at the copa... copacabana!

Where to begin. Our time in Brazil was absolutely incredible. We arrived in Rio de Janeiro Wednesday night after a 3.5-hour plane ride from Buenos Aires. After checking into our hotel in Copacabana (Copacabana Praia Hotel) we ventured a couple of blocks to the Fasano Hotel. Being big fans of Philippe Starck's Buenos Aires masterpiece, the Faena Hotel, we knew this was a destination we could not miss. Sinking ourselves into the low stools at the chic white bar just off the lobby, Jessica and I observed the company around us and were in awe at the impressively dressed men and women. We ordered a couple bar specialty cocktails and shared two delicious salads. Because of the weeknight, the scene died down rather early, and Jessica and I headed back for a good nights rest.

Thursday Jessica and I devoted our time to some sight seeing. We hired a driver from our hotel and headed first to Christ the Redeemer. Even though this was my second time visiting the 130-foot statue that sits 1200 feet atop the Corcovado Mountain, I was still taken aback by the incredible view from this standpoint. Better known as Cristo Redentor, this statue of Jesus Christ, erected in 1931, has become an icon in Rio and symbolizes Brazil's immense devotion to Catholicism. Jessica and I admired the 360 views amongst a number of other tourists and after taking in our fair share of the statue and the city, we headed off to our next destination. After a rather long drive (today marked a local holiday) we finally arrived at Sugar Loaf Mountain, aka Pão de Açúcar. Rising more than 1200 feet above the harbor, the name Sugar Loaf is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. Upon our arrival, we boarded a glass-paneled cable car that took us up to the first stop where we were welcomed by another amazing view of the city. We then boarded the second cable car that took us to the top of Sugar Loaf. After an extensive photo shoot of the surroundings and ourselves, we headed back to the bottom of the loaf to enjoy some lunch. We ate a fabulous salad at the restaurant located at the boarding station accompanied by a cool glass of white wine. Once we were back with our tour guide, Jessica and I inquired about visiting one of the many favela's that are intertwined within the streets of Rio. Favelas, also known as the shantytowns in Brazil, originated in the late 19th century when freed slaves with no land and no work chose to dwell there. Over the years many freed blacks continued moving to these areas, and eventually the term favela was developed as more and more people were pushed out of downtown and into these neighborhoods. Today, around 20% of Rio de Janeiro's population lives in favelas, and despite the governments attempts to decrease this rate, it only continues to grow. Favelas are ran by drug dealers and their gangs, lack police control, and are rather dangerous to visit as a tourist. Our particular driver agreed to drive us through one of the largest favela's in Rio, Rocinha, only because it happened to be mid day. Had it been dusk or later, there would have been no chance. Upon entering I was astonished at the amount of people who reside in such a small area. It is estimated that 250,000 reside in this favela alone. The houses are built vertically and the stone and brick buildings are piled one on top of the other. Our driver also advised us to not take any photos as it can draw attention- that was certainly something we did not want to do. We were in the favela for a total of 25-30 minutes, and drove from one side all the way through to the other. Located only one kilometer from the beach, the people who reside in Rocinha have access to one of the most beautiful views in Rio for a very cheap price. They also have their own version of taxis, which come in the form of motorbikes (therefore our typical yellow and black ride managed to stand out a bit). Although I did not feel particularly unsafe as we drove through, I was definitely perched on the edge of my seat, only hoping for the best. During my last visit in Rio I had a driver who did not feel safe driving me through a favela, and so I feel grateful to have had the opportunity to do so this time. It truly is incredible to see how differently the people in Rio live and is something that has to be seen first hand. After our tour we headed back to our hotel where we showered up for dinner. We had plans to meet up with Jessica's 2nd cousin who lives in Rio for part of the year. We met him and his girlfriend at his upscale pad in Ipanema and chatted over a couple of champagne cocktails while sitting on his patio overlooking Lagoa Lake and a lit up Christ the Redeemer. For dinner we went to Alessandro e Frederico pizzeria in Ipanema, which turned out two of the most amazing pizza's I've ever had. We had quite the feast before heading back to our hotel for a sounds night sleep.

