Rio de Janeiro March 1, 2014

Wow can you believe it we are back in Rio.  It was two years ago that we were here for just under a week.  We loved it then and we are both excited to be coming back.  We pull into the harbour early and the views are stunning.  Lots of people are up and about on deck.  We pull into our berth along side an MSC ship that is disembarking people today.  

We are here overnight and don’t depart until tomorrow at 5:30.  The crew are all excited, and many passengers too.

I grab a small bite of food from horizon court, but because of the staff having to serve us with everything I end up getting very little cause I just don’t want to wait.  Maybe this red alert is a good thing I am eating less!

We are meeting up with the Sambadrom ticket group to go off all together to meet up with Marcelo  who works for a travel agent who coordinated our evening.  His company is Marecelo Zahar Tours and Travel and he can be found at his email  marcelozahar@dobrazilright.com  We meet up with him to get our Carnvial tickts.  We paid $139 each for our boxed seat and $60 for transportation, so basically $200 each and had to pay in advance and we got a bit of a discount for paying it all up front.

We run into Sue and Alan from Campbell River and they tell us their daughter is reading the blog so here is a shout out to her and to tell her they are having a great time.

We then get ready for a day out on the town in Rio.  Now since we have been here before and since we are adventurous and don’t mind public transit we head out on our own.  

I will add because it is Carnival the traffic is extra crazy, many streets are blocked because of parades and taxis are hard to come by.  We know where to walk and we head down the street to the Metro station and we come across a street parade so we join in.

We get to the Metro station (which is not that well marked) we check the balance on our Metro cards and since there is only .70 R we go to the machine to add money to them.  The fare for the Metro is 3.50 R each and we take it to Botafogo to go to the Rio Sol Shopping Mall.  Now of course when you come out of the station we are like “where the heck are we” and it isn’t like the mall is right there but with a bit of figuring things out we determine where we have to walk. 

key to keep your possessions in front

Of course there is another block party parade and we join in again and dance down the street.  I have some video and will put it up on my Youtube channel so make sure you check it out when I get back home.

We find the mall and we have two reasons for visiting this mall.  First Starbucks!  And then we head to the store where Bernie bought a t shirt last time that he loves, well more than loves.  It is one of those shirts that he wore all the time, so much that I told him, really!  You need to wear something different.  The old shirt is showing it’s age and I promised him this trip he could get a new one and he buys two but they are lovely.

We head out and since there is so much traffic there is really no sense in waiting for a bus so we head to the beach on foot.  

We walk about 20 minutes towards Copacabana Beach and walk along it for quite a distance and people watch.  Then we cross the street to some restaurants that we know and we get a seat up front and order.

First thing, beer for Bernie and Caipirinha drink for me.  We order their barbecue dish that is to share and we get a huge plate of steak, chicken, pork and sausage and it is so good.  The people watching is even better.

We leave there and walk inland a few blocks to the Metro and the ride back to the pier to the closest stop which is Uruguaiana station.  We walk the few blocks back to the pier.

Note this is not an area to walk around during the evening, take a taxi.  During the day it is okay but make sure you still keep your wits about you.  Don’t keep your wallet in your pocket keep it in a money belt or in a pacsafe bag (or something similar).  We used our pacsafe bag and locked the zipper clips.  We also wore the bag in busy areas in the front and we didn’t wear any jewelry at all.  No chairs, no rings, no expensive watches, nothing.  Did not take our expensive camera just a cheaper camera.  Leave all non essential items in the cabin.  We carry only one credit card and id and that is it.  A small amount of money is all you need too. 

Tonight is Carnival and they are picking us up at 11 pm at the pier.  Can’t wait.

I know the ship has chartered some buses for the crew to take them to Copacabana - so glad and so many have never been here so should be a fun night for them too.