The video was taken from our restaurant in Copacabana, just some of the local entertainment.
After 4 days of sorting out, what seemed like, one problem after another we were finally able to settle down and enjoy some of the sights Rio de Janeiro had to offer.
For a city that reportedly has 300 days of sun per year we were blessed with just 1 in the 7 days we were there, which we intended to make the most of. So all oiled up we headed for Ipanema Beach to lie down on the beach in the sun and just relax. I don't think even a proctologist has seen as many bums as were on display at the beach that day. It's all about having "back" in Brazil it seems (yes Sir Mix-a-lot was playing in my head a lot that day). Doesn't matter what your dress size they have a skimpy bikini to fit you (or apparently made intentionally not to fit you).
It must be uncomfortable for the ladies walking around all day pulling material out of an insatiably hungry bum. But, that is no reason for every bloke on the beach to walk around in budgie smugglers (aka. Dicktogs, meat and potato holders, ok you should have the point by now). A special mention must go to the blokes who wear white togs into the water, smart thinking there Einstein!
Friday morning we set off with Leo from our Hostel to go Hang Gliding for the first time. No better place to do it than over the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. What an amazing experience! Our parents have already seen the photos and we admit they do look like they've had a bit of photo-shop work done on them, but they are in fact fair dinkum and I even got a video of my flight (too big to load on UTube, so you'll have to wait til I get home). Nat was away first and unfortunately I was unable to get a good photo as my bloke was running me through my take off warm up. Then it was my turn. You can't be over 120kg to Hang Glide, so thankfully neither of us had put on too much weight thus far on our trip (although it was touch and go for Nat when they put her on the scales!).
I was told for someone my size that a good flight might last up to 15 minutes, so I as pretty happy with around 10 in the air, although the instructions for landing would have been better before we actually “crash” landed. Just another one of the misunderstandings in language I think.
I managed to return to the Cristo Redentor or Christ the Redeemer Statue on a good viewing day and it was truly wondrous. If you are looking for somewhere to get close to God then I can't imagine a better place to do it.
We did a bit of Havaiana shopping and tasted a few local cuisines on our last night. The food wasn’t much to write home about, although on our first night in Rio we both found out what they mean about big portions. The garlic bread we ordered was enough to feed 8 people, so I ate most of it by myself and Nat helped with a couple of pieces. We are both now looking forward to returning to a Spanish speaking country as we have both had difficulty communicating with the Portuguese speaking Brazilians. Rio definitely gets the thumbs up, but I’d recommend planning around the weather as you struggle for much to do when it turns bad.
