Always as frustrating, the flights with Lufthansa: almost 4 hours after having taken off from Paris, we are currently flying right above Paris, I could almost see my apartment from here.
Arrival in Rio: 6am, already 20°C, very humid, almost too hot. Glad to know that it is the "coldest" and driest period of the year.
First view when I get out of the bus: Botafogo Beach and the Sugar Loaf. Then, 10 seconds later, when I turn around to go to the hostel, the Corcovado Christ.
OK, in 30 seconds, I have seen the main attractions of the city, now I need to find other ideas for the 7 days I am going to spend here. ;-)
Good news, I can check in at the hostel, even if is only 8:20am. But I don't want to sleep now, it would be a very bad idea, even if I am badly tempted...
The 2 or 3 hours of sleep I managed to get in the plane will be enough until tonight, time to start visiting:
- long walk around the lagoon until the Botanical Garden, its water lilies, its bambus, palm trees and orchids, and its tiny inhabitants
- the heat really becomes a pain, 28°C in the shade, time to stop and get a refreshing juice of passion fruit
- do you feel like going to the beach now?
Today, I will be "The girl from Ipanema". The white sand almost burns the feet, and the water seems fresh as a contrast.
- after walking along the 4km of Ipanema, the 5km of Copacabana start
Back to the hostel, this time I cannot resist to the call of the bed, it is nap time, and when I wake up at 4pm, time to go downstairs and see the Euro semi-final between Portugal and Wales, with my Brazilian and Irish roommates. OK, now it is official, the Brazilian sports comentators support Portugal.
Which makes sense...
Asleep at 9pm, woken up at 7am, that's a good night, the objective will be not to recover from the jet lag. "Use the jet lag, don't fight it"
This morning, the sky is very cloudy, no risk of sunburn or dehydration today.
Coming to Brazil during their winter, I made a bet, thinking that the temperatures would be lower than in France. Seems like a good choice today, 21°C in Rio vs 28°C in Paris.
Today, I will walk northbound, to the historical center. It is hard to believe that the Olympic Games start in a month, there are road works everywhere, the city looks like it has just got out of a war.
First stop at the Confiteira Colomba for what they call an Italian cappucino. Not sure that the Italian customers appreciate the cinnamon in their coffee, but this is definitely the way I like it.
The center is a mix of old colonial buildings and very modern ones.
Could have spent the day at the Selaron stairs, and I have probably missed quite a few funny things even after spending part of the day there.
I am also very surprised by the richness of the street art here, didn't expect to find such a concentration of murals all around the city.
Then I get lost while trying to come back to the hostel, this is what happens when you try to get oriented thanks to the beach in a city which is surrounded by beaches. Yours is Botafogo, MP, not Flamengo...
New football (or I should say "futebol" here) evening, with a couple from Quebec (well, to be honest, with the guy watching the game with me, and his girlfriend trying to find something to do in order not to get bored while he watches).
The trip to Brazil was worth it, just for the fun of hearing the comentators mentioning "Umtchitchi" again and again. Sorry Samuel, I will laugh when hearing your family name forever now...
It looks like they have the same problem here then in Paris, with a few seconds delay between the real live and what you get on the TV, and obviously there are French supporters not far from there, because we can hear them roaring each time that France scores.
The finals on Sunday will be Portugal - France, I should get to Salvador for the 2nd half, if I manage to find a place where I can watch it.
Tomorrow, I was planning to go to Ilha Grande, an island a few hours away from Rio, but there is a storm there at the moment, so I need to adapt the planning...
General knowledge information: a cat can have a running nose, just as a human. The one from the hostel seems to have a cold, and has decided to sleep on my lap tonight :((
In Rio, on the following day, the weather is perfectly sunny, even if a bit windy, so it is time to start visiting the main attractions of the city.
In the morning, I head for the famous Sugarloaf and its cablecar, which brings you 396 meters above the sea level. Stunning views from there, just as you could expect it.
And in the afternoon, I find my way to the Corcovado, and get to the Christ the Redeemer, built in the 1920s in the Tijuca Forest National Park.
The creation of this statue, which is part of the 7 new wonders of the world, was multi-national:
- a Brazilian engineer designed the statue: Heitor da Silva Costa
- it was sculpted by a Polish-French sculptor Paul Landowski
- the face of the statue was created by a Romanian sculptor, Gheorghe Leonida
The weather seems to be getting better in Ilha Grande, it should be ok for tomorrow.
First alarm clock of the holidays, it rings at 6am.
After a few hours of bus / boat (one boat just for me, that's what you get during the low season) / getting lost because nobody from the tour agency was waiting for me at the arrival, time to start the boat tour around the island.
The unspoilt tropical beaches are incredible, with plenty of fish swimming around you, but in case you had forgotten that it is winter here, you remember it in one second when you touch the water: it is far from being warm, you need to swim and stay in sunny areas in order to avoid freezing.
It is difficult to imagine the past of that island: for almost a century it was closed by the Brazilian government to free movement or settlement because it first housed a leper colony and then a top-security prison. Cândido Mendes high-security prison housed some of the most dangerous prisoners within the Brazilian penal system. It was closed in 1994.
Last night in Rio, tomorrow will be a very exciting day, getting up at 5am, in order to catch 3 different flights which will take me to Salvador. Thanks to Azul airlines who changed my tickets, the trip is going to take me 12 hours from door to door. That's a lot, for 1500 km...
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