We had a Brazilian budget airline experience from Florianópolis to Rio de Janeiro on Wednesday and the flight while cramped was early into Rio and everything worked efficiently.  At Rio de Janeiro Airport we picked up an official taxi to our hotel in Copacabana, the same hotel that we stayed in for the World Cup back in 2014.  We felt with Carnival the familiar was probably the sensible thing to do.  The taxi driver got us into town in just over half an hour which is remarkable for Rio traffic, and during the journey in he told us about the latest shootings in the favelas in perfect English.  From a number of conversations it is apparent that many Brazilians abandon the City during Carnival and simply watch it on TV.

The rest of our first day was spent simply relaxing on the Copacabana with a beer and just familiarising ourselves with the Copacabana area.  Our previous two visits to Rio de Janeiro were in their winter, so the weather is much hotter and brighter at this time of the year.

Day two we picked up our Carnival Tickets at the changed offices in Copacabana having made an abortive trip to the City Centre by the Theatro Municipal.  The official office where we collected the tickets was on the 11th floor in a Office Block was run by young volunteers all in their official Carnival T shirts.  It reminded me a bit of the World Cup in 2014 when Brazil also used an army of young volunteers at the stadiums who all give out that sunny positive Brazilian vibe.

In the evening we went back to the Carretão Ipanema Classic Grill which is a great
Brazilian churrascaria with all the different types of beef, our old favourites of chicken hearts and a side range of sushi for starters.  Also most unexpectedly in amongst the vegetables were some brussel sprouts, probably the last vegetable I expected to find in South America.

Walking on Ipanema Beach I had simply to play “The Girl from Ipanema” by João Gilberto, Stan Getz and Antonio Jobin, on the iPhone, which still sounds magical after more than 50 years.  We have not heard that much bossa nova so far which is a bit disappointing, but there is still plenty of time.  There is also a statue to Jobin with his guitar on his back by Ipanema Beach as a reminder of his music and more innocent times.

However, most of the music we heard in the beach bars was some form of reggaetron a fusion of Latin music, rap and a bit of drum and base thrown in.

 

Date: 07/02/2018 to 08/02/2018