More from Rio

A few days ago, we went to a real typical bloco one afternoon. One with a giant dumptruck style truck with a band pumping music from the top, that drives slowly and people follow and dance around. At this bloco, I was suprised that it was all types of people, young and old, despite the massive crowds. We made our way to the front of the truck, and walked and danced with it for about an hour until it was finally over. Of course, the beer & water vendors fill their shopping cards and join the bloco to make sure that nobody goes thirsty during bloco. At the end of the bloco, everyone disperses and the streets are full.

View from bloco:


Video of a Bloco:


The next day, Brian & I tried to go to the Christo (Christ the Redeemer) that you see picures of. We got there at about 10am, and the line was at least 2 hours to get tickets! Mostly in part to Carnival and swarms of people. So, we took a taxi to Sugarloaf, the famous tall rock formation in Rio. All the tour buses go from Christo in the morning to Sugarloaf in the afternoon, so we didn't have to wait. Of course, I wouldn't have known that if I had been on my own...

A view from Sugarloaf:


Having baby coconut at the beach near Sugarloaf:


We took a tram up to the first mountain, took in some amazing views of all of Rio, then took the next tram up all the way to the top. Lets just say the pictures of Rio certainly show the realy beauty, because it is a pretty intense coastline, with mountains in the background, tall islands, great beaches, and multiple bays.

Yesterday was my first real Brazilian steakhouse! What a food coma! They do the same as in the states, bringing cut after cut after cut of piping hot meat out on skewers. The oddest thing they brought out was chicken hearts. They way the barbecued them they tasted pretty good. Maybe it says something about the food culture in South America when I never ate a heart in my life, then within 8 days, had cow and chicken hearts in 2 different countries. Phew.

Chicken hearts at steakhouse:




Another hilarious thing is my conversations with Brians Dad. At first he only would say 'Chicago Bulls', but slowly, there are more words, such as 'Cincinatti Ohio' 'Five' and 'Daytona', and today 'Golden Gate'. Also when I should eat more, he points to my muscles and says 'Piramides Egyptian'. Its hilarious and fun trying to communicate with hand signals. Of course, I know like 10 words of Portuguese now, so we'ere on the same level.

Here is a video from the Sambodromo:


Video of Vasco v. Fluminese Futbol game: