Day 5

Saturday 6^th November 2010 @ 18:41

We went to Lapa last night (pronounced Lapa) for a street party, there was thousands of people out it was ridiculous, something else that was ridiculous was the prices, 20 reias cover charge for a bar no bigger than the tiger (20 reias is about 12 quid)

It was an experience though, lots of samba drums in the town square and people going all out, really cool. Unfortunately I had done myself in on the beach and had come down with a spot of sunstroke so we came home by midnight.

We woke this morning to rain (YESSSSSS!!) which is exactly what I had hoped for seeing as my body was burning from yesterday. We decided to go and get some brekky at what is fast becoming or favourite place (the bread and coffee are amazing)

 and then find a pub that was showing Man Utd. We we’re advised to try the Mexican Bar and they were right.

We spent the afternoon drinking there and they showed Utd on one tele and Celtic on another thanks to the ex-pat Celtic supporters club via a laptop. The afternoon went quickly in a haze of chilli tequila and Brahma and due to the rain extended afterwards.

We left prematurely as we had to pick up some laundry but plan on heading out soon to catch up with the lads we spent the afternoon with. My favourite part was when a Liverpool fan from Bath was giving Suzi some grief about being a football fan.

“tell us the difference between netball and football will you love” he said… (the guy in the yellow/ blue stripey top)

So before Suz could answer I asked the rest off the bar at top note:

“can anyone tell me the difference between Bath and Liverpool??”

Now, I’m not really sure where I was going with this, I’d had a few beers and in my own little way was trying to stick up for my wife,  but the response I got was pure gold.

From the back of the room in a thick Glaswegian accent a bloke shouted

“if your from Liverpool, you’ve never seen a fucking bath”

Amazing, so good I bought the guy a drink,

The guy from bath?? Oh, he went completely red and didn’t pipe up for a while.

Anyway were off out for a few beers and some live music tonight on a recommendation from John, hope it’s a good en.

Day 4

Friday 5^th November 2010 @ 20:30

Oh my giddy aunt it was hot today!! It was 34 degrees on the way to the beach at 10 o clock.

Before that we went over to John and Nina’s to book the tickets for the football on Sunday (Fluminese Vs Vasco de Gama) and ended up booking a tour of the Favalas for Monday morning too! Whilst we were there John showed us this game they play in the Caribbean which is a ring on a length of fishing line and a hook on the wall, the game is to get the ring on the hook and is highly addictive!!

We headed back to Ipanema beach. Now we are a bit more in the know about Rio beach etiquette than we were on Tuesday. We now know that the beach is roughly divided into unofficial sections. You walk the length of the beach ‘til you find people who are most like you and that’s where you sit. There’s a family area, a gay area…. And apparently right by life guard station number 9 is where the young and beautiful people hang out. So that’s where we were headed!!

It has been a painstaking day, I (Franky) am literally red from head to toe but we figured there is no point coming to one of the worlds most famous beaches for ass and not sit and appreciate some. So that’s what we did, we sat and watched and discussed bottoms. Whilst getting stuck into a few Caipirinhas (passion fruit and kiwi being our favourites), then a few beers. It’s a tough job but somebody had to do it for you guys back home (and we found a new use for our 10x zoom on the new camera!)

 

If you are a true Carioca then you absolutely must not sit or lie down on the beach. You stand and you pose, endlessly. Below is what we figured were the best that lifeguard station number 9 had to offer….  (click on pictures to enlarge)

 

 And what about Suz I hear you ladies asking? Well this is the view she got to enjoy!!!!!

ok, we're off to Lepa for a street party.

Day 3

Thursday 4^th November 2010 @ 06:21 (the following day)

Another early rise for the Frank’s, we had some juice and some homemade sausage sandwiches, when in Rio, have a sausage butty… as they say!

We walked the length of Copacabana beach in the scorching heat, it was so hot at 10am “even my ears were sweating” Pilkington (2010). There are a lot of old people on the Copacabana side, but fair play to em, the older lady still abides by the Rio rule of triangular bits of material covering the nipples and a thong up the bottom. Some how the sausage sandwiches remained in my belly and we strode on.

As we neared the end of the beach we decided to take a cab to the foot of Sugar Loaf mountain or Pao de Acucar that sits at the mouth of Guanabara Bay. The mountains sides are shrouded in the remnants of the forest that once covered the whole of Rio de Janerio, it still provides shelter and refuge for loads of birds and stuff.

Standing at 1312ft it was gonna be a bit of a challenging trek to the summit, but luckily they have a cable car that takes about five mins so we opted for that. The mountain is split into two bits, the first stop on the cable car is called Morro da Urca and has loads of memorabilia like old cable cars and statues etc, the views are great and give you a real sense of the unbelievable size of the city and where things are.

