A Tour through Rio...join us!

Dear friends and family,

Today I'll present you Rio from a different perspective besides parties and caipirinhas. We'll make a little tour through the city...although even me and MIKE haven't seen all of it. So please do not judge us for missing the classical tourist spots. We r no tourists, we are travelers. That means we try to enjoy the city from a Brazilian point of view even we do not speak the language. So what I will show u is more the impression u get when u r there...

Map of Rio de Janeiro.

I'd like to start with the beach side, South of Rio. U can either go to Leblon/Ipanema or Copacabana, which is the most famous beach in Rio. U'll probably ask: "What is the difference between these two main beaches". Well, it is simple: in Copacabana u have mostly tourists and pricy drinks. Ipanema beach is more lively and crowded, because all locals go there. They sing, play beach volley ball and most of the time foot volley. If u r at the beach lying in the sun u can experience the white sandy beach, lots of umbrellas and Brazilian guys smoking marijuana when suddenly the peace gets disturbet by those people walking around screaming: "Coca Cola, Aqua, Cervesa!!"
Or they scream something else I do not understand. They sell everything; grilled cheese, hot dogs, nuts, bracelets, bikinis, towels, sugarpops with lime (they are aweful by the way)...all what ur little heart could possibly scream for.

@ Ipanema beach. Want some new dresses?

However, they do that all the time...u can eat/drink all day long. For us it was a little bit too much. Nevertheless, the good thing about the beach r the great bodys around you if u overlook the ugly ones. The people r either hot or soooo not.

All kind of females wear just string biknis with this little rectangular topping which makes it even more sexy. As promised, I have collected some delicious choco butt some pics; there u go:

Vote for the best butt!!

For the girls: Isn't that a hottie?

After such an amazing view, u may have the chance and attend a bloco (street party)...going down in many districts of Rio, particulary before and during carneval. We attended one and realized it is way too crowded. U can not even walk, but you should dance Samba anyway.

Bloco @ Ipanema.

After such an exhausting experience, u should get you a coconut with a straw to drink the fresh coconut water and sit down on the mighty rocks at Parque Garota de Ipanema to eat out also the juicy, white inside. Many locals come here to sit down and watch the sunset and occacionally clap when its over. Like the US Americans in the cinema :P

Sunset @ Parque Garota de Ipanema.

In comparison, Copacabana offers u giant hotels and these great restaurants next to the beach. U have them at Ipanema too, but at the Copacabana, they r more fancy (and more expensive).

Even the side walks look more glamorous.

Copacabana beach. (it was a rainy day)

For swimming and beach fun I prefer Ipanema beach...but remember the water is freezing cold. Guys would probably say -2 cm- (or -1 inch-) - which is not necessarily a bad thing, considering all the hot, sandy butts .

Enough about the beach? Wanna go shopping? U can do that in Ipanema and Copacabana a lot. There r shops almost everywhere but the prices hurt. As a travel girl I need some cheap sights...where many locals r. So I asked my sista Tally...she knows all fancy places and where to find the perfect party dress under 50 reals (~20 Euro).

So she took me to the city hall in the centre of Rio. If u leave the underground at Uruguaiana and go down R. Urugaiana u find thousands of little shops with a lot of cheap stuff: pantys, dresses, crazy party outfits and underwear with funny slogans. I tried a really colourful wig for carneval...

nice mohawk ha?

We walked through all the numerous side streets and had great fun togeher trying things on and realizing that some stuff really was not our type. However I ended up with a new hot black top and two pairs of string tangas and Tally got this nice jeans jacket and this amazing red dress. U look hot SISTA!!!!

Brazilians leave the center of Rio at around 5 pm...rush hour!!!! After that no one is around in this area any more...like in a ghost city.

Rush hour in the center of Rio. Watch out not to get run over! The cars do not stop! SO YOU BETTER RUN!!

Enough about shopping? Let's go back to Ipanema and have a drink in a gay bar...oh yes baby. Ipanema is the district of the gay folks..:)
I had a great Martini and Tally something with a cherry :P

Me and Tally in a gay bar @ Ipanema.

At night u can go out in Lapa (not again, please stop me from being crazy) or u can enjoy a great view over the city from Santa Tereza (no, it is not in Costa Rica, Rio has one too).

View from Santa Tereza.

So...what's next? Want to do some active stuff? U can go running on the paths next to the beaches or around the lagoon. We were walking around the lagoon (big lake in Rio). There u have many spots of silence, no screaming guys who try to sell u something. Thats a perfect place to chill out.

...and enjoy a cup of strong coffee...

Rio has soo much to offer, u can stay a year...and u haven't seen everything. Next time I go up the sugar loaf, I promise...

By the way, when it's raining (we had rain for a week!!)...u just can go out and drink...this brazilian attitude destroyed me...so noo caipirinhas any more, thx!

U have enough about the glamour? I understand...u may have seen the movie "City of God", taking place in a district in Rio's west side (Jacarepaguá). This part of Rio was seattled up in the 80's to prevent the growth of favelas. Favelas r something like slums although the definition says something different - uncoordinated settling! They r all over the hills of Rio and a place you better not go to, when its getting dark.

I have never seen such a strict line between rich and poor. In Ipanema u r in one of the best areas but if u go up the hill or take the elevator (directly @ the metro station) u r sorounded by childrens begging for food and money. They wear dirty clothes and play with kites made out of plastig bags. I helped a little boy because his bag/kite stuck behind the wheel of a car. After that he smiled shortly and ran away qickly to bring his kite up in the air.

Elevator to the favelas.

I was really astonished by this diversity. Up there we wanted to go deeper into the favela but at the point, where there were more heavily armed police men than inhabitants, we decided that its probably better to turn around and go back to safer places.

To conclude: Rio is an awesome place with great parties, great (and beautiful) people and amazing beaches but only if you are also aware of its diversity including dangerous places and inherent poverty, u can get the vibe of this city.

With these words I hope you enjoy Rio as much as we did and the next time we will report from Buenos Aires, the city of the tango.

Kisses

Jiny...and Mike