Ohhhhh the good life how I have missed you

We had been looking forward to our arrival in Rio for a really long time, even before we left Toronto really for a number of reasons. The allure of exploring such an amazing tropical city, jumping head first into Carnival in the biggest celebration in the world, soaking up the sun on any number of Rio's amazing beaches - all of these things for sure, but the other reason we were looking so forward to it was because we had booked 5 days at the luxurious Sheraton Resort directly on one of Rio's most famous beaches. After spending many weeks sharing hostel accommodations with an random array of strangers we were really looking forward to a taste of the good life again. How do people that have quit their jobs to travel around the world for 1 year afford 5 blissful days and nights at the Sheraton during Carnival you might ask? The answer is POINTS!!!!  One of the perks of my previous work routine of spending 4 days/3 nights a week living in a hotel in various US cities was that I collected massive quantity of hotel points - enough to become a platinum starwood member. This allowed us to get 5 completely free nights (other than a whole bunch of points) at the Sheraton in Leblon beach, one of the only hotels in Rio that is directly on the beach and no set behind the road, during Carnival. Jealous yet?? 

View from our room at the Sheraton

Private beach at our hotel

Looking at the hotel from the beach

Upon arrival we found out that we actually would have been upgraded to a top floor suite, but I had requested 2 double beds and they only had king beds up there - DAMN YOU KAIT AND J.J!! Just kidding, our room was still amazing, high floor, ocean view, champagne on ice waiting for us.....all the perks. So we made the Sheraton our how home for 5 days and spent our days lounging by the pool/beach all day and partying for Carnival all night. Somehow it seems that backpacking should be rougher than this lol. 

Champagne waiting on ice.... thank you Sheraton!

Lounging by the beach

Lounging by the pool

Jonny tanning in his new shorts

By the time we arrived and got settled in our room it was around 8pm and we were all pretty beat from the travel. We were going to try and hit one of the Carnival parties that night but given our long day or travel and Jonny's injury (see update from Iguazu falls for all the details) we decided that we would go out for a nice dinner instead and then hit the Carnival street parties the following day. We decided to try a Brazilian steak house that the hotel concierge recommended and it was quite the experience. 

On our way out to dinner - from  our balcony

First off the restaurant comes to pick you up in a Van and then drove us for approximately 10mins, through all kinds of Rio neighbourhoods both rich and poor, until we arrived at the place. We were a little uneasy at first since it was pretty empty (it was about 10:15pm....apparently they don't eat as late as B.A) and it looked like it had a pretty touristy look to it, but the food was UNREAL. The way a Brazilian steakhouse works is you sit at a table and the servers come around with every kind and cut of meat imaginable on a massive spear and just cut pieces off directly onto your place. They will do this forever until you eventually wave the white flag and lay your napkin on your plate. I am pretty sure we each must of have about 10 to 12 different pieces of amazing meat. Oh and did I mention that there is also a massive buffet that comes along with it that has salad, cheese, pasta and sushi........just in case a massive plate of meat isn't enough for you. Needless to say after dinner we were all quite full and hit the sack for a luxurious nights sleep in our Sheraton beds before hitting the streets for Carnival the next day!


OOO_Talia