After running to catch the flight out of Altlanta, we finally arrived in Rio at about 11am. There were several cloudy patches but it is still my favorite city to fly in to. The mountains surrounding the area along with the ocean make the city picturesqe. A closer view of the city reveals the need for more clean up of the roads, beaches and waters. After taking a taxi from the airport we arrived at the Rio Party Hostel. This name is quite funny since me, Jim, Sarah and Stephen are the only guests. We have showers too ourselves and air conditioned room with 2 bunk beds. The staff is extremely helpful, one of the guys had a time trying to show me how to operate the calling cards for the pay phones. After several tries I was finally able to get ahold of Maria but that is when I found out the 40 on the card does not mean forty minutes instead 40 units and I believe one unit is about 4 or 5 seconds.
Once we got settled into our rooms and moved any valuables into our locker (since we couldn´t seem to figure out how to lock our door), we wandered around Botefogo beach and down to Sugar Loaf. We stopped to have lunch, which consisted of pastries filled with ham and cheese and then cheese and tomato pizza. After returning to the room, we showered and napped until Sarah and Stephen showed up. Once all four of us were together we headed out to a Brazilian steakhouse. I had several parts of a cow that I don´t normally eat including the hump (which i´m not sure our cows back in the states have). This piece of meat was quite tender. After dinner we decided to walk to our hostel, which would have been fine if a tunnell had not been involved.
The tunnell had about a 2.5 feet walkway along the edge of the road. The walls of the tunnell were covered in soot. Cars were screaming by as we walked along the lit path. Unfortunately part of the way into the tunnell the lights were broken. It was so dark that we would have to stand still until a car came and then run while the headlights lit up the path. Once the car passed we were once again waiting for another to go flying by. Once we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnell, we all decided maybe from now on we should avoid walking through tunnells. Overall it was a wonderful first day and I can´t wait to see what tomorrow brings! Stay tuned!
Once we got settled into our rooms and moved any valuables into our locker (since we couldn´t seem to figure out how to lock our door), we wandered around Botefogo beach and down to Sugar Loaf. We stopped to have lunch, which consisted of pastries filled with ham and cheese and then cheese and tomato pizza. After returning to the room, we showered and napped until Sarah and Stephen showed up. Once all four of us were together we headed out to a Brazilian steakhouse. I had several parts of a cow that I don´t normally eat including the hump (which i´m not sure our cows back in the states have). This piece of meat was quite tender. After dinner we decided to walk to our hostel, which would have been fine if a tunnell had not been involved.
The tunnell had about a 2.5 feet walkway along the edge of the road. The walls of the tunnell were covered in soot. Cars were screaming by as we walked along the lit path. Unfortunately part of the way into the tunnell the lights were broken. It was so dark that we would have to stand still until a car came and then run while the headlights lit up the path. Once the car passed we were once again waiting for another to go flying by. Once we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnell, we all decided maybe from now on we should avoid walking through tunnells. Overall it was a wonderful first day and I can´t wait to see what tomorrow brings! Stay tuned!
Glad you arrived safely. Thanks for those beautiful teaser pics. Now we are all wishing we could be in that warm beautiful place.
ReplyDeleteLarry