After an amazing dinner with Jessica's Uncle, he was kind enough to offer the extra room in his apartment for us to stay. While comparing the pros and cons of our rather skeptical Copacabana hotel, and his penthouse Ipanema pad, we couldn't come up with a single reason why we should turn down the offer. Therefore, we packed up our bags and headed south to Ipanema where we would spend the next couple of nights. After settling in, dressing ourselves in beach attire (Caipirinha and all) we soaked up the sun on the rooftop pool while we awaited the arrival of Jessica's friend Ali from home. I think she was a little bewildered when the driver we sent to the airport for her pulled up to an apartment in Ipanema, when the itinerary we sent her said that her driver would bring her to our hotel in Copacabana. However, I think she was pleasantly surprised with our new accommodations after a quick tour and a description of our hotel. We all spent the rest of the afternoon by the pool working on our Brazilian tans (we all had a very long way to go!). That night we attempted having dinner at Sushi Leblon, a rather posh restaurant in Leblon. However, due to Madonna's appearance here a few weeks before, the two hour wait drove us to a different restaurant only a couple of doors down. Quadrucci was a fabulous restaurant. Ali and I shared a filet that came with a delicious side of pasta that we are still raving about. Jessica and her Uncle both ate a fish that they were very happy with as well. After dinner the five of us headed to the Copacabana Palace for a little after dinner fun. This renowned Rio hotel has a poolside club, 'Bar do Copa', a stylish spot that boasts a fun dance floor and lively DJ tunes. Us three girls pulled out some of our moves before we were seriously undermined by a couple of local dancers that seemed to have choreographed moves to each song. Needless to say, they put us in our place and we spent the rest of our time watching their extensive (and rather impressive) moves!

Saturday marked our last day in Rio. We woke up early attempting to get in as much as we could. Us girls had shopping on our mind so headed to a couple of must do's: Salinas and Farm (my two favorite stores in Brazil). After a few purchases we went to the H.Stern workshop for their free tour. This world headquarters welcomes over 10,000 visitors each month, and gives a first hand look at how their jewelry is created. After the tour you have the opportunity to purchase stones at your own discretion. I had to use a little self-restraint during this part of tour and actually ended up leaving empty handed (I was very proud of myself!). After a hitting a couple of other Ipanema favorites like Osklen we headed off to the beach. Lacking the knowledge of knowing which 'posta' to sit at (later learning #9 is the place to be), Jessica and posted up at the first place we saw suitable: water, soft sand, cute boys, and a caipirinha tent right behind us. After a couple of hours on the beach, we both concluded that people watching on Ipanema could become a serious past time. This beach attracts people of all types and provides endless entertainment. After the sun set over the mountains us girls headed back to the apartment to get ready for dinner. Tonight we made attempt #2 at Sushi Leblon and were able to get a table after 30 minutes of wait time. After a delightful (yet not amazing) dinner we headed to Lapa for a night on the town. After a few recommendations from friends to go to Rio Scenarium, we made this our destination. RIo Scenarium is a rather stunning spot as it is located in a renovated warehouse and decorated head to toe in antiques. When we pulled up to the club I think all of our jaws hit the floor when we saw the easily 4 block line to get in. After a quick decision to either flee to another joint or attempt a wait in the line, we decided to stick it out and wait. We were very relieved when the line started moving quickly, and within 15 minutes we were inside the door. Greeted by old cars, grandfather clocks, and a local live band, we all had a feeling this was going to be a good night. Although Rio Scenarium is a rather tourist destination, we managed to meet 3 local boys who vowed to show us a more local experience. Us five then ventured back to Ipanema where we hit up a little bar on one of the side streets. We spent the remainder of the night drinking some local beer, learning fun Brazilian facts, and attempting to understand some Portuguese (which was a rather big failure). From here we all decided it would be fun to go for a late night ocean swim, however, once we were on the beach our new friend Daniel (who happened to be sporting a rather typical Brazilian style Speedo under his jeans) was the only one who happened to actually go in the water. After probably the most memorable night of our trip we headed back to our apartment as the sun started to set and managed to get a couple hours of shuteye before our morning wake up call.

