We arrive in Rio early afternoon after getting the bus from Buzios. The journey back to the Rodovaria in Rio brought back a lot of memories from travelling.
We arrive at our new Porto Bay which doesn't quite live up to the standards of the one in Buzios. Firstly it is probably the ugliest building on Copacabana and is generally a bit tired but this tends to be the case in Rio - it is not really great at nice mid range or boutique hotels.
The view from the balcony is awesome though. We are on the 18th floor overlooking Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer high up on the hill.
After a few drinks on the roof top bar we decide to head for dinner at a local institution called Porcao for dinner (which literally means Pig Pen) and one of Brazil's top churrascurias. It's a traditional Brazilian restaurant which basically equates to all the meat you can eat. let Man vs Food commence. The waiters literally roam the restaurant with huge slabs of meat and when you have your drink coaster turned to Sim (yes) they come over and calve off a huge slice of it directly onto your plate (or via a small pair of tongs they give you). Delicious but we soon hit the food coma (literally within 15 mins or arriving!).
Still had room for an almighty desert though and managed to steal the table advert as well!
The next morning, still full of meat we head across the road to the beach. Copacabana is such a fantastic beach. It is about 4.5km long and must be about a km to the sea from the road it is so wide. All topped off with golden sand and a great vibe. A wonderful people watching place.
Few Brahmas on the beach. That's actually Dave's t-shirt not his white skin although there is not much in it.
And once again by far the best thing about this beach is the waves. They are immense. So consistently big and absolutely great fun if not very tiring after a while.
Dave's macho run into the sea.
Caroline looks topless here which she actually spent 75% of her time in the waves being and on the odd occasion bottomless too. They don't make cheese wire sized bikinis like they used to.
That afternoon we arrange to go on a favela tour to Rochina which is the largest favela in Brazil and located in Rio's south zone further down the coast from Ipanema. Rocinha is built on a steep hillside overlooking Rio de Janeiro and spreads high up both sides of the valley. It reminded me a lot of La Paz.
Astonishingly there are 70,000 people living here in what is only about 3 square km. Interestingly it wasn't as we expected. I expected a proper slum with shacks and very poor living conditions. In fact the standards are a lot higher although still very poor, but all the houses are made from concrete and brick, have running water, basic sanitation and electricity (which is all stolen) and from out vantage point it looked like 75% of them had Sky TV!
This is what happens when so many people are stealing electricity.
What strikes me most is what a purposeful and productive community this is. Every one seems to have a job or be doing something and there is pretty much nothing you can't get in here. It's like a self contained city within a city.
Visiting one of the social projects to help educate favela children.
A whole section of the town built on the side of a massive golf course for the staff to live in. The contrast here is phenomenal. I don't think there are many places with such a stark contrast of the have's and have not's in proximity to each other.
Our final stop was in one of the areas that had recently undergone a project to officially connect everyone to the electricity grid. They key benefit of this was that they had to have their address officially recognised which meant they could open a bank account, get a job etc The favelas are a complete labyrinth of tiny, narrow alley ways, no roads, that go on for miles. It is actually pretty dark in there as well as most people build up to 5 stories high which is the maximum they are allowed. They are a very skilled bunch. Fascinating tour.
We booked our tour with Marcelo Armstrong by calling him direct and it was 85 reals (£17) per person for a 3-4 hour tour. Worth every penny.
http://www.frommers.com/destinations/rio-de-janeiro/626322
Back to Copacabana for a few beers. I love the promenade and the street paving here. It looks so cool and is literally all over the city.
The next morning we make our first attempt to visit Christ the Redeemer but find out there is zero visibility up there today so it's a no go.
Luckily Sugar Loaf (Pao de Acucer) isn't quite as high and looked relatively clear so we decided to jump in a taxi there instead.
Then time for some more beach action, especially now we appear to be through the worst of the weather for the week.
The waves are even better today. Such great fun.
That evening we head to Santa Teresa which is high up in the hills with some great views of the city. We go to a brilliant outdoor restaurant called Aprazivel for dinner which has been our favorite so far.
Fantastic view out to the Sambadrome
After dinner we head down the road to great bar called Bar do Mineiro which is a great little neighborhood bar in what feels like a very European area.
Penultimate day and it's time for Ipanema!!! I live this beach. It's a bit livelier than Copacabana, particularly around Post 9 which is where the beautiful people hang out (and us)
After another failed attempt at visiting Christ (the ticket place just down from our hotel closed at 4pm and we arrived at 4:05) we have a bite in a lovely little cafe round the corner from our hotel called La Fiducia Cafe (phenomenal empanadas and Pizza) then after a quick turn around head out into Lapa for the evening. We started in Sarau for one outside near the old aqueduct that cuts through the area. It's a lot less busy that the last time we were here during Carnival where we could barely move in this whole area.
After a fair amount of research we triangulate a good restaurant recommendation from various websites called Nova Capela for dinner. It's a very local type of place and I definitely order wrong from the purely Portuguese menu getting literally steak and chips (could be worse though!)
Nat managed to inadvertently take the seat cover with her when picking up her jacket.
It really suits Dave though.
We then head to the epic Rio Scenarium for the rest of the evening which is a another institution in Rio and quite difficult to describe. It's set in what looks like an old house but is set over 3 massive floors and is basically a bar, restaurant and club that is very strangely decorated with random antiques but in a very cool way. It also had live music (samba etc) and a big club area out the back. We have a cracking last night in here and end up staying until about 2am. An absolute must visit for anyone who comes to Rio.
http://www.rioscenarium.art.br
Very efficient way of ordering drinks. You each get your own card which they tally up throughout the night and you pay on the way out. Genius!
Every wall is full of random stuff like this...
Last view over Copacabana at night.
Final day and we don't fly until midnight so have a full day to take advantage of. Top of the to do list today is Christ so we head to breakfast early (despite the sore heads from last night) and then head one block down from our hotel for our third attempt to buy tickets to Christ. As this includes transfers up there it was genius last time (and still is the easiest way to do it) although the queues were rather long this way and it involved a lot of waiting in the 36 degree sun (and witnessing lots of arguments that we dubbed queue-tertainment).
We finally arrive and once again it is epic. You go so high above Rio and the statue really is beatiful. An amazing setting.
View out towards Leblon.
Nat and Caroline's half hearted attempted at the Christ pose...
Sugar Loaf in the distance.
Team selfie.
We spend the rest of the day chilling on our beach deck chairs, having beers and intermittently cooling off in the roaring waves. Absolute bliss. Definitely one of my favourite the beaches.
That evening we head back to the little restaurant around the corner from our hotel for our last meal before heading to the airport. It's been a fantastic holiday and felt much longer than a week. And to top of a wonderful week we get a cheeky upgrade to business on the flight back. Result!!
