I am EXHAUSTED. I just spent three very jam-packed days in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The trip began at 9pm Sunday night. We had an overnight flight from Manuas to Rio that was scheduled to leave at 11:30 but due to multiple delays, we didn't leave until around 1am. Tack on the two hours that we lost due to switching time zones, we arrived in Rio on maybe 1 hour of uninterrupted sleep. When we flew over Rio, it didn't even matter how much sleep I had or hadn't gotten. The excitement of a new city to explore was enough to restore my energy. The place was carpeted in green and its mountains crested in very unique hunch backs. The flyover gave us an interesting perspective. We could see the favellas climbing up the mountain sides, the very urbanized coastline full of high rises, the 'Big Jesus' statue, Sugarloaf.
The moment we hit solid ground, it was off and running on our first day in Rio. What a whirlwind. We were picked up at the airport by our guide, Riccardo, who accompanied us throughout our stay. A native Rio de Janeir'an with excellent english, Riccardofilled us in on the history and landmarks of Rio as we traveled past favellas, through the suburbs, through downtown Rio, and finally dumping us on the beach at a quiosque for breakfast. A quiosque is basically a little stand that serves drinks and light fare. The beaches of Rio are covered in them and our breakfast was delicious. An assortment of breads, jam, cheese, and meat. Little cinnamon rolls. Fresh papaya and cantelope. Moccacinos and freshly squeezed orange juice. The food just kept coming. Sooo good! Right after breakfast, we hopped on some bikes and spent the next 3 hours biking the endless paths through Rio, occassionally stopping for pictures. One of the greatest things about RIo is how active its residents are and how easy it is to be active in Rio. They have bike paths lining the beaches and through the city that are constantly filled with people all hours of the day. There are countless beach volleyball courts and beach soccer fields along most of the stretch of the beaches and they are always occuppied by some pretty amazing athletes. I swear no one is bad at soccer in Rio. If you could see these average citizens out on the sand playing foot volley (a cross between soccer and volleyball), you would be amazed. It's so effortless and I can see why. Kids as young as 4 years old are out on the sand playing soccer. It's ingrained in their upbringing.
The bike ride took us through the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema and on to the perimeter of Guanabara Bay. We stopped at a drink vendor to rehydrate. It was HOT. 35 degrees C and climbing! That's over 100 degrees F. I bought a coco water. They saw off the top of a cocunut, hand you a straw and you suck up the sweet cocunut juice. So refreshing! Next stop was the Flamengo sports club where we got a tour of the facilities. The Flamengo futebol team recently signed Ronaldhino so there were huge murals of him all over the walls. I never realized how futebol clubs worked until this tour. Basically a 'club' is like a gym, complete with outdoor swimming pools, tennis courts, training fields, etc. The club has teams for every sport and local residents can join the club to use its facilities. What a great way to gather support for the teams of the club. I wish they would start something like this in the states. This could be the key to building soccer's popularity in the US. We saw a group of little boys playing soccer in the indoor soccer field, watched a few world class gymnasts train on the parralel bars, and saw the synchronized swimming team in one of the outdoor pools.
When I say this day was nonstop, I mean it. From Flamengo, we went to a jungle oasis in the middle of the city for a canopy tour, complete with zip line to the finish and a well-deserved lunch. We were strapped into ropes and a caribiner to complete an obstacle course through the canopies of the trees. I wasn't expecting the amount of concentration required to walk across hanging logs and rope bridges and tight ropes. After lunch we were finally taken to our hotel, the South American Copacabana Hotel, just a few blocks fromt the beach where I think every last one of us crashed the moment we found our beds. This was the first chance we had to rest since we were first pulling into Manaus, over 24 hours prior. We had about 3 hours to reenergize before our beach soccer match later that evening.
Beach soccer is a popular pasttime in Rio and I soon found out why. Our soccer game was probably the highlight of my trip to Rio. We were supposed to verse a group of kids from a local NGO but for some reason that fell through so we versed each other instead. The man organizing the game was a local soccer coach who has won a few national titles with his club team. Our perception of this just being a friendly soccer game was quickly wiped away when he began giving us red and white uniforms, both a jersey and shorts. He quickly divided us into teams, blew the whistle and play began. Soccer in the sand is SUCH a work out. After working out all day on very little sleep, we were all dragging but as the game progressed, some locals started gathering around our little field to watch us attempt to play the sport they have pretty much mastered. Eventually, about four or five of them jumped into the game. They were amazing! At one point, two of them juggled the ball up the field, around our defense, and scored a goal. It was pure magic to watch and slightly embarrasing how easy it was for them to walk all over us. During the half (yes this was a full-fledged game, our 'coach' wouldn't let us even get a sip of water until the first 15-minute half was up), I checked off an item on my bucket list: juggle with a Brazilian. Our goalie, Henrique, and I juggled for the duration of the half until finally it was time for half number 2. It was so amazing. At the end of the game we all jumped into the ocean, cooling off from our unexpectedly intense match.
For dinner, we visited a restaurant that was reccomended by our tour guide called Terraforte. It was a traditional brazilian meal where you eat by the quilo, visiting the buffet, filling up your plate, then weighing it and paying the price. Food in Brazil can be very expensive. I'm talking about 35 Reais on average for a good hearty meal. But the food is absolutely delicious and I am hooked on the local soda called Guarana. I'm hoping I can find it in the states somewhere when I'm home.
Day 2 began with kayaking and a hike up Sugarloaf mountain for an amazing view of Rio. The hike was only about 30 minutes but it was STEEP. I didn't realize the Rio Through Sports Tour actually meant bootcamp. My body had more of a work out in these three days than it has had in a while. The final stretch to the top was via cable car. We ended the day at the open air markets along the beach where I bought a sarong, a signature fashion in Brazil and some havaina flip flops. Had to buy the Brazilian flip flops in Brazil, of course.
Day 3 was the day we had all been waiting for. We saw the world-famous Maracana stadium. It was under renovation for the 2014 world cup but still amazing to see. On the way into the stadium, there are footprints/handprints of the best Brazilian soccer stars like Pele and Kaka, kind of like getting a star in hollywood. Then we were taken to a Brazilian Steakhouse where I was adventurous and tried a chicken heart. Never again. It wasn't that it tasted bad. It was just knowing that I was chewing on a heart that made it extremely difficult to get down. Lunch was followed by an open air jeep ride up to Corcovado to visit the Christ the Redeemer statue. It was unreal. I've seen pictures of it and there I was standing right beneath it and overlooking one of the best views of Rio I had seen yet. It was such a great way to end the trip, the capstone moment.
Now I'm back on the ship, ready to catch up on sleep and brace myself for 9 days at sea across the rough seas of the Atlantic. Next stop: Ghana.
No comments:
Post a Comment