Rio Round 2 - Thanks to a Volcano in Iceland...

After our adventure from Ilha Grande, we were so late we figured that we wouldn't have much time to enjoy Rio as we were to leave the next evening...all before we learned that volcanic ash had shut down Heathrow and there were no flights to London! Yay! We actually gained another 5 days there - and I couldn't think of a better place to be 'stranded'...

So we made the most of our stay, more of Ipanema beach/swimming/tanning time, hit up Sugar Loaf Mountain (The Christo was closed due to all the flooding from our previous stay there) and got a great view of Rio! Absolutely stunning from up there! We made it to Lapa - a very cool part of Rio as well for some nightlife - the clubs there are total meat markets though, I was just in a tank top and capris and flips flops and got groped by more men than I could even count!

And we also got to do one more thing we really wanted - see the inside of a favela - Rocinha to be exact. We met a guy who worked at a bar we frequented who happened to live there, so one night after a few caipivodkas and beers we convinced him to let us tag along on his ride home - at about 2am. You actually stand on the road and just wait for these crazy vans driving by to swerve over and yell the name of the place, then you give them a few reais and you are off speeding crazily towards your destination. You actually have to go through a police checkpoint to get in (to try and stop drug smuggling) and then you are there. They are built on really steep hills, and everyone rides street bikes and carries some sort of weapon...we are talking huge M16's and things of that nature...crazy. Guys just sit at tables with tons of drugs laid out, you have a weed table, and next to it will be a coke table - just nuts! We thought we were perfectly safe, later many people told us we were insane for going in here, especially hanging out there until about 4:30 in the morning...but we were just fine, nothing crazy happened, just had some pizza and beers with the people we went with and after a chat with one of the dealers we were on our way without incident.

The next night we just laid on the beach and enjoyed our purchase and laughed for about 2 hours straight - perfect way to spend our last night in Rio :)

On Wednesday we called our airline (we had been doing this every morning since Saturday) and found out we were confirmed on a flight back to London that night! We spent the day with a friend of a friend that lived down there in Rio, he and his girlfriend showed us around some of the beaches, we had a few Skols, some Coconuts, and one final Acai berry smoothie with a banana...

Ilha Grande = Beautiful Beaches

Ilha Grande was amazing! It is a huge island (or should I say 'grande'?) that you can see from the mainland. The coolest thing about it is there are no cars! Only a couple emergency vehicles, but everyone walks or rides bikes there. If you are extremely lazy there are even guys who will cart all your luggage to your pousada for you! It is definitely different to the extreme from crazy busy Rio and Sao Paulo!

We of course managed to find this great little pousada with an AMAZING woman that ran it, she could cook like you would not believe! She would cook every night for us, delicious!!! We only had two nights there, but the first day we hiked from the main town to a couple different beaches. The first beach has a few buildings and is very beautiful. We actually ended up saying there for a few hours. My boyfriend met a couple of Brazilian nomad type musicians and although they couldn't speak much english, they all played guitar together and sang for most of the two hours. Then we finished our hike at Lopez Mendes - one of the top ranked beaches in South America apparently! The sand feels like powdered sugar and is absolutely amazing. The beach is huge, and there are no buildings or boats to be seen! So the second day we were short on time, we took a boat to a nearby drop off and went back to Lopez Mendes - we just couldn't get enough!

So we had to leave Friday afternoon to get back to Rio to hang out with the wedding party group...so we booked the 'Speed Connection'...well, first they put us in some crappy fishing boat like the one we paid 10 reis to ride over (I think the trip was like 60 reis a person) so we asked them why we were going in a slow boat and they assured us it would be just as quick...well we no more than were 5 minutes into our journey when the engine started smoking like crazy!!! A few guys just stood around staring at the engine smoking and drinking beer - kind of funny actually. The next thing we know a few small power boats pull up and all the locals start hopping off and going with them...so the few foreigners that were still on the boat sat and waited until an ever slower, crappier boat showed up to take us on. Well, we finally make it and get on our bus that was part of the 'Speed Connection' package and was to take us to our hostel. We stopped about twice on the 2.5 hour ride, then all of a sudden in Rio the bus pulls over and the driver is acting like he is having chest pains! They tell us all to get off and we have to find our own way because the driver is having a heart attack and the medics are coming to get him! We all get off worried, get our stuff, and then the driver and his buddy hop back on the bus and drive off! We were completely scammed! The good news is they dropped us at the bus station, so we managed to find a taxi (the craziest driver I have ever had for the record) and made it back to Rio...

Party in Paraty!

Okay, so Paraty was less of a party than anywhere else we went, but it was amazingly relaxing and fun!

