Whew! 6 days into this thing and I feel like I've been gone for months. But that's the rule of backpacking after all
1 day = 1 week of normal life.
First things first: WORLD CUP MANIA!
The Fifa Fan Fest was a blast. There is one in every host city for all the games. It's a big festival with music and vendors and giant screens with the games on. It was a total blast. A great vibe and one hell of a game! We were there for Germany (Deutschland or Alamenha (?) depending on your language of choice). Devin had on a German jersey from when he saw world cup there a few years back. And as a result everyone thought we were German. Which wasn't a bad thing, as it meant we had our photos taken with no less than 30- different random groups of people from the time the game ended until we got home. After all, Germany won, and I guess that made us superstars by some connection. It was super fun.
Watching the game was exciting and full of such great energy. There were some Argentina fans there, but most of the Brazilians cheered for Germany. Every almost goal brought forth cheers and gasps. And when Germany scored the place blew up in a giant frenzy of jumping, cheering and gerneral joyous mayhem. It was fabulously fun!
And after a band played and a DJ. We met some cool Brazilian's who wanted to dance with us. Pretty much the Brazilian's love to dance, and are happy to teach you if you don't know. As people are often surprised, I have a few moves up my sleeve, so that was fun. But I definintely learned more.
Next up: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Yep. Zombies. Okay, no actual Zombies, but Brasilia is a gov't town, so when the weekend hits it's like a ghost town. I mean, completely empty subways. Empty streets. Was very cool.
Brasilia is an interesting town. It's completely designed and built to design, so it's clean, spacious, has wide roads and minimal traffic issues compared to other cities of 2.5 million. The archetecture is wild. Domes. Cathedrals made of all stained glass. There is one that is all blue glass and the light shines through on a giant Jesus. It really is unlike any building I've ever seen.
And also... RIO BABY!
The day after the final we flew to Rio. And I have to say..... Rio is awesome, and totally familiar. Even though I've never been there, I've seen it SOOOOO many times that it's hard to believe I haven't. The views from the mountains, the beaches, all of that is so photographed, it's crazy familiar. Reminds me of New York or London or other places that are in movies and pictures all the time.
We stayed in a house near the Christ the Redeemer statue. (Well, not the statue, but below it with views). Cris and Antonio were super nice. The view was fabulous, and it was fun to stay someplace off the tourist track. It was a real middle class neighborhood and not what I expected in Rio.
After we got in we immediately headed up to the Christ the Redeemer statue. If you've ever seen a picture of Rio, you've seen the statue and the view. It's as famous as the Statue of Liberty and.... a GIANT challenge to get to. Sure, you'd think it would be simple, and if it wasn't crowded you'd hop on an incline train and ride to the top in 20 minutes.
Instead.... 3 hours and 45 minutes. Yep. We stood in 4 different lines. First for tickets for the van to take us up. Then to take the van up. Then a traffic jam on the mountain road because of all the people going. Then a cue to buy tickets to the park. Then the grand daddy.... a 3 HOUR line to get on the van to go to the statue. (It ended up being 1 hour 45 minutes, but they told us it would be 3 hours). Our hope of seeing it at sunset vanished before we even got up the mountain. All this because the train was full for the day. We met some cool folks in line: From Austin, TX and Los Angeles. Yep. In fact, we've met 8 or more folks from Austin in a few days. It's weird.
The views are great. The statue is cool. The wind was cold.
We were the last ones off the Statue, heading back to the giant line to go down.... only the line was gone. The last bus had left. Hmmmmm. So we go over to take the Train instead, there was still a line for that. Only they wouldn't let us. They told us to pay up or walk. Even though we'd already paid. They said the vans were a different company. Now, walking down 8 kilometers or more, probably, in pitch black Rio seems like a really dumb idea, so they basically had us. Not ideal, but we paid it. Left a bad taste in my mouth, but what can you do?
A quick note: The statue is probably the worst run tourist attraction I've ever been too. And that says a lot. However, it is cool. My suggestion is to book your train ticket the day before online, then you get there 20 minutes before the train and head on up. When we told our house owners how long it took they were dumbfounded. Usually it's 30 minutes or so of lines.