The second cable car takes you to the summit of Sugar Loaf (the name, as I am sure you're wondering, was adopted in the 19^th century and comes from the rocks shape which resembles the conical clay moulds they once used to refine sugar). As you would expect the views from up there are unbelievable,

We also bumped into a couple of South African blokes whose wives believe they are out here on “business” or closer to the truth, the Sao Paulo Grand Prix this weekend. It was quarter past twelve and these two were a little tipsy! They were raving on about a drink called “Caipirinhas” which is essentially made up of ice, lemon and liquor. We shall be sampling some soon I imagine.

Anyway we left these two after the standard whinge about fat Americans and condescending Auzzies and went for one of the meandering walks around the summit. You walk through shady forests and theres lots of birds and flowers etc, but also Ghekos.

We headed back down for a spot of lunch, and then headed off to Cocovado Mountain. It's another taxi ride to the other side of town and then you take the Funicular Railway which runs from the bottom of the mountain to the top, we had to wait an hour as some fat Americans had booked the whole of the next train out for a conference (on Cocovado Mountain!! For guess what??? TUPPERWARE!!! Grrrrr)

So we had a beer and learnt some more stuff, like this…… The iconic statue of Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) that watches over the city was actually the winning design in a competition for a grand monument that would reflect the spirit of the city, they started building it in 1921 and it took them ten years to complete. The statue itself stands at 98ft and draws inspiration from Leonardo Da Vinci’s famous study of the human body (see - I told you we were learning stuff!)

When the train dropped us off a queue of, yep, fat Americans formed for the LIFT!! The lift to the top!! That wasn’t even the worst of it, when you get out of the lift there are two escalators that take right to the statue. Unbelievable!! (We opted for the stairs in disgust!)

Up to the top and the views are truly staggering!!

We took a few shots

... but the sun was right behind the statue at this point so we decided we would hang around taking in the views and having a couple of beers until sunset, seeing as we would probably never come back! And it was a good excuse for a beer!

We're glad we did as we got some really nice shots as the crowds had cleared.

We didn’t really want to come down, its hard to explain in words or show in pictures but it was breathtaking up there.

so we got one more snap of us both with the big guy...

We left and caught the train back down and from there we got a cab back home. It was half seven when we got back to the apartment so the plan was to have a quick nap, get up, get some tea and go out for the night. What actually happened was we fell asleep, really asleep and woke up at 6am this morning!!! So now we're off to the beach for some brekky and a Caipirinha or 6 (we have last night to make up for).

Day 2

Wednesday 3^rd November 2010 @ 20:00 (Brazillian Time)

Day 2 was amazing! We woke early and got ourselves sorted, a shower was much needed after the flight. We went to meet our other host Nina, she’s a Carioca (the name given to people born in Rio) she showed us around Ipanema including all the places to eat and drink and then we sat and had breakfast together, she had cheese and jam!

We walked the length of the beach and took some pictures 

The shot above was taken using the "panarama" feature on the new camera, first go to. Well impressed!!

then we found a nice spot and lay down in the sunshine for the rest of the day, bliss.

The sea is great, the waves are enormous!!

We had a few beers and soaked up the 30 degree heat for a few hours and then came back to the apartment.

What we’ve learnt today:

Christ The Redeemer was built in 1931, he overlooks the south side of Rio which, since his erection (ahem!!) has prospered and the affluent folk of Rio now reside here. The north side to his back is now home to the Favalas (the slums). Weird no??

Were going up Sugar Loaf mountain tomorrow morning and then up Corcovado mountain where Christ is. (yeah, I thought he was on Sugar Loaf too).

Got to dash were heading out for some tea and a boogie.

Day 1

Tuesday 2^nd November 2010 @ 17:27 (GMT)

And we’re off!! Today we started our round the world trip. ROUND THE WORLD!! Wooooo hoooo.

Although so far nothing much has happened. We caught our connection to Heathrow on time, had a bottle of Moet in Terminal 5

and got on the flight to Rio – where we got more complimentary champagne, score!! Although we didn’t manage to secure an upgrade, despite numerous efforts and at least 5 not so subtle hints to anyone we thought was wearing a BA uniform.

“Have you heard? We’re on our honeymoon”

Suzi has watched Sex And The City 2 (yey). I have done a bit of Football Manager (FM10) (for those interested I’m managing Blackpool, I’m safely through the first round of the cup and after much searching plumped for Nacer Barazite to fill the “problem midfield area”).

Like I said nothing much has happened. I’m sat watching the screen roll around telling me how far we’ve come. Altitude 35000ft, Time to destination 6:35. Think I might make use of the free booze.

Suz looks like she’s gonna have a little nap, I’m off to play Watford away.

02:50 (GMT)

We're here, the flight was pretty good, free booze, lots of films to watch and FM10. Good times. We've just passed Christ The Redeemer on the way in, all lit up and overlooking Rio. Kinda feels like he's keeping an eye on the city.

We met John, our host for the week and are just about to crash and burn. Jonh tells us were right on the corner of Copacabana and Ipanema beach, cant wait to check that out tomorrow!!