Rio

Our Rio experience did not start out good. We landed about 5pm and set out to try to get to our hostel in the Santa Teresa area. The hostel had given us fairly in-depth but thoroughly confusing directions as to how to get there. Take a bus, then get on a tram, then walk, but if you arrive by metro, you can take this bus and get off here and walk. We found the first bus and were informed to get off somewhere in downtown Rio. We figured it wasn't too far away so we decided to get a taxi the rest of the way. With the help of a local guy who could tell we were lost, we tried to find a taxi. He asked a few and they kept saying no. Through broken English our Brazilian friend eventually told us that it was too dangerous for the taxis. Come again? Too dangerous? Where were we staying exactly. Finally he convinced a taxi driver to take us, but the adventure was only just beginning. He had no idea where he was going. No joke he stopped 20 times asking for "Rua Bastos" and we were pointed every different direction. Slowly we zig-zagged our way there and finally tracked it down. Then we go into the hostel and they are renovating so there is a toilet in the foyer. Nice. As soon as we had gotten there we were ready to leave Rio.

But the new day brought us some better luck. It was a gorgeous day. Having done little research on the city, we set out to do the only things we had heard of - visit the Sugar Loaf, beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema, and the Christ the Redeemer statue that overlooks the city. The "bread loaf", as I called it to Steph's delight, would be first. Pão de Açúcar, as it is called here, is the rocky pinnacle jutting out of the shoreline right in the middle of Rio. You have to take two (expensive) cable cars to get to the top. From the guidebook we borrowed from the hostel we learned that there is a trail up the mountain to the first lookout, and you can save a "few reais." Always game to save a few, we headed up the steep slope not knowing if our efforts would be worth it. The trail wasn't too bad, and we got to see a bunch of little monkeys on the way up (they're like squirrels here). Plus, it saved us more like 46 reais, or about $30 bucks!  From the first viewpoint we had no choice but to take the cable car to the top. Since we were lucky and had a clear day, the views were spectacular. I hereby submit that there is no big city on this earth that is prettier than Rio de Janeiro on a clear day. Amazing.

Our little money-saving hike had unfortunately thrown a wrench in our plans for the day because it took longer than had thought. Plus, we had no idea how to get anywhere else but back to Santa Teresa, so that's what we did. It's a pretty cool area of town actually, set on a hill with a bunch of old mansions, many of which have been refurbished (and many of which have not). There's an electric tram that squels it's way up the hill and gives you a nice open-air view of the neighborhood and some of it's views. On the way back up, however, the electric cable above the tram made a loud POP! and split in two, with one cable swinging unnervingly close to me. Everyone screamed then sat in the tram while the driver's surveyed the damage. We all knew it was coming but weren't about to budge until it became official. Yep, we were walking the rest of the way. Bummer. We spent just one more night in Rio (our bad first impression forced our cards and we booked a beach getaway) before heading off to Ilha Grande, a tropical island about 2 hours south of Rio. Beaches here we come!