At 10:00am on Sunday a car from our hotel in Buzios arrived to pick us up in Rio. After saying our farewells to Jessica's Uncle and his girlfriend (two of the best hosts in the world) we headed north to Buzios. After a two hour drive through the lush mountains and seaside freeways of Brazil, we pulled up to a small town where kite surfers glided the beaches, cobblestones lined the streets, and charming pousadas had us oohing and awing one after another. When we finally pulled up to our own pousada, Casas Brancas, we were greeted by a glass of champagne and a charming staff. Before we knew it we were poolside, a cocktail in one hand, sunscreen in the other, gazing out across the breathtaking bay of Buzios. After some lunch we decided to take a walk to our first (out of a total of 23) beach. Located only about 10 minutes down the beach boardwalk is Ossos beach, one of the main beaches near downtown. After discovering a beachside bar in a newly opened Pousada, we decided to enjoy a couple passion fruit caipirinhas, which the owner was very excited to make for us. He even served us a plate of octopus ceviche and personal drink concoction's on the house.... Jessica enjoyed the ceviche while I stuck to the fruit cocktails :) After watching the orange and pink sunset over the water, we headed back to our hotel to shower up for dinner. That night we headed down the cobblestone boardwalk to Bar Do Ze, a recommendation that came from Jessica's Uncle. Sitting at a table with a blue sea shelled cover tablecloth, a dimly lit candle, and view over the water, we wouldn't have been disappointed even if the food wasn't amazing. However, after an order of the filet with mushroom risotto, a red snapper served on top of baked bananas with raisins and nuts, and a red snapper in a red wine vinaigrette, we couldn't have been more satisfied. Finding ourselves overstuffed, slightly burned, and completely satisfied, we made our way back to our hotel where we lounged on the poolside couches, watching for shooting stars and enjoying a little girl talk before bed.

Waking with an urge to get our beach day going we enjoyed the first of many amazing breakfasts at our hotel. With an abundance of fresh fruit, homemade coffee, and freshly scrambled eggs we were set until late afternoon. Today we ventured to Praia Geriba, one of the largest and most popular beaches in Buzios. Due to its location and larger waves, Geriba is also a popular surf spot. After an attempt to walk the mile from our hotel to Geriba, the heat got the best of us and we hopped on the town bus, a white VW van. After arriving on the beach we posted ourselves at one of the many beach restaurants where a charge of 5 dollars will get you a chair, umbrella, and wait service. A couple of hours of sun in, I realized I was no longer in San Diego and my 4 SPF sunscreen wasn't going to cut it. After lathering on the 45 I realized I was a little too late; I was burned and there was nothing to do about it. After a few hours under the sun we walked down the beach to 'Fishbone', another request from Jessica's Uncle. Here we enjoyed a lunch of fried fish sandwiches (a turkey and pineapple wrap for me!) and some local Skol beer. After deciding I probably did not qualify to go back in the sun I the other girls soaked up a little more before we all caught the local bus back to our hotel. We all took a nice afternoon nap and rose just in time for dinner. This night we ventured into town a little early to check out the adorable boutique shops in town. Despite Buzios being a small town, the prices were rather steep! I found all the clothes I loved were a bit out of my price range and had to keep my purchases to a minimum. We had dinner at a wonderful restaurant called Cigalon. This amazing French restaurant sits on the waterfront, and offers an assortment of elegant food. I ordered a delicious chicken breast that was served with steamed vegetables, Ali ordered a shrimp tortellini (which she fell head over heels for) and Jessica ordered ricotta raviolis that were served in a shrimp sauce. For dessert we enjoyed a caiprinha on the house and then lazily headed back to our hotel for a good nights sleep.

