Soccer and Sun.....our last few days at the Sheraton

After Carnival we had 2 days and 1 night left at the Sheraton and then our plan was to move on from Rio, but since we didn't really get the chance to see much of the city as we were busy with Carnival we decide to extend our stay by 2 more nights and head back to the hostel life. 


On the day after Carnival Jonny and I decided that we would just take in easy and have another beach day, but decided to head down to Copacabana beach to hang with the locals instead of spending the day at the Private beach at the Sheraton. We had been down there during Carnival and knew we wanted to return - the sand in amazingly white and the turquoise colour of the water on this part of the beach rivals those of Cancun and other Caribbean hot spots. For 15 reals (about $10 CDN) we rented 2 chairs and an umbrella for the day to relax under. The beach there is amazing, everything that you need comes to you as the locals walk up and down the beach selling things all day long. Without having to leave the comfort of our beach chairs we were able to score 2 pairs of sunglasses (since we have already broke our lost all others), a sarong, 2 empanadas, 4 waters and 2 popsicles.

Copacabana beach (image courtesy of google images)

After spending the day there we headed back to the hotel to get ready for the futbol (soccer) match that we had tickets for. We had purchased them the day before from the hotel concierge for about 150 Reals a pop (about $90 CDN) Flamengo vs. Vasco. Much like going to a match in Argentina, they recommend that foreigners head there with a tour company as it can be a bit dodgy to get into the stadium. Particularly this one was in a very dangerous neighbourhood because the regular stadium that Flamengo plays in is being renovated for the upcoming world cup. The city is putting in a lot of effort however to clean up this other neighborhood because the stadium that we went to is actually going to be the 2016 Rio Olympic stadium (after they add an additional 30,000 seats to the existing ~25,000 seats) 

A van picked us up at the hotel, and after stopping at a handful of other places to pick up the rest of the people joining us we started the 45min ride to the stadium through all types of neighbourhoods rich and poor before pulling up on the stadium. The stadium itself was quite a contrast the neighborhood that surrounds it, a very architecturally beautiful building with brightly lit archways set against a slum. 

View of the future Olympic stadium from the street

Entering the stadium

When we arrived at the stadium we had to wait about 15 - 20 mins before our guide could get the tickets so we had just enough time to grab a couple Bhrama's, meat on a stick and for me to get a Flamengo jersey for the game - when in Rome! As we were waiting for tickets we also got to see the hooligans coming into the stadium, it seemed as though the were headed to some back entrance and the group of about 200 or more were being escorted by heavily armed policeman. I am not sure if the police escort was for their protection of ours lol. Finally it was our turn to go in, the security getting into the game was nothing compared to La Boca in Argentina so we were in very quickly. Since this stadium is a lot bigger than the regular stadium and is about 45 mins outside of the city it wasn't sold out but that didn't stop the crowd from making it feel like it was a sold out game. I may even wager to say that the Flamengo fans may have been louder than the La Boca fans. Afterall they do have something like 40 million fans across the world...... that is more that there are Canadians TOTAL. 

Beers and Jersey outside of the Stadium

Jonny getting pumped  up with the crowd

showing off my Jersey

Flamengo's Hooligans side

As the crowd were starting to enter the stadium

It was a great game - the teams were very well matched so it was fast moving, plus it was the semi-final game for the Rio State championships so there was a lot on the line for both teams. Flamengo took the lead with a goal in the first 5 mins but Vasco caught up right before the end of the half. In the end Vasco took the game with a 2nd goal with about 5 mins left in the game. We were on the edge of our seats for the whole game! After the game we headed back to the Sheraton for one last sleep in our comfy beds before heading back to hostel life.

Since I am a platinum member, one of the perks I get is 4pm check-out at any starwood property so Jonny and I took full advantage of this privilege. Kait and J.J headed out early to get checked into the hostel and take in some of Rio and Jonny and I spent the day lounging poolside 

Enjoying our last day at the Sheraton

The last of the private beach rays

one last shot for the road

Finally around 3:30 we begrudgingly dragged ourselves upstairs to finish packing and check-out for grabbing a cab to our hostel for the next 2 nights.......back to the real backpackers life!

OOO_Talia