We got in at about sundown and while we were standing at the bus station trying to figure out where we should stay for the night a car pulled up and dropped off a flyer with an ad for a hostel down on a beach that was connected to town by a bridge...they said they would pay for a cab there so we took a chance and it paid off big! Great place, just across an empty street from a great beach!!! It is called Sereia do Mar if you ever get down there. Very affordable and amazing staff, and in the evenings they would have bonfires on the beach...oh, AND everyone in Paraty knows them for their great pizza! A definite plus! Anyway, they had a beautiful courtyard as well and it is a beautiful quick walk to the downtown area with restaurant and self serve ice cream shops! :)

We had a great relaxing beach day, as well as a day of sailing around between islands, snorkeled, tanned, saw some amazing beaches, had the boat's photographer follow us everywhere with his camera, lol! It is so beautiful there, very quiet, islands all over, you just see them on the horizon, some tiny ones, and some pretty big with beautiful beaches...wow, thinking about it I am ready to go back right now! :)

We honestly couldn't decide if we should head on to Ilha Grande, or just stay put since it wasso great...but in the end we decided to continue on!

Sao Paulo and a Buri Wedding

Well, we got into Sao Paulo, and the airport bus apparently drops you off at a huge mall! Perfect place to do some camera shopping - or so we thought...turns out that electronics in Brazil are a lot more expensive than the US and even the UK! Anyway, we managed to get a new camera so we could document the craziness...

After we got our camera, we took a cab to our hostel in Sao Paulo, we pulled up to the gate, I sat there trying to figure out how to open it for a minute, then we went in...about 5 minutes later a guy ran in and said he had just been mugged right outside! Crazy! He was getting out of the cab, the cab driver was still sitting there, and then a guy came up on a motorcycle with a gun and took everything he had! Poor guy, it was his first day in Brazil...but I guess on another note we were pretty lucky it wasn't us.

Friday morning we took the metro to the airport where our bus to Buri was leaving from, very cool to see their public transport system, just massive amounts of people and I couldn't believe how HUGE Sao Paulo is, there is no describing, but miles and miles of really tall buildings...

We stopped at a roadside churrasco (a Brazilian BBQ and buffet where they walk around with the skewers of meat) - then on to Buri! The town is fairly small, a very cute little place. Our hotel was very quaint, to plug the fan in you actually just put the wires in the outlet and hoped you didn't get electrocuted - not kidding! The first evening we went to the farm for cocktails and dinner - the views over the farm from the farmhouse were amazing, great caipirinhas (try one with maracuja otherwise known as passion fruit, pretty amazing!) and then on to a campfire and wood fired pizza, homemade! Delish!

The next day was the wedding, it was outside in a barn, very cool, straw bales for seating - the whole ceremony was in Portuguese and German though, so I really had absolutely no clue what was going on! :) We hung out at the farm afterward, had cocktails by the pool, rode horses, and had a great time! Dinner and dancing followed - absolutely beautiful wedding!

Then it was on to Paraty!

Rio Round One

Well - I guess that first Tuesday night in Rio we lost our camera...and I know you all are thinking that we were drunk and crazy and it is obvious it would get lost...but in reality it was a totally sober night and we let it fall out of a pocket in the cab or left it on the restaurant table...needless to say some great pics (and a few fairly indecent ones as well) were lost...and whoever found that camera probably enjoyed flipping through them at least :)

It finally stopped raining for a while on Wednesday morning - so we hit the beach for some sun...my boyfriend actually made fun of me for putting on sunscreen because you could see the clouds rolling in (later he would encounter the craziest sunburn I would ever see from not putting it on) Anyway, we caught a little sun, watched the HUGE waves from the storms that had been through, and attempted to swim in the crazy waves. Every guy loves to untie a girls top as she heads into the water, but my bf thought it would be hilarious to grab a string from my bottoms as well...the waves were huge, the undertow was super strong, and it was all I could do to hold onto both fabric scraps as the waves pummeled me! Hard enough to try and keep everything covered, but to also attempt not to drown was nearly impossible! At one point I was just hanging on for dear life, and my bf decided to come try and help me - he was holding my top so I could try and get my bottoms on, all while kind of staying underwater so I didn't scare the kids, and then a big wave came up from behind and I did a complete summersault, ass-over with bottoms around my knees...for all Ipanema beach to see...awesome...

We decided to hit the town with some people we met at our hostel, so we started out at Blue Agave - a great bar near the beach that is owned by two Americans. They actually have a brand of beer in Brazil called 'Colorado'! Anyway, a few beers in there we decided to go to one of the little local bars - they are basically a hallway with some food and booze, no seating, you just go stand and drink and eat - can't remember the Portuguese word, but basically a Brazilian friend told us it translates to 'dirt food'...but we did some cachaca shots - which were more like triple shots and ordered some wonderful rice and beans (amazing food btw, and even better with some hot sauce on there!) We also learned about the Swiss party game of nose fucking, drank some more caipirinhas, did another shot or two maybe, and then things got out of hand, my bf ended up with and acai berry smoothing rubbed over his entire sunburned front side, I ended up being thrown in a pile of wet, soggy trash, and he got a rubber flip flop welt on his belly from it...basically the night went downhill fast...somehow we made it to bed, only to wake up to caipi hangovers and a bf that was encrusted with day old acai berry over his front side...(ps - it does not taste nearly as good the second day...)