Tuesday was my favorite of all of our days in Buzios. We woke up early, enjoyed another delicious breakfast at the hotel, and then awaited the arrival of our ‘ride’ for the day. When the lady pulled up in our bright orange ‘Baby RS’, we knew we were going to be cruising around Buzio’s in style. Because Jessica happens to be the only one of us with experience in driving manual cars, she was our designated driver. After a rather lurching exit of the parking lot, and waving farewell to our now very nervous looking rentee, we headed off. Although the town of Buzios is rather small, we quickly learned finding all the necessary beach destinations was not going to be an easy task. With the lack of street signs, paved roads, and clear cut roots, our first beach destination took us a little over 40 minutes to find. After stopping for directions (maybe 10 times), and being physically escorted by a local, we finally made it to Praia de Farradurinha. This small beach was one of the most beautiful that we visited. We shared a couple of Skol beers while relaxing in the provided lounge chairs before heading off to our next beach. Back in our Baby RS, the three of us decided that traveling in our buggy from beach to beach was just as fun (if not more) as being on the actual beach. During this particular excursion we ran into a little mishap. As we started to climb a rather steep hill, our Baby started to lose momentum and within a couple of seconds we found ourselves stranded in the middle of the hill with the option to go either up or down. At this point Jessica looks at me and says, “We don’t have hills in New Orleans. What do I do now?” After a number of unsuccessful attempts, we found ourselves alarming wedged up against a metal street sign. The only option now was to go up. Without the confidence that Jessica could take us up instead of back into the post and then into the rather large tree located right behind that, we turned to an outside resource: a motorcyclist now working his way up the same hill. Our victim, a local man with zero English speaking abilities and a look that thought we might be crazy, finally caught on to what we were asking of him to do. Once Jessica strategically handed off the reigns to him, I soon found our buggy making its way up the hill with Jessica chasing after us. Now that we were safely at the top, we slowly made our way down to Praia da Ferradura. We found the water at this beach to be less impressive than our previous finds, and figured we shouldn’t waste our time at a beach that didn’t satisfy. Therefore, we headed to our final destination on the Eastern end of Buzios, Praia Brava. Our hotel recommended a little restaurant situated on the beach, and we figured this would be a perfect opportunity for lunch. Rocka is an adorable shack situation on the beach hillside, offering a view of both the luminous green mountains, and aqua blue water. The wait staff consisted of young, cute Brazilian boys who offered up some delicious food suggestions. Jessica enjoyed a ceviche, me a salad, and Ali the fish of the day. After lunch we made our way down to the sand where we soaked up the remainder of the day’s sun. After a couple of hours of snoozing, observing the abnormally large beach crabs, soaking in the breathtaking view, and enjoying the cool water, we said farewell to my favorite Buzio’s beach, and headed back to the hotel. After a quick shower and clothing change, we headed back to town for some final shopping. After a few purchases we headed back to our hotel for dinner, opting for the highly anticipated pizza at our hotels DECK restaurant. Rumor had it that DECK offered up the tastiest pizza in all of Buizos, and we figured there were no better judges. We ordered a traditional margarita pizza along with a pesto and garlic. Both were absolutely exceptional, and I would pass on the recommendation as many others have done. After dinner we headed into town for another highly recommended experience: Chez Michou, the neighborhood creperie/hang out. Jessica passed up dessert, however Ali ordered the banana with dulce de leche while I did the banana with chocolate (both equally delectable). Word on the street has it that Chez Michou is the place to be during summer nights. People of all ages gather here for at this outside patio joint to pre-drink and enjoy a little snack before heading off to one of the few world famous clubs that can be found in Buzios (Pacha, Privilege, and more). Unfortunately our night ended at Chez Michou due to the fact that summer didn’t start for another few weeks. Therefore, we savored our crepes, passed on the cocktails, and headed back to our beloved hotel for our last night in this unforgettable city.

We woke up Wednesday morning wishing we could extend our stay… I’ll admit we even looked into flight changes but knew it just wasn’t possible. Before checkout we managed to soak up a few hours of sun by the pool, head into town to stock up on some Havaianas (local sandals), and enjoy a final meal atop the patio at Casas Brancas. Around four our inevitable departure had arrived. We loaded our luggage into our car and headed back down south to Rio to catch our flight. Thirty minutes outside of Rio we found ourselves caught in a terrible rainstorm. We all sat in the back seat with our fingers crossed, hoping that there was a slight chance our flight had been cancelled. Unfortunately, we arrived at the airport to find our flight was still 'on time'. We spent our final reals on the Brazilian necessities: Guarana (the best soda that can only be found here), fita wish ribbon bracelets, and a bottle of Amarula for our flight back.

We have been back in Buenos Aires for almost a week now, and have been showing Ali around town. There a number of new restaurants we have tried and we will post about them soon. Tomorrow marks a big day as it is the arrival of my mom and sister, and the departure for Ali. There is much more to be blogged about so keep checking back for some updates!