RIO DE JANEIRO

21. April – 25. April 2011

I arrived at the airport in Rio around 2 am and since my friend Sabine's flight was scheduled to arrive at 6 am, I decided to wait for her at the airport. First of many nights in Brazilian airports. By bus we made our way to the hostel. It wasn't too easy since we weren't sure where to get off the bus. And Brazilian busdrivers drive like crazy. You have to hold on with both hands if you don't want to be flying through the whole bus. Luckily we got off at the right stop and only had to walk two blocks to the Arthostel (I really don't know why it is called arthostel since there was very little art in the hostel). We arrived a day before the Easter weekend and the hostel was quite full. We got two beds in a cramped 16 person dormitory. The biggest I have stayed and possibly the most expensive so far as well. But we were lucky to get anything at all over the busy holiday weekend.
After a short rest in the hostel we started to explore Rio de Janeiro. We started with checking out the area near the hostel. After walking around in the neighborhood Catete for a while and tasting the first fruit juices, we went to the beach. First of many beaches we visited was Praia Flamengo, where - under the shade of some trees - we planned the four weeks we would be traveling together.
After we didn't manage to find a metro stop, we took the bus to Copacabana. The beach was packed with people but very nice anyways. Long, wide beach, blue water, palm trees and a Caipirinha. This is Rio!
After walking around the city for a few hours we were both surprised how green and clean the city is. Many small parks and big trees in almost all streets.

The second day we wanted to take the cable car up to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarleaf Mountain), one of Rio's icons. But the line to get in was so long that we didn't want to wait in the heat. Instead we enjoyed an ice cream at the beach and walked along a nature trail. It was beautiful. A nice trail shaded by trees, the hill to the left and the bay to the right. We even saw capuchin monkeys. In the middle of the big city. After the walk it was time for the beach. This time we went to check out Praia Ipanema.

Not much different from Copacabana and beautiful as well. All beaches in Rio are great for people watching. And we were both a little shocked how little clothes people wear at the beaches - women (thongs) AND men (speedos). And it is quite normal to see people in their beach clothes walking in the streets. Not always a nice view.
Saturday morning we planned to go up to the Corcovado mountain with the famous Cristo statue. Again the line to get up there was so long that we skipped it and went to the city center instead. There we walked over a market before trying another time going to Pão de Açúcar. This time the line was very short and we got up there quite fast. Just in time for sunset! Amazing views of the city! We spent a long time just enjoying the views and taking pictures. Rio is located around many hills and there are beaches everywhere. It was great to see the city from above.
On our last day, we went up to the Cristo Redentor statue although the woman at the ticket counter advised us not to go since it was very cloudy up on the hill and supposedly it was not possible to see neither statue nor city. Luckily we did not listen to her and went up anyways. Just when we got to the statue the clouds opened up and we had great views of the statue and city. Amazing!
I really liked Rio de Janeiro and it is the nicest city in South America that I've been to. Some of the other cities in South America are nice and some have beautiful old colonial buildings. But none of the other cities are special. Rio is different and I don't think it can be compared to other cities. With the beaches directly in the city and it's many hills it's setting is spectacular. And it feels (and actually is) just a big beach town.