches is from Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar). Its a little scary riding up to it on the gondolas but well worth the panoramic vistas!

The beaches were great for people watching- Copacabana, Leblon & Ipanema top the list. You must get a drink at the famous Copacabana Hotel and experience the joy of strolling along the boardwalk with fresh coconut juice or a cup of beer from a street-side vendor. The other fun side of Rio is that at the beaches there are “sections” with groups of families/friends or even small companies running the area- you can “rent” beach loungers, buy food & drinks, get a towel or even lunch. Its a hilarious experience!

As we have said in our previous posts, we are HUGE “foodies. So of course sampling the local cuisine & drink was high on our list. There are Empanada vendors and Churrascarias (Brazilian Steakhouses)  everywhere and you can eat till you pop! To wash it all down, no visit is complete without a few Caipirinhas– the best kept secret in Brazil! Watch out though…they will sneak up on you- LOL.

Samba is also very famous in Brazil. There was a neighborhood close to Santa Teresa that we walked to called Lapa (although we might suggest a cab next time as we did not feel too safe on our walk). They had a ton of hole-in-the-wall Samba clubs with awesome music and dancing. What a great way to feel the energy of the city!

All of the above was truly an unforgettable experience but we must say that no visit would be complete without a tour through the Favelas. Favelas are unique to Brazil and there are a ton just in the Rio area alone with a couple of the larger one with upwards of a million residents! They are like shanty towns or the slums and are run by the drug lords. The “houses” are built on top of one another and there really are no addresses. In fact, the way that mail gets distributed is by giving all mail for each “Favela” to the oldest woman residing there. She distributes the mail to each resident based on her knowledge of who lives where.  Within each Favela there are even “classes”- lower, middle, and upper. The specific tour we went on took much of the money they made from us tourists and gave it to schools within the Favelas to help the children learn and grow. The kids we visited were so excited to meet us- it melted our hearts!

We were both humbled and in awe of the Favelas we toured. It so unreal and so unlike anything you can imagine. The complete opposite of anything found in the states. The only way to see a Favela is through a tour guide. The drug-lords watch your every mood- you can’t even take pictures of certain things or they will confiscate your camera….so wild but true!

You MUST do this to better understand the history of Brazil and to appreciate their culture.

So, that is, in a nutshell, our adventure in Rio. Please, do yourselves a favor and GO THERE!! We promise you will not be disappointed.

Happy Travels!

David & Kimbra