Rio de Janeiro

Ola!

We arrived in Rio in the afternoon of Sat, 5/19/12. After a very quick ride in a taxi, we arrived at our hostel and got settled in. We stayed in the hills above centro (downtown Rio), giving us great views of the downtown area.

Up the street from the hostel in Santa Teresa

Looking out over downtown Rio

The purple-lit building actually changes colors through the night

Due to a ticket booking error by our travel agent, we were forced to spend a few more days in Rio. We made the most of it by hitting up the local beaches. It seems that Brazilians go to the beach to be seen. I've never seen so many fit people on a beach at once. Men in tight speedos and bristling abs kicked soccer balls around and slacklined around the beach of Ipanema. Ladies in small thong bikinis lazed about soaking up the sun.

The beach out at Ipanema

We also strolled around the downtown area of Rio. Street vendors clumped together in large open-air markets. Out in Brazil, per-kilo lunch buffets are popular, so we decided to check it out. As part of the buffet we had to talk to the BBQ operator to tell him what kind of meat we wanted. Not speaking much Portuguese, I pointed over at a corner and he pulled out some strange looking meat. It turned out to be grilled chicken hearts...Not the nicest cut of meat, but I ate it anyways because I didn't want to make him put it back. Rashmi opted not to eat any of the chicken hearts.

The purple temple-like structure in the photo above actually is a temple of sorts! It's the Metropolitan Cathedral in Rio. Shaped like an alien space ship or temple, the inside is filled with long beautiful stained glass artwork. It was quite a relief to step inside and contemplate the cool serenity for a few moments.

Metropolitan Cathedral

Nearby our hostel, an artist has been hard at work for years decorating a flight of steps with multi-colored tiles. The artist, Selaron, started this as a tribute to the people of Brazil. People from all over the world now have sent tiles to him to be added to the steps. Before we knew of these steps, we were asked a few times by other tourists whether we knew where the steps were. "You know, the steps that were in Snoop Dogg and Pharell's music video?" We didn't know what they were talking about, but once we found them we were astonished.

Escadaria Selarón

People send these tiles in from all over the world

It turned out we were staying near the heart of the night music scene in the city: Lapa. Every Friday night, the police shut the streets to cars, and locals come out to dance in the streets to samba, bossa nova, and whatever else the bands and clubs are playing. We tried to check it out our last night in Brazil, but unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and rain dampened the dancers spirits.

Out near the Lapa Arches looking for music (and a drink)

Rashmi on top of the arches in the day time.

For a sneak peek at our other photos (we're still compiling them!) you can check this link out.