A Cidade Maravilhosa

No wonder Cariocas (citizens of Rio) call it A Cidade Maravilhosa - the marvelous city. It has some amazing beaches surrounded by a backdrop of tall mountains covered with lush tropical rainforest. Even though the weather deteriorated soon after I got there (it was so cloudy/rainy on most days that you couldn't see the Christ statue) I still fell in love with the city. Great food, amazing nitelife, friendly locals and lots of fun day-time activities make it a great place to visit.

Hangliding is as close as you can possibly get to combining a terrifying experience with an ultimately peaceful one. The terrifying aspect comes when you realize you are only attached to a peice of nylon held together by a cheap frame and you are about to jump of a platform that juts out over a 500 meter cliff. Then seconds after jumping, as you realize you didn't plunge to your death, you are floating. Not flying but floating hundreds of meters above the earth in the most peaceful way. It is just like a flying dream. I would recommend that everyone does it at least once in their lives.



Another highlight of the trip was going to a Soccer match. I watched Flamengo (the most famous club in Rio) play a team from the south in legendary Maracana stadium. About half an hour before the game started the Flamengo side of the stadium was packed and the Samba drums started. The whole side of the stadium started dancing and singing the cheers in unison. There was so much energy and it was so much fun that I didn't even notice when the game started. Check out this video - the whole match was like this. They put North American sports fans to shame.



Those two experiences aside, by far the best thing about Rio is the Sucos (juice) stands. On almost every corner there is a shop filled with fresh fruit just waiting to be blended into the tastiest, healthiest dring you've ever had in your life. I went at least twice a day every day I was there (eight days in total) and didn't get a chance to try all of the flavours. There were fruits I've never even heard of. This is the lady who served me many, may drinks...