Day 105 - Rio de Janiero, Brazil

Time to hit Copacabana beach today but first we need to sort some Carnival ticket admin out, namely getting our hands on our actual tickets. 

We head down towards the metro and very quickly meet huge crowds gathering in the streets and the parties starting. They say during carnival that it does not take a long walk find a party and it is so true. There seems to be huge parties on every street corner. There are people everywhere with hoards of people selling ice cold beer out of cool boxes all around. No issues getting a beer here and absolutely no restrictions on where you can drink it either. 

I can honestly say I have never seen so many people packed into the streets (and we have been to London at New Year etc) and at such an early time too - it's only midday and a lot of people are getting heavily "on it" already. Admirable behaviour. 

We finally reach the metro - it has taken about an hour to make the short 1km walk to it. 

Now we (or more particularly Dad) had been a little worried about the tickets as we had not been able to get in touch with the company to find out where we need to pick them up. After a lot of internet searching and phone calls via the hotel reception we manage to track down where they are - at a hotel not far away. We get there and see a very relieved Dad as we find out they have them. 

Got them in hand. 

We have some great seats in the dark blue section. 

Once we have the tickets in hand we get back on the Metro and head to Copacabana beach to check out what the most famous beach in the world has to offer. It turns out a hell of a lot! We get off at one of at Siqueira Campos, one of the three metro stops along the 4km long beach which is roughly half way down and make our way to the beach. 

Copacaba-Nat. 

We get set up as everyone hires little chairs and naturally order a fee beers and start to watch the world go by.  The waves are absolutely huge. Great fun once you manage to get over the break point which washes you back to shore in no time at all. 

As we are all sat in a row we get the giggles as we think we look like a scene out of the royal family. The fact that my Dad appears to be picking his belly button does nothing to overcome this image. 

After we jump in a cab back to the hotel to get changed as it is time to do something us men in particular we're very excited about - going to watch a game at the Maracana stadium. The metro journey there was an experience in itself as it went through the centre of where the carnival is the tubes are rammed and the party does not stop when they are travelling between places. There is boozing, singing and even drumming on the tube. Absolutely crazy.  We get off at the Maracana metro statio. And get our first glimpse of the revamped statdium which reopened again in April. 

After it takes a painfully long time to get our tickets we finally get into the stadium albeit 10 mins late. It was opened in 1950 to host the FIFA World Cup and is mainly used for footie now with a number of Rio teams playing here in a ground share (maybe Coventry should look into it??). The main teams are Botafogo, Flamengo, Fluminense, and Vasco da Gama. Tonight we are here to see Flamengo vs Nova Iguacu. Flamengo are the most popular team in Brazil, with over 39,1 million supporters and also one of the most successful having own thee league five times, most recently in 2009. 

Amazingly before this stadium was revamped it held the record for attendance at a football match with a whopping 199,854 people watching the final of the 1950 World Cup here. That's 120k more than Wembley (but obviously they were standing back then).  The stadium currently seats 78,838 making it the largest stadium in Brazil and in South America. The first official match in the revamped stadium was on June 2, 2013 when Brazil drew 2–2 with England in a friendly. 

Also, as well as hosting the final of this years World Cup, it will also play host to the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2016 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. 

Unfortunately the carnival has greatly impacted the size of the crowd here for today's game and the stadium is only about a quarter full so lacking that famous intensity and Brazilian atmosphere. The stadium is great though.

At least we get so see some goals (although annoyingly we missed the first one). 

There were a few new interesting things about this game that we hadn't seen before namely; 

1) A player with the number 100 on his back

2) The ref had a spray can and sprayed a mark on the pitch to mark the spot where a foul took place and the free kick needed to be taken from

3) Due to the heat in the summer they have a short 3-4 min break half way through each half. 

Wonder if 2 & 3 will carry over to the World Cup?

Nat also had a few interesting observations and thoughts namely;

1) The goalkeeper had a nice outfit on

2) It must be hard for the other team who are used to playing in fast running water (they are from Iguazu falls!) 

3) Rich missed the second goal as he was salting his popcorn

4) Erik Foca scored for Iguacu and nearly 'focad' things up for the home team. 

After the game we get a cab across town to Leblon which is just north of Ipanema beach and a cool area to go out in. We had a lovely meal in a place called Restaurante Q and then made our way down the street and, as per carnival rules, you are never far away from a huge group of people standing on a corner drinking so we decided to join them. What an atmosphere!! It's hard to describe how good it is or capture it in pictures. Those that know me know I love a spot of outside boozing, particularly in that alley way in Brick Lane but this is something else. Totally amazing. 

Eric - we managed to track down a giant fan for you to keep you cool when you arrive! The guy is an optional extra for you. 

I get mocked by the group saying this is how my hair is going to end up! 

We then decide to check out how the mental party is getting on by our hotel so head back across town. By now it is about 1:30am and the place is getting pretty deserted. It looks like a scene out of 28 Days Later - we have never seen so much rubbish. I guess this is what it looks like when hundreds of thousands of people have a massive all dayer. And what's more the place absolutely stinks of wee. The stench is over powering in some places - guess the porter loos just couldn't keep up with the demand. 

There was still a band playing though and enough people around to keep the atmosphere going. After another beer we head back to the hotel. This has been out latest night out since KL! Gat day though. Can't wait to actually go to the carnival tomorrow.