And finally IPANEMA
There is a beach and a song about a girl. And I can tell you, the beach there is everything you think it is. Beautiful sand. Fabulous waves. Sandwich stands (we had Uruguayan (?) sandwiches, and Brazilian drinks while sitting in chairs under an umbrella). There are gorgous gals in tiny swim suits. (Really tiny! no complaints there!) Guys playing soccer, and just a general state of fun. The water is warmer here in the winter than LA is in the summer. And frankly... it's wonderful.
But here's the thing. I didn't enjoy it at first. Not at all. Part of it was a food thing, my eating has been soooooo far off my good diet that it's thrown my hypoglycemia off a bit. But even once that was in shape with the sandwiches, I was still tense and off... and I realized....
I have been given more safety warnings about Brazil and especially Rio than any place I've ever been. More than Kenya, Uganda, Russia, Morrocco. Any of them. And it's made me paranoid. Freaked out to keep my stuff safe, to keep myself safe. It's basically made me think everyone is going to steal my shit and knife me. And I can tell you: It's all bullshit. It is. Everyone I've met is wonderful. Every place I've gone has felt safe. Everyone I've talked to feels the same. This is a beach, just like any beach in any big city. If you leave your camera out, it'll probably get stolen. But if you stay smart, you will be fine.
Now, I'm not saying bad stuff can't happen in Brazil. It can. It has to people. Sometimes its because they are stupid and walk around with an expensive camera in the ghetto. And sometimes it's bad luck. But keep your wits about you, and don't walk down dark alleys alone at night... just like you would in any big city anywhere in the world... and you'll have a blast.
Once that clicked, I hit the water. I splashed in the waves. I had a blast. Sure, we made positive our little bit of stuff was watched by a friendly neighbor or one of us. But it was no problem at all. We even walked the beach at night... they say NEVER DO THAT. Except, it's completely lit up, bright lights on every inch. And people are all around. It's really fun and really great. Brazilian's are really fabulous people. Yes, just like anywhere there are some bad eggs, but for the most part this is a country full of wonderful vibrant people. Awesome!
CraigO
1 day = 1 week of normal life.
First things first: WORLD CUP MANIA!
The Fifa Fan Fest was a blast. There is one in every host city for all the games. It's a big festival with music and vendors and giant screens with the games on. It was a total blast. A great vibe and one hell of a game! We were there for Germany (Deutschland or Alamenha (?) depending on your language of choice). Devin had on a German jersey from when he saw world cup there a few years back. And as a result everyone thought we were German. Which wasn't a bad thing, as it meant we had our photos taken with no less than 30- different random groups of people from the time the game ended until we got home. After all, Germany won, and I guess that made us superstars by some connection. It was super fun.
Watching the game was exciting and full of such great energy. There were some Argentina fans there, but most of the Brazilians cheered for Germany. Every almost goal brought forth cheers and gasps. And when Germany scored the place blew up in a giant frenzy of jumping, cheering and gerneral joyous mayhem. It was fabulously fun!
And after a band played and a DJ. We met some cool Brazilian's who wanted to dance with us. Pretty much the Brazilian's love to dance, and are happy to teach you if you don't know. As people are often surprised, I have a few moves up my sleeve, so that was fun. But I definintely learned more.
Next up: ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
Yep. Zombies. Okay, no actual Zombies, but Brasilia is a gov't town, so when the weekend hits it's like a ghost town. I mean, completely empty subways. Empty streets. Was very cool.
Brasilia is an interesting town. It's completely designed and built to design, so it's clean, spacious, has wide roads and minimal traffic issues compared to other cities of 2.5 million. The archetecture is wild. Domes. Cathedrals made of all stained glass. There is one that is all blue glass and the light shines through on a giant Jesus. It really is unlike any building I've ever seen.
And also... RIO BABY!
The day after the final we flew to Rio. And I have to say..... Rio is awesome, and totally familiar. Even though I've never been there, I've seen it SOOOOO many times that it's hard to believe I haven't. The views from the mountains, the beaches, all of that is so photographed, it's crazy familiar. Reminds me of New York or London or other places that are in movies and pictures all the time.
