After leaving the Sheraton we arrived at our hostel around 530pm so were able to check in right away. It was a pretty typical hostel but pretty nice located in the Botofoga area of Rio. Like most of the hostels we have been to it did have air conditioning but it didn't come on until 8pm so our room felt more like a sauna then it did a bedroom so we quickly dropped off our belongings and headed our to explore the area a bit.....but really just to wait for the AC to come on lol.
Once our room finally cooled down we got dressed out headed out to the area of Lapa to grab some dinner. We didn't really have a plan but we had heard that this was a fun area that had lots of local bars and restaurants. After walking around checking out a few we decided on one that had live music. We didn't until we sat down and the music really got going that we had stumbled upon a wicked locals Samba bar and on top of it all it was a Brazilian tapas place - our fav way to eat! So we feasted on some amazing local favourites and then joined the rowdy dance party downstairs and danced the night away before grabbing a cab and calling it a night.
 |
| Part of our feast |
 |
| Jonny washing down the delicious tapas |
 |
| enjoying my Bhrama |
 |
| Getting into the dance party |
 |
| the amazing Samba band |
The next day we were headed to the visit the Christ the Redeemer statue (Jonny was thrilled to be spending the morning with Christ lol ) which sits perched overlooking all of Rio on top of the 700m high Corcovado mountain. We had been warned by some american girls that we met earlier in the trip to go very early since it can get very busy so we planned to get there around 8am to make the first train up at 830. We were running a little behind and ended up arriving around 830 instead and they weren't kidding. We were mixed in with a large number Japanese tour groups and what I can only assume was some sort of international high-school exchange program, but we were able to score tickets for the 9:20 train up the mountain. After elbowing a few Japanese tourists J.J was able to pave a path for us to get seats on the right side of the train which supposedly has better views. Once you are at the top it is pretty much a tourist trap - hoards of people crammed in taking photos, rows and rows of stands to buy souvenirs, overpriced food and drinks - pretty much the usual, but the statue itself is pretty amazing to see. It is the 5th largest Jesus statue in the world and stands 40m high and 30m wide. The mountain also offers amazing 360 views of the city. So like most others we spend an hour or so up there taking photos before getting back in line for the train down
 |
| First view when you arrive at the top |
 |
| Front view of Jesus |
 |
| Close up view of Jesus |
 |
| Jonny and I with Jesus |
 |
| Sun shining on Jesus |
 |
| Amazing views of Rio |
After our morning with Jesus, Jonny and I crabbed a cab and headed to the neighborhood of Santa Teresa for the afternoon, famous for its narrow, winding streets, being a hot spot of artists and amazing views it offers of Rio given its location perched upon a hill. A quick stop at the cultural centre there for a map and we were on our way to wander. The largest tourist attraction in the area is probably Parquas das Ruinas (Ruins Park), the old ruins of a mansion that has been revamped with modern twists and staircases. Besides being architecturally incredibly interesting, this spot also offers amazing 360 views of the city yet again. After our time in Santa Teresa we decided to walk back down to Lapa to catch the city bus back to the hostel since we knew along the way there was a hidden staircase called Escadaria de Selaron, where an eccentric Chilean artist was been working for over 20 years to cover the entire thing in tiles from around the globe. The area used to be a really run down slum but as the artist began to make it a work of art more and more people came to see it and the area started to tour around (although the cynical side of me says that the city probably cleaned it up because it was becoming a tourist attraction). Needless to say it is absolutely worth a visit and if you are lucky, which we were, you can even catch the artist at work.
 |
| exterior of Ruins Parque |
 |
| Interior of Ruins Parque |
 |
| One of the many views from the roof |
 |
| First view of the stairs |
 |
| One part of the massive staircase covering |
 |
| Me with the Artist |
After a siesta and shower at the hostel, the 4 of us set out to dinner to try this hip little tapas place that I had read about called Meza Bar that was about 10mins walk from the hostel. Apparently its a place to see and be seen in this part of Rio but somehow they still let us in, in all our backpackers glory. The atmosphere and décor was great, interesting light fixtures, hip music playing in the background, etc, etc, although it had no english menu - probably a good sign actually since it doesn't see to many tourists. After struggling with the menu a little bit and not getting anywhere with questions to our very non-english speaking waiter we were getting ready to place a little mystery dinner again (where we just pick things at random cause we don't know what they are) when the very lovely, and english speaking, bartender came over to help. She translated most of the menu for us and we all picked our favs. Dinner was delicious and just as we were getting ready to wrap up the bartender came back over to us. She said that since we had just been drinking beer all night we needed to try one of her shots - on the house. Who were we to say no! So she made us this concoction of vodka, pomegranate liquor and tabasco gave us strict instructions to hold them in our mouth for 2-3 seconds before swallowing. Sounds disgusting I know, but the shots were surprisingly nice and didn't taste like vodka - and hey a free shot is a free shot! Afterwards we headed home to get some sleep before our 4am wake up call to catch out bus outta Rio the next morning.
 |
| J.J getting a close-up of our shots |
No comments:
Post a Comment