Wednesday.....Rio

Ry and I are in Rio through Friday morning when we take a taxi/bus to the next town called Paraty.  Paraty is a very old historical section of Brazil about a 4 hour drive from Rio.  Here is the website for the hotel we are staying at:
http://www.pousadadosandi.com.br/

But, I´m getting ahead of myself.  Back to Rio and our adventures yesterday.  We woke up late, we've actually been sleeping more than I would have ever imagined, and Ry went for a run along LSD *smile*.  I headed up to breakfast to get a few things for him and I and waited back in the room until he got back.  He showered and ate and we decided to do a little exploring.  We slipped into our swimming suits, armed ourselves with a map and headed out.  The other days we had headed up the Copacabana beach towards Sugar Loaf so we decided to explore the other direction.....I´m so glad we did.  We walked a little ways in the city and stumbled on what appeared to be a garden of sorts.  There was a map that detailed out ´view points´ so we decided to walk through it.  When we got to the other side the views were amazing.  There was a huge rock formation right along the coast.  We could climb all around it (you would never have this kind of access in the states....there would have been an entrance fee and a fence around the entire thing.  Mom, it reminded me sort of the geyser place we found in Hawaii.  We hung out on these rocks mesmerized by the waves crashing into it. 

While here we stumbled onto a couple who had just gotten married as well.  He was from North Dakota and she was from Brazil.  She had lived in Chicago for a few years and met her future husband.  They got married officially in the states but then headed down here for the ´real party´ as they put it.  We talked with them a little bit and then decided to lay out on the beach for awhile.  We wandered around a little and ate lunch at a little beach side restaurant.  A hut really where they serve drinks and food.  It´s amazing...its literally a hut with nothing more than a fridge (not sure where they get the power to run it) and a few coolers.  Ry had some steak and I had shrimp.  If you know me at all you know I LOVE sea food.  These shrimp were tiny and I don't mind working for my food but I couldn't figure it out for the life of me.  They had the heads and tails on which I don´t mind, but I almost felt like I was eating the little blue crap that Justin and I used to get when we went crabbing.  It was so much work for not a lot of food.  I was disappointed...but Ryan´s food was good.


We thought this coconut was the "local drink...with liquor".  We were wrong, its actually just coconut milk....and not necessarily my favorite. 


We decided to splurge a little last night and went to Porcao for dinner.  A Brazilian steak house in all senses of the words.  Here is the website...I´m not sure if there is a way to get it into English.
http://www.porcao.com.br/porcaoSite/home/home.php

Porcao was amazing and delicious but again, if you know me, a Brazilian steak house in sort of lost on me.  I just can´t eat enough to make it worth it.  They hand you a little card that is red on one side (stop) and green on the other (bring on the meats and keep em coming).  I spent most of the night with my card on Red asking the guy to cut me ´just a little tiny piece` while Ryan´s red card never saw the light of day :o)

We capped off the evening by getting a few beers at a bar on the beach by our hotel.  Ryan got a little adventurous and ordered a beer we hadn't tried yet.  FAIL!!  It was some sort of malty dark beer that really had the consistency of Coke.  Very strange.  He quickly reordered and we enjoyed a few beers and laughs next the the ocean.

Well, we are off to start Thursday.  I hope to visit a little chocolate shop we found on our walk to Porcao and we want to do a little shopping.   Tuesday must have been a holiday or something because everything was closed...gates on all the shops etc.  Yesterday the stores were fully staffed and open so we are going to see what we can find today. 

PS.  please excuse my spelling errors.  I´m a terrible speller and since I´m using a computer in Brazil, all the words I type come up incorrect on spell check.  HA!!  Who would have thought.....

Off to more adventures.....



If graffiti looked like this in the US I would support it.  Its seriously an art here.





Isn't this amazing??