Carnival Street Party
The view of Rio with Copacabana beach on the left
Sugar Loaf Mountain
The view from our hostel room in Florianopolis
Bon dia, Como Via!!
Well the past week has been a wet and wild time in Brazil!
Let me tell you about the newest change to Brazil which has been a real pain in the backside (the wallet I mean). We all know the economy has changes and currencies go up and down in value, well Brazil’s currency is worth nearly double what it was on my last trip 3 years ago. Have they adjusted the prices? No, so what does that mean... Well, to put it in perspective, we have spent roughly more money in our 8 days here than 3 weeks in Japan!!! To go out to a bar, its the same as the poshest clubs in London..
That being said, in Rio for carnival, its all about the street party!
I hate to complain about the weather as there are horrible events happening around the world, however, I miss the sun, the last time we saw it was in Paraguay. Well that’s a lie, we have seen it a few times for fleeting moments!
So what have we been up to beside getting soaked; Rio De Janeiro > Florianopolis
Friday to Wednesday - RIO CARNIVAL: Firstly, I’ll explain what you can expect if you come to Carnival in Rio. Besides going to bars or clubs which is similar to a normal Saturday night in Rio, Carnival is all about the street parties and the Sambadromo. The street parties will play live samba music and everyone dances and sings. You can join these usually from morning until about 11pm, although most are in the afternoon or night. The atmosphere is nice and fun and is certainly ok for kids. The street parties are scheduled all over the city so its not all in one place.
Rio is truly a gorgeous city! There are green mountains around along with beaches everywhere. On Sunday we took the cable car up to Sugar Loaf mountain (you can guess why they call it that). The views were spectacular and Rio from the sky is even more stunning.
For accommodation, we booked an apartment in Copacabana which was great as we lived on a few frozen pizzas and some pasta we made for the short time we spent there.
Don’t get me wrong; we had a great time. However, I’ve heard by countless Brazilians and Internationals that this is the biggest party in the world so I had what you would call 'high expectations'. The main issue is the parties are all spread out and only last for a few hours and then you need to get on the subway and go to a different part of the city to find a new one. It is absolutely not the crazy wild party I’ve seen on TV in the past. The government or something else has severely toned down the festival. We did not see anything that wouldn’t be in a PG rated movie and that includes on the beaches.
One funny thing, Brazilian men really get in touch with their feminine side during carnival with what it seems to be a majority wearing women’s clothes, dawning wigs, make-up, etc. Marina met a gay guy who was very unhappy that straight men were doing this as well.
The Sambadromo is the parade procession you see on TV. Again this is absolutely a family event and the parades are spectacular indeed, but most foreign men seemed a bit bored after a bit. While the locals and foreign women were entertained. Marina loved the colors, feathers, flowers and decorations. This is not a wild party and people go just to watch the parades. One should think of it as a performance, similar to Disneyland or a large show. For the parade, you have six schools which compete. Each school has 82 minutes and for this time, you hear the same deafening samba song over and over again! Thousands of people take part in each school so it is really a huge display with countless hours of effort on the part of these individuals. To be honest, I was falling a sleep after the 2nd school, but we stayed until the monsoon hit.
The best thing about Carnival is the Brazilians! They are incredibly friendly and inviting. During the street parties, it’s not long before you’re invited into their group and will be drinking with them. This really makes the party a lot of fun!
Wednesday to Saturday - The beaches of Florianopolis: I can absolutely see that Florianopolis is a truly fun and awesome place. It’s the party centre of Brazil. However (I have a few of these this week), when its raining every day (like cats and dogs) and it can cost you $75 for a meal in a simple restaurant (for two), you don’t have the same kind of fun. Going out to the bars and clubs for just a night will be 3times our daily budget for money. The beaches which we had a few chances to get to are gorgeous! White sand beaches surrounded by green mountains. I would absolutely like to come back and do it properly.
In summary, we really picked the wrong time to come to Brazil and anyone who thinks this is the best party in the world, needs to go to Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Octoberfest in Munich, or San Fermines in Pamplona, Spain.
So what’s next for us besides getting out of Brazil as fast as possible; we fly to La Paz, Bolivia on Monday after a brief over night stop in Buenos Aires (Marina is thrilled by that).
Until next time,
Ciao,
Dan ad Marina
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