Thursday, January 15, 2009
Still alive!
We'll try to post some pictures tomorrow morning. The internet here is about as slow as the restaurant service. O snap!
Saturday, January 10, 2009
We're not dead!!
Hey, we're not dead. We were in Praia do Forte and now we're in Salvador with Bruno. We'll post properly later. Bye!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Recife Chapter 1
But it's really only one chapter or so long...
We've been spending most of our time in Recife relaxing, so there's not much to tell.
On Sunday we went into the Old Town of Recife, which was where the Dutch hung out for a bit before the Portuguese kicked them out in the 1600s. We went by bus, which was maybe one of the worst experiences of my life. We got on ok, but missed two stops because we couldn't get passed all the people to get off. Some lady was yelling at us in Portuguese, kids were crying, everyone was sweaty, and it was really gross. So when we finally got off the bus and walked back into the Old Town, we were pretty shaken up.
When we got into Old Town, there was a market, so we went through that without feeling like we might die. Then we tried to find the mall that was made out of something old, but we were too scared to walk there, so we got a taxi back to the hotel, went to a restaurant and drank some chopp to calm down. So gringo.
Yesterday we took a nice touristy tour of Olinda (Recife's neighbour city) and Old Town, which wasn't nearly as scary this time and actually very interesting. The buildings in Olinda didn't use to have numbers on them, so they painted them all different colours to identify one from the other. We also went to a prison that has been converted to a giant souvenir shopping mall. The bars on the windows had been decorated for Christmas. Very Festive!!
Today Vivienne, who works at the hotel and likes us 'cause we're not American, took us to Poto da Galinhas (Chicken Port), where her family has a beach house. It's called Chicken Port because after slavery was abolished, they continued to use this port for slave trading, hiding the slaves in the boat under crates of chickens, and then yelling that they had new chickens for sale. Chickens=slaves. We also saw real chickens. One jumped up onto a wall from about 3 feet down. I didn't know chickens could jump. I was really impressed. And the beach was nice, too.
We'll try to get some pictures up soon... this computer won't let us.
Beijos, tchau!
We've been spending most of our time in Recife relaxing, so there's not much to tell.
On Sunday we went into the Old Town of Recife, which was where the Dutch hung out for a bit before the Portuguese kicked them out in the 1600s. We went by bus, which was maybe one of the worst experiences of my life. We got on ok, but missed two stops because we couldn't get passed all the people to get off. Some lady was yelling at us in Portuguese, kids were crying, everyone was sweaty, and it was really gross. So when we finally got off the bus and walked back into the Old Town, we were pretty shaken up.
When we got into Old Town, there was a market, so we went through that without feeling like we might die. Then we tried to find the mall that was made out of something old, but we were too scared to walk there, so we got a taxi back to the hotel, went to a restaurant and drank some chopp to calm down. So gringo.
Yesterday we took a nice touristy tour of Olinda (Recife's neighbour city) and Old Town, which wasn't nearly as scary this time and actually very interesting. The buildings in Olinda didn't use to have numbers on them, so they painted them all different colours to identify one from the other. We also went to a prison that has been converted to a giant souvenir shopping mall. The bars on the windows had been decorated for Christmas. Very Festive!!
Today Vivienne, who works at the hotel and likes us 'cause we're not American, took us to Poto da Galinhas (Chicken Port), where her family has a beach house. It's called Chicken Port because after slavery was abolished, they continued to use this port for slave trading, hiding the slaves in the boat under crates of chickens, and then yelling that they had new chickens for sale. Chickens=slaves. We also saw real chickens. One jumped up onto a wall from about 3 feet down. I didn't know chickens could jump. I was really impressed. And the beach was nice, too.
We'll try to get some pictures up soon... this computer won't let us.
Beijos, tchau!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Recife (Intro)
We're in Recife now in our hotel on Boa Viagem beach, which is beautiful. The weather has been 32 degrees and all the forecasts continue to show 32 degrees, so that's pretty awesome. Met up with Marina, Andrea, Renata, Nubia and Nataly last night for drinks and today for lunch, then they took us to the Feira, which is a market, which was very cool. Tomorrow we plan on going to the Old Town to look at old stuff, and on Monday we're planning to spend the day at Porto de Galinhas (I think it means Chicken Port) which is a beach we keep hearing a lot about. Pictures, etc., to come.
Tchau!
Tchau!
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Revellion 2009
HA-ppy New Year!!
So last night was awesome. We got to Copacabana around 6pm, had some dinner, hung out on the beach for a while and then went to Lucas's friend's apartment near the beach for some drinks before heading down to the beach again for midnight. There was a huge main stage in the middle of the 4km beach, and big screens all down the rest broadcasting the show. At midnight there was a huge fireworks display that lasted about a half an hour. We jumped 7 (small) waves for good luck in 2009 and people throw flowers into the ocean as an offering to some god of the sea, but not one I've ever heard of. There were also Condomble shrines set up all down the beach, which was really cool. Condomble is a religion that was brought to Brasil from Africa during the slave trade, and it's still going strong. In the days leading up to New Years we got to see a few Condomble dance circles on the beaches of Rio and Niteroi. Also on New Years everyone chooses a colour to wear to 'wish' for something in the New Year. White is the most popular choice (peace), but we also saw a lot of yellow (money), red (love) and green (hope).