Ah Rio - fun time - but it is off to Sao Paulo, Buri, and then wherever we decided to go...

Some fun in Rio...

So tons of great stories are coming, but require more time than I actually have at the moment, so I will be posting them as well as pix when I have time and am back in London...but a quick highlight...

Currently we are stuck in Rio - that is right. Thanks to the volocanic ash we have no way back to good ol London! I can´t think of a better place to be stranded or a better person to be stranded with though, so I won´t complain!

So far we have lost a camera, almost been mugged in Saõ Paulo, rode horses on a ranch in Buri, sailed around some killer islands in Paraty, discovered selve serve Sorvette (ice cream) stands, swam/laid on one of the top 6 beaches in South America, been on an express trip from an island where the boat´s engine caught on fire, the driver faked a heart attack and we had to find our own cab into Rio, had a little too much fun on a swan paddle boat, and now are stuck in a crazy party beach city!

Overall I´m going to have to say an awesome trip!!! I´ll post stories and pix as they come to me over the next week or so!

xoxo

Raining in Rio

So we made it to Brazil...despite missing our flight from London...but we are here in Rio De Janeiro! Rio is absolutely beautiful - huge beaches, super friendly people, amazing sushi...the first day here we just lounged on Ipanema beach working on our sunburns :)

We went out for a traditional Brazilian BBQ meal the first night, the food was good, but I think we ate about 4 steaks a person...then passed out from a food induced coma...the next day it was Easter - Copacabana beach had some big swimming race, we walked down there a while, found a great little breakfast place off the beaten path, and hung out at the beach the rest of the day - kind of overcast but so warm it didn´t matter in the least! Just laid there with the guitar (I obviously only listened) By that night it had started raining some...after my tradition of having my Cadburry egg for Easter, we decided to go out on the town and do some heavy drinking - some caipririnhas, we found a beer called ´Colorado´, and ended up at a sushi restaurant. Apparently there, when you order saki, they proceed to bring you and ENTIRE bottle...so needless to say, neither of us have a clear understanding of how we made it home that night...but we survived :) But if I remember correctly, the sushi was amazing!

Monday the rain started...we took our slightly hungover selves to this cool outdoor gym right on the water, between Ipanema and Copacabana beaches - all the equipment has been made out of random items, but it is so cool that anyone can go workout there and enjoy! Beautiful (I´ll post pictures when I have access to a SD drive) Then on to our breakfast place, and the beach...until the wind and rain picked up...We decided to go out to dinner at another sushi place we had heard about over in Leblon - thought it was a fine idea to walk that far - okay, honestly I just thought it was a lot closer than it was - but then the rain started dumping down...of course we had no umbrella, we did get one which promptly broke...and continued to the restaurant. It dumped rain all night, and all day yesterday too, I have never seen so much rain! When we were walking, we actually had to wade through some puddles, we saw a rat swim through one, and a bus drove by and sprayed me completely drenching what was possibly still dry on me!

Yesterday was a lot of reading in a cafe, reading at the hostel, and eating at a couple restaurants to kill the rainy time. Apparently they are some of the worst rains here in a long time: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/southamerica/brazil/7561101/95-dead-in-Brazil-floods-after-heaviest-rain-in-decades.html

Today it is now 7 am...and it is raining again...I´m going to cross my fingers that hopefully it will slow up so I can get some more beach time before we head to Sao Paulo...but we will be back through here next week, so I guess worst case I have spent some time in a super cool city, and maybe round two we can hit up some of the sites we are hoping to, such as Sugar Loaf Mnt, Corcovado, Ihla Grande, etc.

But despite the rain, it is warmer than London, warmer than Colorado, and we are a couple blocks from a gorgeous beach and some of the coolest mountains I´ve ever seen! Perfect!

And pictures will come soon...promise! xo

Oh, and PS - this keyboard is Brazilian, and spell checker says every word is mispelled due to the fact none of the words are in Porgugese, so I apologize for all the poor spelling and will also check that when I am back on my computer :)

A sunny day at last!!!

It feels like all I have seen the last several days is gray skies, and rain...not normal London rain that just comes and goes (not that I know what is normal for London), but cold, drizzly rain that actually gets you wet!

So when I woke up today and saw beautiful blue skies and sunshine I couldn't have been happier! :) I decided to explore more of the area around the river - made my way to St Katherine's docks, some of the surrounding docks (I think they all had different names) walked along the Thames path, made my way across Tower Bridge - which despite all the tourists is super cool to be on, wandered around some area that I have no idea where/what it is called south of the river, found a cool park or two, and managed to find my way to Borough Market for a delish veggie sandwich! It only took 5 hours to do all this! Lol!

Pics coming soon, sorry, I totally didn´t have time to upload and resize them yet...but I will soon, like after Brazil :)