Rio

We spent three full days in Rio, and unfortunately it poured for two of them...but, we didn't let it get to us. Keep on truckin'....



We stayed in a quaint area of the city called Santa Teresa. Set on a hill, with one narrow cobblestone street running it's length. There is a charming, rickety trolley that runs up and down the hill, and costs only 60 reias (or 30 cents) per person.

On our first morning, we went to Parque Nacional da Tijuca, where we spent the day hiking around in the rainforest (the perfect solution to the rain)! It was amazing to be in such a lush and beautiful forest in the middle of this grand city. The following morning we took a bus to the base of Pão de Acúcar or "Sugar Loaf" and then a cable car to the top. When we arrived there was thick cloud of fog covering the top, however within minutes the fog lifted and we had an outrageous viewof the city. That afternoon we stopped by Maracanã, Rio's stadium & 'shrine to futbol'. We had extremely high hopes of catching a live game, however we discovered that their usual midweek match was an away game....boooo. So, we wandered around the facility instead, sat in the bleachers, and cheered on our make believe teams! That evening unable to pass up a St. Paddy's celebration, we strapped on whatever green we could find and headed to Waxy's Irish Pub (where we found plenty of Irish spirit)!

The following morning we wandered through downtown Rio, and then headed for the beach that afternoon. We decided on Praia do Ipanema, as it is supposedly the hotspot for Rio's beautiful people....who doesn't love a little people watching, right?! Despite the overcast weather, the beach was still hopping and gorgeous! The following morning we took a train to the peak of Corcovado, where we saw the immense statue of Christ the Redeemer. Then hustled back to the hostel to shower and check out, and off to the bus station to board our 24 hour (yikes!) bus to Foz do Iguacu, a town that borders both Argentina and Paraguay.

Busin'......

Side note:
So while in Rio, an escalator ate my flip-flop. I'm serious. We were heading down to a ticket office to purchase our bus tickets, and upon disembarkation the teeth of the escalator snagged the toe of my flip flop and swallowed it. Of course the whole machine stopped due to the jam....embarrassing. In my mortification I was hoping for at least one empathetic smile or shake of the head....but no, just a substantial amount of "stink eye" from the people forced to use the stairs.
Despite the fact that I am pretty confident in both my escalator skills and the fact that this was a freak accident, I still received verbal instructions (in broken English) on how to properly dismount an escalator, "Must never touch the yellow line. Not here in Brazil, not in United States....not even in Europe". Thank you sir, I'll keep that in mind. Thanks to the three crafty mechanics, my shoe was extracted (quite beat-up, but still functional), and were sent on our way!