With a little over 11M people, rich in cultural history, once the capital of Brazil, beautiful beaches, views of the ocean all over the place, a zillion things to do and visit, party, water sports, good food (a bit on the expensive side), very nice and warm people (very much fans of sport, specially football - soccer), straight forward availability of public transport (must plan very well ahead), two international airports, museums, sightseeing and lots of other things, Rio is one of those “items ” that must be placed in the bucket list and one day definitively visit.
This is no place for the one who feels uneasy with people within their personal "no touch me" zone !!
We concentrated mostly on the south part of Rio where the hotels near the beaches are. Downtown and big businesses are located towards the north of the city, above Botafogo & Flamengo. The hotel is located towards the end of Leblon on Delfim Moreira avenue; going towards the east you will find Ipanema along avenue Vieira Souto and then turning left you will connect to Copacabana which runs all along Atlantica avenue. These areas are mostly attended by beach goers who spend most of the time playing football on the sand, volleyball, weightlifting, jogging, bathing, some surfing on low to medium high waves, beach racket and of course drink plenty of Caipirinha which is made of concentrated sugar cane (alcohol - very concentrated and lightly fermented) and lime.
This is the mostly tourist area of Rio and where we spend most of our time.
One of the most visited places is the Pao de Azucar (Sugar Bread) which is basically a huge rock that looks as if it has just popped out of the earth. From here yuo have views towards the beaches, Botafogo and downtown.
From here we focused on the "attractions" more towards the north and visited the well know Maracana stadium. At the time of visiting they were doing some work as to expand the number of seats available. It will be able to hold about 100k people when full.
We were told to get there early to get seating, so we did !! The place was emptyyyyyyy !!!
The rio zoo is also a place to visit; if the weather is too hot you don't get too see much of the animals of the place, but still for the kids is a nice place to visit as they concentrate on animals of the area and specially the amazons.
One of the big days happen when visiting the "Cristo Redentor" (Christ the Redeemer); located on the Corcovado Mountain it oversees ALL of Rio de Janeiro. It is about 38 mts (125 ft) high from the base and the views are really stunning.
To get up there you ride a train and then if you are up for it, come down walking. We rode the train both ways .... hehehe .... TOO HOT !!
Enjoying greatness !!!
This pic is towards the south of the city; at the back and to the left is Ipanema beach - to the right Leblon area and a perfect view of the beach. The horse race track is the Jockey Club Brasileiro and also view of the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon.
The Jardim Botanico do Rio de Janeiro is the place to go if you want to see some beautiful and stunning flora.
Awesome entrance.
Available for either walking tours or can go on a cart that shows you around the most important plants of the area.
Needless to say we visited some of the most renowned restaurants in the area; some located in Niteroi at the other side of the bay and many many many restaurants in the area next to the hotel in Leblon and Ipanema.
One that caught our attention as it was well mentioned among many we met there, is a restaurant called "A Garota de Ipanema" (the girl from Ipanema) also a song which is also very well known among the population there. Above all the food is very good, served to your table hot on a "parrilla" and with family and good friends it is the right setting for a great evening.
Food on the parrilla served hot !!!
So as said above one from the bucket list DONE! Nothing like enjoying the wonders of the world - places, people, food, cultures .... WHAT A GREAT EARTH we have. c'ya.
