Honeymoon In Rio
Written: Nov 16 '99
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Product Rating:
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Pros: friendly locals, churrascarias, beachwear
Cons: underlying threat of crime, 70s architecture
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| cristine's Full Review: Rio de Janeiro |
Ever felt like getting away from it all but want to do something a little different (ie,"not Hawaii?")? That's what we decided to do for our honeymoon -- after months of detail-oriented planning and high emotional drama, we decided to go somewhere: 1) with a beach, 2) nice weather, 3) far.
Never having been to Rio, we really didn't know what to expect, and we were more than pleasantly surprised by the friendly locals, the great food, the great beaches, and a lackadaisical pace on the Copacabana.
Before we continue, and I forget -- some handle urls with info on Rio:
All about Rio at http://www.ipanema.com/ and Rio with Love at http://www.riowithlove.com/
The chronological rundown of our visit:
We visited Rio in late October, right before peak tourist season, and so Rio wasn't too crowded. At the same time, we were able to enjoy the beautiful weather (October's near the beginning of summer and a bit cooler, at 70-80 degrees fahrenheit). If you dislike heat and humidity (as
I do), you might want to consider a visit to Rio before the start of their
summer. Also, the cariocas (the people of Rio) are incredibly warm and friendly -- everyone from the hotel employees to the man at the confeiteria counter (who went as far as to translate the waitress's name from "Maria" to "Mary" to make us feel more at home) helped us as much as possible and made us feel welcome.
An overview of our experience: When we landed at the International Airport, we were immediately assaulted by taxi drivers outside the terminal. One of them came up to me and offered us a ride to Copacabana
for US$35 (the exchange rate was approximately R$1.90 for one US$1.00).
I wasn't interested, and he immediately lowered it to US$30. We
ultimately went with a radio taxi by the gate for R$43,00, which was a better deal!
We didn't have much time in Rio, just 4 days and 3 nights, so we really packed our days in. We landed in Rio in the early morning of our first day, and did a walking tour of Copacabana right off the bat, going up and down the Avenida Atlantica (the road that runs along the length of Copacabana beach) and also Avenida N/S Copacabana (the road one block
inland from the beach which runs parallel to the Avenida Atlantica). This was really handy, as it gave us a feel for our "neighborhood," which consisted of both the beach and the shops nearby.
One thing we like to do when we travel is make a trip to a supermarket and pick up snacks and drinks, which we did at one of the major "supermercados," Pao de Acucar. We picked up plenty of water (don't drink the water in Rio) and some bread, luncheon meat, chips, and cheese for snacks later. The whole load of groceries cost us about US$5.00 (maybe it's because we live in the Bay Area, but food was really really cheap in Brazil). Plus, of course, it was neat looking at the different
products and foods in the store. During our walk, we ran into a churrascaria (an all you can eat BBQ restaurant) 2 blocks north of Copacabana Palace and between Avenida Atlantica and Avenida N/S Copacabana called Carretao. We pigged out on meat and salad -- a trip to Rio isn't complete without a meal at a churrascaria.
We went to sleep early the first night (being jetlagged and all), after deciding to go on tours the next day.
The next day, we woke up early to go on a "Day of Rio" tour with the GrayLine. The morning was spent going to Corcovado. It was St. Judas' Day, so we ran into some sort of market with lots of flowers and ribbons
celebrating the day at the foot of the train station. The view from Corcovado is something you shouldn't miss, tourist attraction or not.
We could see the entire city below us, including Pao de Acucar
(Sugarloaf). We had lunch with the tour in Ipanema (which is a trendier part of Rio), and then decided to blow off the afternoon trip to Sugarloaf for another day (the weather was beautiful and we thought another "view" spot would be superfluous).
