The Marvelous City

Ahh...Rio De Janeiro. The Marvelous City it surely is. I had heard so many warnings from people about how dangerous it is and wasn´t sure what to expect but I was blown away. Rio really has it all, national parks, beautiful beaches, mountains, great food and lively nightlife. It is absolutely gorgeous and much less intimidating than I had originally thought. The Portugeuse explorers entered the huge bay in January 1502 and thinking it was a river, named it Rio De Janeiro (January River). I can only imagine the excitement they must have felt approaching this jewel in the sea. We arrived to Rio on the night of the 17th and checked into Stone Of A Beach hostel in Copacabana. The next day was beautiful so we headed to the beach. Copacabana was packed with people and numerous vendors. You need not move an inch for anything you might want because these vendors are hawking anything your heart could desire - beer, water, empanadas, shrimp on a stick, fried cheese, hammocks, bathing suits, jewelry, sarongs..you name it and they are trying to sell it to you.


Jules and I on the beach in Copa-Copacabana!

Unfortunately, the nice weather did not continue. It was rainy and overcast for about 5 days straight. A bunch of us from the hostel headed to the mall and saw ´The Hitman´ at the local cinema. Quality filmmaking directed by Vin Diesel. Need I say more? The options are limited here in Brazil. But it was a way to pass the day and entertaining if only by how bad it was. On Friday night we headed out to Lappa which is a massive street party with tons of vendors, bars and clubs. But mostly it is fun to just walk around, drink in the streets and enjoy the energy of Rio. Saturday was yet again cloudy but Jules and I decided to head to Sugarloaf Mountain (slightly better view than the one in Frederick!) anyway and see the view of the city.


Tram up to Sugarloaf.


Copacabana is to the left and Christ the
Redeemer is in the upper right corner.

Every Sunday, there is a big market in Rio called the`Hippie Market`. They sell lost of crafts, jewelry, food. We met a nice group of girls from the hostel and all went together and bought lots of presents (for ourselves and others!). I also tried some Bahian food at the market which consisted of a corn cake covered in some kind of yellow sticky curry paste, fried prawns (shell and all) and fresh salsa on top. It was like nothing I had ever tasted. Bahia is the region in the North of Brazil and home to the Afro-Brazilian culture. We had originally planned on going up to Salvador but changed plans so trying this food was as close as I got. On another trip I suppose!


Tons of beads! These were made
from the seed of the acai which
is a popular fruit eaten in Brazil.


Julie, our new friend Rachael from Ireland
and I shopping at the market.

All of Rio however, is not beautiful and perfect as they may seem in my photos. Though Brazil has one of the world´s strongest economies, it has one of the world´s widest income gaps between rich and poor. And this is definitely apparent in Rio. In Rio, 1 in 4 live in favelas or slums and there are over 500 within the city. There were tours being offered by our hostel to take tourists into the favelas and while I find it interesting, I didn´t feel right about it. Personally, I do not feel comfortable riding a bus into the favela, with my shiny digital camera, taking pictures of poor people like they are some tourist attraction. To me it doesn´t seem right, but of course it is a very real part of Rio and should not be ignored. And the truth is, to see it you need a local Brazilian to take you as the drug lords rule the streets with machine guns and you could not easily go on your own. We did take one photo from afar as we were driving up to see the Christ statue.


One of the many favelas in Rio.