got up around 0700 - my bioclock never a min late..freshened up .. found MC & Sri still in their dreamworld.. so went to the chillout lounge - a room with a couple of bean bags and hammocks, rested a while on the hammock.. The best thing about staying in hostels is that you get to interact with a wide varierty of personas from around the globe.. and the best place to start off a conversation is where you have your food or drinks..
The complimentary breakfast consisted of the usual continental stuff, there was one thing that stood out in Brazil - the freshness of the fruits - pineapple, the watermelon and even the orange juice tasted different on the +ve side..
After our breakfast, we headed to the reception and we had a surprise in store - the cute brazilian bluntly said that she couldnt find reservations for the city tour for us.. she was a heart breaker - by looks and deeds ...
we invoked our BCP and after a few financial checks, it was decided to rent a cab for the whole day on our own. The new Fiat adventure along with our friendly driver cum guide were to be our partners all through the city tour.The vehicle was spacious for its looks ..
We started by skimming through the beach roads along copacabana and Ipanema.. the most beautiful beaches I've ever been - the people making it that way.. long legs, sexy bods and great energy !!The cameras were busy in taking census of all the cute chicas on the beach - quick fingers on the button !!
As the sky was clear we started for the corcavado mountain peak through the Tijuca forest which has been put on the world tourist map for being the home of 'Christ the Redeemer' - one of the seven wonders of the world..The drive recreated nostalgic memories of the bus ride through the hairpin bends to my native place..mountainy terrain and dense tree growth ..We also caught a glimpse of the Favela (poor and dangerous neighbourhood) on our way towards the peak..
After a shortwait in the queue we were taken in vans to the top of the peak (700m from msl) where the 38m statue stood with the arms open..will remember the
sight for sometime to come.. The world surely needs a redeemer of this size for sure !The sight was awesome, the Statue towering high and looking down to the city with outstreched arms - it was made of concrete and sandstone. We all were dumbstuck by the enormity of christ and the effort it would've taken to erect it on top of the mountain with an inherent risk of lightning strikes (but god created lightning so why worry ;-)
We could see the other attractions of Rio from top, the Maracana stadium, the race course and pao de azucar. Then the photography session began with all of us scrambling for space between other tourists to find the right angle .. too many ppl on the stage , we had to bring out our flexibility skills in taking pics at all angles including Sri getting his new puma t shirt soiled to get it just right....
Some souvenir shopping and we were back to the van for our return journey .. to the Maracana. I have read about Maracana in a local daily back home in India during world cup soccer and now here I am visiting the place that will play host to the 2014 world cup final ;-)
This stadium can house around 100000 spectators and has a little history etched into it . It was built in 1950 for the world cup, the final between Brazil and Uruguay.The strong Brazilian team fell to the small country 2-1.
We went inside the stadium and the atmosphere airs a feeling of camaraderie, the spirit, the attitude and what not. Most of the walls were lined with posters of all stars that I used to admire from my room back home - on TV.We walked through the hall of fame which had footprints of many famous stars including my all time fav Pele - still rem his signature where the P is shaped like a ball - he lived football !
Walking through the locker rooms , with amenities like bathtubs, a massage room, a warmup area, gym etc makes you wonder - what a life.. play and earn. I know they have their share of tensions@work or rather tensions@play ;-)There was a guy dressed in Brazilian colors doing wonders with the football - great skill. He could keep anything rounded from a small stone to a soccer ball in air for as long as he wanted .. now I know what it takes to don brazilian colors as you got to be the BEST - considering there has been no best practice sharing between Indian cricket selectors and brazilian football selectors
Bidding bye to Maracana we were dead tired as we didnt have lunch due to our financial manager's cost-cutting measures ;-) We moved to Pao de Azucar or Sugar loaf if translated. Those are a couple of mountain peaks by the beach.I just wanted to stroll along the waterfront just making my thoughts wonder on how small the world is - it was enormous when i was at school..as I never thot in my wildest dreams I would visit Brazil ... Our strict finance manager allowed us a small ration of tender coconut and bites of hot churro filled with dulce de leche.
Return back to the hostel we saw some monuments by downtown Rio.We were ready to feed our bellies for the evening - set out to search for some crabs as i have never tasted crab after landing in south america. After a couple of raids, we hit upon one seafood restaurant and they served blue sea crablegs. Had a portion of it and moved to an Arabian restaurant by copacabana beach. It was really nice to have some rice and lamb along with some local brazilian beer.
Hats off to Sri's attitude of just going along with the tide and also ensuring he tastes everthing before commenting. He did like the tasty lamb..Traced our way back to the hostel and the youth gang went for their nite out...I went to the bamboo bar and spent till 0200 sharing thoughts with a backpacker from australia and a guy from germany.. The life they have seen is different and totally interesting.. Someday I wanna do it ..I know with all the strings and the rigid mental setup - it is difficult but the optimistic in me makes me think different - may be someday !!
with all the things going around my life in the personal front this trip was a stress buster.. great company and lovely place.. day 3 follows soon..
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