We walked back to our hotel (the Rio Atlantica, which is an awesome hotel
-- it's designed for business travellers, but we enjoyed it as tourists -- we were a bit spoiled with a 12th floor room that had an ocean facing view and balcony! Waking up to the sunrise, a full view of
Copacabana beach, and the sounds of the ocean was very motivating) in Copacabana along the beachfront. On the way, we ran into Arpoador, and hung out on the rocks and watched the surfers. We got to Copacabana, changed into our swimsuits, I had a massage, then we headed out to the
beach and caught the last few rays of the day.
We took a nap that night, then headed out for dinner, running into the Confeiteria Copacabana Palace on Avenida N/S Copacabana. Not knowing any Portuguese (and with my rusty Spanish), we ordered the only thing that was recognizable: chicken (frango with accompaniments), which is 1 whole baked chicken, rice and beans, farofa, french fries, and bread. It was absolutely delicious and the people at the confeiteria were helpful and nice and the whole thing (which left us stuffed) cost us R$10,00!
The next day we spent at the beach -- remember sunscreen! I used SPF15, and was several shades darker by the end of 2 hours. The water is incredible -- but there is pollution (I stopped plunging into the
clean aqua water after I saw a condom float by my knees). People in Rio have better confidence about their bodies than in the U.S., and you will find different kinds of bodies in bikinis and speedos. I found myself in a bikini (I haven't worn one in years) on the beach, completely comfortable and happy and tanned. We went to a show in Lagoa later that night -- Mistura Fina, a bossa nova band, and I recommend going to a local samba or bossa nova show.
Our plane didn't leave the next day (Saturday) until midnight, so we spent the day walking around town (we did a lot of walking -- I ate like a pig and still lost weight) and of course eating fejoidas (the Brazilian
dish of pig offcuts, black beans, rice, shredded greens, farofa, and oranges) at Casa de Fejoidas in Ipanema. It was delicious, although I did
prefer the Frango at the Confeiteria Copacabana Palace!
We did some shopping at the feira on the Avenida Atlantica by Posto 6 on the beach in front of the Help Discoteque -- there were hammocks, bags, beach throws, and art and crafts for sale, don't forget to bargain! I bought a crocheted backpack for R$20,00 -- I bargained it down from R$25,00, but probably still paid too much -- no biggie, it was still a
find. We also visited the Sugarloaf that last day -- we ran out of Reais, but luckily, people will usually accept dollars in Rio...keep in mind that most exchange places are near the Copacabana Palace (also, keep in mind that most exchange places don't post the exchange rates in a visible place) ...but we had a hard time finding one in Botafoga! (found one in the Rio Sul shopping center hidden in a corner).
It was an awesome experience -- we were sad about leaving, and wished we had several more days to spend in Brazil. We would have loved to visit Petropolis or Buzios outside town...also it would have been nice to visit a few more markets, like the HIppie Fair on Sunday...as well as spend some more days on the beach relaxing! Also, I would have liked to do a favela tour (the shanty towns are a stark contrast to the beachfront
properties in Rio). Everything's reasonably priced (as long as you don't go to a 5 star restaurant for every meal, and even then it's more reasonable than the U.S.) and we didn't spend much money -- excluding our hotel we spent about $50/day including food and tourism. We splurged on the hotel room (we were in the top suite), so that skews our daily expenditures a bit.
One thing I couldn't stand were the caipirinhas (the Brazilian national drink) which is a cocktail of sugar cane liquor, limes, etc...they tasted awful, and I feel guilty about it, but they do!
Also -- the departure tax for Brazil is kind of high -- we were lucky to have the US$36/person to leave the country -- remember to leave yourself some cash on the way out of the airport.
I keep hearing Brazil is a town for singles, and I can see that -- however, this was our honeymoon trip and we had a blast too.
Also -- we didn't have any problems with crime, but we were also very careful to not go around with a visible camera and loads of cash. We also brought non-name brand marked clothes and didn't bring any jewelry or ostentatious watches.
And -- the airport is hideous -- it seems that most of the architecture in Brazil is in a 70's timewarp.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
cristine
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Member: Christine Lee Zilka
Location: California
Reviews written: 21
Trusted by: 11 members
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