Rio

Although I am far from acquainted with the city of Rio de Janeiro, I would have to say the city is pretty incredible.  Much like the S.F. Bay Area, Rio is situated on a bay and surrounded by mountains.  I had thought the views from the Berkeley hills were unmatched, but have found Rio's landscape far surpasses the Bay Area's natural beauty; the mountains are taller, their contours far more dramatic, the water greener (except in the bay, which is a lovely sewage-brown), and then there are the beaches...

 

While there is so much to do in Rio, I have been having trouble pulling myself away from the beaches.  My hostel is about two blocks away from Copacabana beach, by far the nicest I had seen in Brazil.  That was, of course, until I took a three-minute bus ride to Ipanema, where Rio's beautiful people go to show themselves off (the girls from Ipanema are definitely song-worthy).  Even on a Tuesday the place is absolutely packed with sun-bathers, surfers, people playing beach racquetball, and even more playing the equivalent of hackeysack with a soccer ball.  The things these people can do with their feet, heads, and chests are amazing.  I tried, and it's at least at hard as it looks.  The also play a version of volleyball in which they don't use hands, and they are far better at it than I will ever be even with the use of all my appendages.

 

I arrived in Rio around midnight on Saturday which, unfortunately for me, was just several hours after the Live Earth concert--a free event with big-name acts just two blocks away from my hostel.  Although admission would have been free, I still got to pay twice the usual rates for my hostel as a result of the event.  The soreness from the added expense was eased by a "free" boat party on Sunday which included all you can eat and drink for all of the hostelers.  Nothing helps 60+ travelers to bond quickly like an open bar.  I met loads of English and Irish folks, several cool Canadians (I learned that they enjoy making fun of the States even more than we do them -- "Blame Canada!"), and was reminded of the fact that despite the massive size of the US, hardly anyone seems to bother to take the time to make it out of the country (I think there may have been one other American on the boat...).

 

My hostel (Mellow Yellow) is pretty incredible as well, containing a bar, restaurant, jacuzzi, "chillout" room, TV lounge, free billiards, free internet, and provides a variety of reasonably-priced tours of the city.  So far I have visited Christo Redentor, the huge statue of Christ which overlooks Rio from atop a mountain.  It offered a stunning panoramic view of Rio and the sunset, as well as the larger-than-life statue of J.C.

 

I plan to attend a football match tonight, and have just 2 more full days before I start making my way home.  It has hardly been enough to do Rio right, but I think Rio has just pushed itself to the top of my list of places I need to re-visit.  Besides, I'd say I'm definitely ready to head home after 6 weeks away...