Rio de Janeiro (Round Two)

RIO ROUND TWO!!
We are back for two weeks and this time Mike and Rachelle are with us. First thing on the agenda, head back to the Christ of Redeemer since the scaffolding was down. 

Although we were not in Uruguay, we showed our support during the FIFA Cup when they played Holland. Unfortunately they did not win.

It was a beautiful day so I visited Lapa and Santa Teresa neighborhoods. Santa Teresa is a hilltop district and known for being an artsy area. Lapa is located in the centre of Rio and is very bohemian.  Instead of taking a taxi to Santa Teresa you can take a cable car. It costs $.40 US one way.

Beautiful views from Santa Teresa.

The cable car station in Santa Teresa.

Some unusual art work

Lapa is also known for its architecture like Arcos da Lapa (Aqueduct).

View of Lapa from on top of the Aqueduct in the cable car heading to Santa Teresa

Brutus in Rio de Janeiro

I love the Flat Stanley Project and wanted to do something similar during our travels. We decided to take Brutus the Buckeye, the OSU Mascot, since we are both from Ohio and are fans of OSU football.

Ready to start my adventure. First place is Rio de Janeiro

Enjoying a sunny day at Ipanema Beach with a cold Bohemia Beer

Gabbie is my new friend from Rio, Brazil

Copacabana Beach

Hanging out on Sugar Loaf Mountain

Christ of Redeemer

Meet my new Brazilian friends!

Hanging out at the beach

Tchau Rio, until next time...

Had a great two weeks in Rio but now we are off to Montevideo, Uruguay for the next three months.  I am looking forward to visiting a new place and meeting Mike & Rachelle (Mike works for the same company as Scott) who have been traveling off and on with Scott for the last ten years.

One last fun night out in Rio at Shenanigans Pub...

Sugar Loaf & Christ Redeemer

The statue of Jesus Christ is 130 ft. tall and is located at the peak of the Corcovado Mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park. It is the tallest of its kind. Due to the 2016 Olympics, they were doing renovations on it (as you can see).

Spent the morning at Sugar Loaf Mountain. You reach the top by cable car and takes about 3 minutes. The views are amazing. You can see all of Rio and beyond. The first photo is Copacabana Beach where are hotel is located.

Santa Teresa neighborhood is very old and charming.

You can take this cable car through the town

Girl from Ipanema

Today we spent most of our time in Ipanema and Leblon area. I definitely like these areas better than Copacabana. They feel more like a neighborhoods with rows of restaurants and shops, trees overhanging the streets and much cleaner.

That night we went downtown to a neighborhood called Lapa with Scott's friend Bruce. The area is known for great Brazilian restaurants, live music and historical monuments. The cobblestone streets start to fill up around 11pm with all walks of life and lines are long to get into the clubs. This little area reminds me of smaller tamer Bourbon Street.  We went to Rio Scenarium which has 4 levels each with a different theme. They have live bands featuring everything from samba, rock to other rooms with DJ’s spinning hip-hop and techno.

Nothing would be complete if you did not head to Cervantes Restaurant for a late night bite to eat. The restaurant is small and decor is simple. They have great sandwiches and I would highly recommend the ham sandwich with pineapple filling.

A popular juice in Brazil is coconut water called “agua de coco”. They can be found along the streets of Rio or on the beaches. The coconut is cut in front of you to ensure its freshness. Inside the coconut, the water is a clear liquid with a mild taste, not to be confused with coconut milk. As the coconut matures, the water gradually is replaced by the coconut meat and air.

Along Copacabana beach there many sand castles. They are pretty impressive and have lots of detail.

We spent St. Patrick's Day at Shenanigan's Irish Pub.  I was pretty much a hot, sweaty mess most of the night. Ha Ha.. It was so humid and in the 90's!!

A popular place to go on Sunday is the Feira Hippie de Ipanema or Hippie Market. This is a large fair with vendors selling Brazilian crafts, art, clothing, jewelry, lace, ceramics and food. The fair was started by a group of hippies back in 1968 and should not be missed. Also, similar to other markets you can try and bargain on the price.

Another must have while you are in Rio is an Acai icy slush. Açaí is a berry native to the Amazon.Order the "Açaí na tigela" in a bowl with sliced bananas and granola. It is delicious!

 

Tonight I got my sushi fix, we went to Nik’s Restaurant in Ipanema. Every night they have all you can eat sushi for R$55.00 per person ($30 US) which is an amazing price. I ordered some sake with my meal and when it arrived it came in a rather large square bowl almost the size of a B/B Plate. Scott and I looked at each other and laughed because we had no idea how I was supposed to drink out of it. Well I decided to wing it and just picked up the entire bowl up and drank away. No one said anything so I guess I was doing it correctly or they were amused by me.

Making friends with the local musicians and watching the sunset at the picture.  Paradise!!