After midnight we danced to the samba show for 3 hours in the sand. So a party on the beach with 2 million people is pretty cool. I wanna do it again!
Feliz Ano Novo!!
So last night was awesome. We got to Copacabana around 6pm, had some dinner, hung out on the beach for a while and then went to Lucas's friend's apartment near the beach for some drinks before heading down to the beach again for midnight. There was a huge main stage in the middle of the 4km beach, and big screens all down the rest broadcasting the show. At midnight there was a huge fireworks display that lasted about a half an hour. We jumped 7 (small) waves for good luck in 2009 and people throw flowers into the ocean as an offering to some god of the sea, but not one I've ever heard of. There were also Condomble shrines set up all down the beach, which was really cool. Condomble is a religion that was brought to Brasil from Africa during the slave trade, and it's still going strong. In the days leading up to New Years we got to see a few Condomble dance circles on the beaches of Rio and Niteroi. Also on New Years everyone chooses a colour to wear to 'wish' for something in the New Year. White is the most popular choice (peace), but we also saw a lot of yellow (money), red (love) and green (hope).
After midnight we danced to the samba show for 3 hours in the sand. So a party on the beach with 2 million people is pretty cool. I wanna do it again!
Feliz Ano Novo!!
Pictures of New Years on Copacabana
Party-goers on their way to Copacabana.
Me drinking beer in the taxi, 'cause I can!
Our names on Copacabana.
Getting closer to midnight...
Countdown
Happy New Year!!
2 million people.
Us with Lucas, Felipe, Patricia and Daniel.
Giant TVs like this were all down the beach, broadcasting the show that was going on on the big stage in the middle of the beach. This is where we danced for 3 hours after midnight.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Feliz Ano Novo!
It's New Years Eve in Niteroi and we're watching a bunch of guys dressed like girls having a party out the window. I guess it's some kind of tradition.
We've been having an awesome time in Rio so far, as you can probably see. We've visited Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer and Ipanema beach. Because of a certain encounter with the forests of Rio, we won't be going up Sugar Loaf. But we got to experience some awesome views!! We also got to spend an entire beautiful day on the beach here in Niteroi, which is Lucas's home town and just across the bay from Rio. The beach is kinda like a restaurant patio. You get chairs and an umbrella and they'll bring you custom coolers full of whatever drinks you want. Food and clothes and jewelry come floating by all day!! It's awesome. We can wait to go to more beaches here. Except the ocean beat me up. But nevermind that...
We also got to go to Lucas's brother Alexandre and his new wife Juliana's wedding reception!! It was so fun, but because of my serious lack of Portuguese I got dizzy from doing so much smiling and nodding. Lucas's family is really nice and his brother is letting us stay with him and Juliana in their new apartment. So nice!!
Last night we went to a samba club in the Lapas area of Rio, which is kinda like Granville only way more Samba-y. The first club we tried had the longest line I've ever seen!! We walked a block down the line (actually a whole block) and still couldn't see the end of it!! Needless to say, we tried somewhere else, and had an awesome time not being able to Samba. Lucas is pretty good, tho!
Tonight we're going to Copacabana (along with an estimated 2 million other people) to celebrate the New Year. Pictures of that to come!!
So Happy New Year!! Beijos, tchau!
We've been having an awesome time in Rio so far, as you can probably see. We've visited Copacabana, Christ the Redeemer and Ipanema beach. Because of a certain encounter with the forests of Rio, we won't be going up Sugar Loaf. But we got to experience some awesome views!! We also got to spend an entire beautiful day on the beach here in Niteroi, which is Lucas's home town and just across the bay from Rio. The beach is kinda like a restaurant patio. You get chairs and an umbrella and they'll bring you custom coolers full of whatever drinks you want. Food and clothes and jewelry come floating by all day!! It's awesome. We can wait to go to more beaches here. Except the ocean beat me up. But nevermind that...
We also got to go to Lucas's brother Alexandre and his new wife Juliana's wedding reception!! It was so fun, but because of my serious lack of Portuguese I got dizzy from doing so much smiling and nodding. Lucas's family is really nice and his brother is letting us stay with him and Juliana in their new apartment. So nice!!
Last night we went to a samba club in the Lapas area of Rio, which is kinda like Granville only way more Samba-y. The first club we tried had the longest line I've ever seen!! We walked a block down the line (actually a whole block) and still couldn't see the end of it!! Needless to say, we tried somewhere else, and had an awesome time not being able to Samba. Lucas is pretty good, tho!
Tonight we're going to Copacabana (along with an estimated 2 million other people) to celebrate the New Year. Pictures of that to come!!
So Happy New Year!! Beijos, tchau!
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