Back from Rio….why?

I’m back from my trip to Rio and all I can think is why did I leave??? Finally getting to see Rio with some sun is quite amazing. I mean I loved Rio before for its scenery, its easy pace of life and cool architecture, but add the sun and beautiful beaches and who would want to leave? Because I took care of many of the points of interest on my last trip I was able to just relax on the beach and soak up some badly needed sun. Last week was pretty cold here in Campinas so I definitely welcomed the change of climate. But being that its still technically winter down here I was even more fortunate to not have to deal with humidity so we had on average 80 degree F temperatures during the day and about low 70’s at night.

I took the bus from Campinas and met up with the rest of the exchange students at the Rio bus terminal. There were about 15 of us…I think, but I was staying with Alexis, Caroline, and Justin at the Ipanema Beach House (thanks to Caroline’s suggestion), while the rest of the crew was staying at some other hotel between Ipanema and Copacabana Beach. The Ipanema Beach House turned out to be the best hostel I’ve ever stayed at. Not only was it situated just a few blocks from the beach, but it had a really cool vibe and great staff and really cool assortment of guests from all over Brazil and the world.

Of course our Rio excursion started off with a bus trip from the terminal to the hostel that none of us has remembered to write down the address or phone number to. Fortunately I had a couple of cross streets and since Caroline had actually stayed there before we figured the bus would be the ideal way to get there especially since we were in no hurry. Well our bus driver was super energetic. Since I’ve been here almost two months now I feel my Portuguese has improved dramatically, but I could hardly understand anything this bus driver was saying. He was speaking so fast and he just seemed like he couldn’t stay still for one minute. Even during our ride into town, it seemed like at every stop light he would leave the driver seat and chat us up, then race back to his seat once the light turned green. He was friendly though, helping us with our bags on and off the bus and making sure we got to the exact corner that we asked to be dropped off.









Well having so many friends in town comes in handy when you are trying to make it to the top of the Pão de Açucar (also known as Sugar Loaf-the other famous mountain peak attraction that provides an amazing view of Rio) in time for the sunset and you are at the other end of the beach. We were fortunate enough to meet the other group of exchange student at the front of the line for the teleférico (cablecar) and skip the hour-long line so that we could be zipped up to the top of the mountain just in time to see the sun set over Rio. The view was breath taking. And if that wasn’t enough we happened to be there on a clear night with the full moon that shown over the city. This was truly a magical experience. Unfortunately my battery ran out after I snapped a few pictures of the sunset so I’m waiting to get some pictures that my friends took.






Well my time is starting to wind down over here. So I’ll be taking one more trip in Brazil and hope to finally make it to Curitiba this weekend, then a quick trip to Sao Paulo to say goodbye to my new friends and then a couple of days in Campinas to wrap things up before heading out. Wow, just 9 days to do all that…I think I’m already a little tired.

Here are a few more pics to get a better taste of Rio! Até logo!