Loving Rio de Janiero

Tuesday, 16 April, 2013
Woke up to glorious sunshine and the sound of waves crashing against the shore - well ok, the not so romantic sound of people driving to work was looming in the background!  I guess there are some flaws in paradise.  Outside on the balcony I took in the amazing view - blue sea and sky, long sandy beaches, green hills, Ipanema Beach and of course the iconic Sugar Loaf Mt!

Best view in Rio? From my hotel balcony

Anyway, nothing could really detract from a superb buffet breakfast with the best restaurant view anyone could wish for - views up and down the coast and to the islands not far off shore.

Breakfast room view - to Ipanema

Breakfast room view - to the islands

  Caught up with Louise from Melbourne who was on the flight over.  Sadly she is not in my group - different itinerary after Rio.  This morning I enjoyed a leisurely stroll and some camera action around the gardens, checking out the pool, cafes, massage area, tennis courts and of course the beach.  Apparently the Sheraton is the only hotel right on the beach in Rio.  It is located in its own small bay just around the headland from Leblon and Ipanema Beaches.

The beach in front of the Sheraton Hotel

Hotel pool

The hotel runs a shuttle bus to the other beaches and into the downtown area so Louise and I went for a jaunt.  Fantastic drive along the beachfronts of Ipanema and Copacabana - such a lovely day.  Lots of people out and about enjoying the balmy weather.

Leblon Beach

Ipanema Beach

Copacabana Beac

We spent a while browsing a huge shopping mall but only succumbed to purchasing a coffee and a bottle of water.  The shops are interesting and the prices don't look too bad.  Leather handbags are not very expensive and really pretty.  Hmmm - will have to think about that.  Mauro, our delightful tour manager has advised us to shop in Buenos Aires where apparently things are dirt cheap - well we will see.

Evening  - across the bay from Ipanema

This afternoon we had an orientation meeting and received a timetable - gosh some early mornings coming up!  Also met other members of the group - all seem to be Americans and mostly around my age.  We had dinner together tonight at a cute restaurant at Copacabana Beach called Brasileirinho but the food was not as good as the ambience - dry chicken and rice with some vegies.  However they did produce an interesting desert made from pumpkin and coconut which was delicious - how strange!  We were also introduced to the famous Brazilian cocktail, caipirinhas, which is made from a vodka-like alcohol, limes and sugar.  Too sweet for my liking and apparently very potent!  Then home for a bit of a rest - early start tomorrow.

Pineapple Caipirinha (Brenda's got the original lime one in the background)

The highlight of the day was our trip up Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) by cable car.  We started up just before 5 pm with the sun shining.  The cable car ascends to a neighbouring peak - here we had a walk around and went crazy with cameras before taking the second cable car to the top of the Sugar Loaf.   All I can really say is WOW!

First cable car - up we go!

View to Ipanema

Sugar Loaf and second cable ca

After a while the sun began to set behind the mountains behind the city with Christ the Redeemer silhouetted against the sky.  Gorgeous, spectacular - there are not enough superlatives!  As the sun went down all the city lights began to come on and we had a fairyland below us - the views are 360 degrees around the whole city, the beaches, Guanabera Bay and the mountains.  Awe inspiring - I think Rio must be the most beautiful city in the world.

From the top of Sugar Loaf

WOW!

And WOW!

Sun setting on downtown Rio.

Sunset - Copacabana and Flamingo Bay

On a practical note, the beaches are cleaned twice daily and the streets seem to be very clean.  I am sure that when we venture back from the coast it will look a little more shabby.  Despite the glamourous setting it is disturbing to see high security fences enclosing the entrances to the beach front apartments.  In fact apart from restaurants and hotel lobbies, most of the ground floor areas of buildings are unused.  It does look a bit strange as in Australia for example there would be shops and cafes at street level and lots of pedestrians.  In Ipanema and Copacabana the pedestrians all walk along the wide promenades that give onto the sand - they are on the other side of the road from all the buildings.

Residential area of Leblon - high security!

Besides being clean, the beaches cater for all kinds of sporting activities and it seems that they are well patronised.  The Health Department has been responsible for setting up games areas and providing people to run them.  Of course it doesn't take much encouragement for the guys to start kicking a soccer ball on the beach.  All the beaches are public and their are dozens of yellow snack/coffee shacks right at the edge of the beach which seem to be very well patronised.  The ocean here can be dangerous - quite big surf today and the red flags were flying - swimming not advised.
So much to enjoy here - I do love Rio!



Snack shack and red flag - Ipanema