We stayed in a house near the Christ the Redeemer statue. (Well, not the statue, but below it with views). Cris and Antonio were super nice. The view was fabulous, and it was fun to stay someplace off the tourist track. It was a real middle class neighborhood and not what I expected in Rio.
After we got in we immediately headed up to the Christ the Redeemer statue. If you've ever seen a picture of Rio, you've seen the statue and the view. It's as famous as the Statue of Liberty and.... a GIANT challenge to get to. Sure, you'd think it would be simple, and if it wasn't crowded you'd hop on an incline train and ride to the top in 20 minutes.
Instead.... 3 hours and 45 minutes. Yep. We stood in 4 different lines. First for tickets for the van to take us up. Then to take the van up. Then a traffic jam on the mountain road because of all the people going. Then a cue to buy tickets to the park. Then the grand daddy.... a 3 HOUR line to get on the van to go to the statue. (It ended up being 1 hour 45 minutes, but they told us it would be 3 hours). Our hope of seeing it at sunset vanished before we even got up the mountain. All this because the train was full for the day. We met some cool folks in line: From Austin, TX and Los Angeles. Yep. In fact, we've met 8 or more folks from Austin in a few days. It's weird.
The views are great. The statue is cool. The wind was cold.
We were the last ones off the Statue, heading back to the giant line to go down.... only the line was gone. The last bus had left. Hmmmmm. So we go over to take the Train instead, there was still a line for that. Only they wouldn't let us. They told us to pay up or walk. Even though we'd already paid. They said the vans were a different company. Now, walking down 8 kilometers or more, probably, in pitch black Rio seems like a really dumb idea, so they basically had us. Not ideal, but we paid it. Left a bad taste in my mouth, but what can you do?
A quick note: The statue is probably the worst run tourist attraction I've ever been too. And that says a lot. However, it is cool. My suggestion is to book your train ticket the day before online, then you get there 20 minutes before the train and head on up. When we told our house owners how long it took they were dumbfounded. Usually it's 30 minutes or so of lines.
And finally IPANEMA
There is a beach and a song about a girl. And I can tell you, the beach there is everything you think it is. Beautiful sand. Fabulous waves. Sandwich stands (we had Uruguayan (?) sandwiches, and Brazilian drinks while sitting in chairs under an umbrella). There are gorgous gals in tiny swim suits. (Really tiny! no complaints there!) Guys playing soccer, and just a general state of fun. The water is warmer here in the winter than LA is in the summer. And frankly... it's wonderful.
But here's the thing. I didn't enjoy it at first. Not at all. Part of it was a food thing, my eating has been soooooo far off my good diet that it's thrown my hypoglycemia off a bit. But even once that was in shape with the sandwiches, I was still tense and off... and I realized....
I have been given more safety warnings about Brazil and especially Rio than any place I've ever been. More than Kenya, Uganda, Russia, Morrocco. Any of them. And it's made me paranoid. Freaked out to keep my stuff safe, to keep myself safe. It's basically made me think everyone is going to steal my shit and knife me. And I can tell you: It's all bullshit. It is. Everyone I've met is wonderful. Every place I've gone has felt safe. Everyone I've talked to feels the same. This is a beach, just like any beach in any big city. If you leave your camera out, it'll probably get stolen. But if you stay smart, you will be fine.
Now, I'm not saying bad stuff can't happen in Brazil. It can. It has to people. Sometimes its because they are stupid and walk around with an expensive camera in the ghetto. And sometimes it's bad luck. But keep your wits about you, and don't walk down dark alleys alone at night... just like you would in any big city anywhere in the world... and you'll have a blast.
Once that clicked, I hit the water. I splashed in the waves. I had a blast. Sure, we made positive our little bit of stuff was watched by a friendly neighbor or one of us. But it was no problem at all. We even walked the beach at night... they say NEVER DO THAT. Except, it's completely lit up, bright lights on every inch. And people are all around. It's really fun and really great. Brazilian's are really fabulous people. Yes, just like anywhere there are some bad eggs, but for the most part this is a country full of wonderful vibrant people. Awesome!
CraigO
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