Rio ! The city of sun, sand, beauty, fun, parties.all the good things you associate life with. I went to Rio in 2005. It was only for 2 days but I had a BLAST there.simply superb!*
*We landed at Rio on one of these beautiful days.at about 5 in the noon or so. Even before we landed, I got an idea of the place’s beauty. The plane started losing height as it got ready to land and I could see the ocean beneath me.so close! Beautiful little sailboats and motorboats like little specks adorning the water! The runway was very close to the sea and for a moment I felt we were going to land in the sea itself…hah hah. But that wasn’t the case of course. We landed very much on the runway. Once out of the plane, I caught a glimpse of some really lovely bridge over the water.it was spectacular! We took a taxi to our hotel.got some rest and then set out to explore! We set out on foot exploring the nearby cafes, restaurants, shops, ICE-CREAM parlours. It was about 6.30 in the evening already. The sky was cloudy, there was a rainy breeze in the air.the weather was really romantic.like in the movies. After doing some research(and arguing), we decided on where we would have dinner and settled on this pizzeria which was very close to our hotel. There was still about an hour and a half till dinner, so we went to the beach which was very close to our hotel. Rio’s got lots of’em.and all are pretty.
We had begun to enjoy the sand and the breeze when a mild drizzle started. It was soooooooo refreshing. We started walking back to the hotel coz it was slightly chilly and we didn’t want to get a cold when we should be enjoying ourselves. The hotel was still about 10 minutes away and we were actually ENJOYING our rain-sprint(yeah, the rain was getting heavier, so from walking, we turned to sprinting). We were running along the beach parallel to the road. There were lots of little cafes and bars lined up on the other side of the road, so we got into one of them. The ground floor was a normal restaurant kind of place, but the top floor was awesome. It was open to the sky – no roof. And from there, directly, you can see the ocean……right in front of you….splashing it waves. The drizzle fortunately stopped by then. And needless to say, we loved the place so much that we took a table immediately and ordered some food and drink. The food was great too….particularly the French fries. We didn’t wanna eat too much coz dinner was still left. It was GREAT. Sitting under the open sky, quiet place, good service, good food, COOL sea breeze blowing in your face, beach in front of you, coconut trees adorning the view, waves crashing against the sand…….I didn’t wanna come back home at that point of time. After spending quite some time there, when it had just turned dark, we started walking towards our pizzeria. Again, the drizzle started….but we were least bothered about it. Soon after we got INTO the pizzeria, the drizzle became heavy rain, but we were already inside. We ordered some pizza with brinjal and olive toppings, if I remember correctly. It was a huge pizza….we couldn’t eat the whole thing. The food might seem a little expensive but only when you keep converting the currency to rupees and counting. Just don’t count. Coz these are normal rates here. By the time we got out, the rain was barely a drizzle. We started walking briskly towards the hotel making sure we walked under the shades or the long extended roofs of some shops to avoid getting wet. It was fun!
The next day we went sightseeing. We saw the famous statue of Jesus Christ and Pao de Acucar(sugar loaf mountain). In order to get to Pao de acucar, you have to take two cable cars. The Jesus Christ statue and Pao de Acucar are at quite a height. The views are simply SPECTACULAR. And the Christ statue is at such a height that sometimes, the clouds will come really low and pass through that place. So, for a moment or two you’ll be engulfed by mist and wont be able too see much. I won’t describe these two places in much detail because if I start doing that, I won’t be able to stop. All I have to say is that they are BEAUTIFUL. We spent half the day seeing these two places. We spent the late afternoon cruising through the city, its beautiful roads, beaches….and in the night, dead tired, we returned to our hotel.
Overall – Rio is a great place to stay. Plenty of hotels and apart-hotels. The weather is great. The food is great. Plenty of great restaurants. The great beaches. The friendly people……it’s a nice city. Really.
It was a great experience. I hope I get another chance to go there. Rio rocks!