First Days in Rio

I just woke up from a power nap and have some time before we head out to go dancing, so I figured that I'd write a quick update.  So far, our trip has been pretty laid back.  Our flights were pretty smooth, thank goodness, and we landed in Rio at 10 o'clock yesterday morning.  We grabbed a cab at the airport and had it take us to our friend Fabiano's on the south side of town.  The house that he lives in is also an art gallery, a hostel, and a cafe.  The cafe is closed for carnival but the rest of it is very much open.  The building is close to 100 years old and is just beautiful.  We are also very close to a lot of restaurants and bars at the bottom of the street which is really nice.

Yesterday we took it pretty easy.  We hung around the house because we were so exhausted.  Around three we ended up crashing for about four and a half hours.  That night we went out.  Fabiano ordered us all sorts of wonderful Brazilian food and drinks.  (Side note: Rio is not as cheap as the rest of South America from what I gather.  Food and drink prices are pretty close to what they are in DC).  We stayed out until about three in the morning.  It was a lot of fun.  

Today we got up and hit the beach.  The water was really cold, but that was nice because it is so hot here.  We were at Ipanema beach (see left).  Fabiano explained to us that Copacabana is full of tourists and if we want to go to a "real" Brazilian beach that this is the place.  There are little kiosks on the beach that rent out chairs and umbrellas, as well as making drinks.  We set up about 100 feet from the one that Fabiano uses a lot so that we wouldn't have to go far to get anything.  It was wonderful.  I love the beach so much so this was pretty much paradise for me.

I'm getting flack from everyone for being on the computer so I better run.  I'll be back with a longer update later!