Rio

It's almost as if he were spreading his hands to say"Here's Rio . . . . and it's beautiful". The Kristo Redendor statue sits on one of many mountains within the city. Yes, I said mountains WITHIN the city. Not only that, the Atlantic Ocean laps the city shores at 2 of the most famous beaches in the world, Copacabana and Ipanema. What more can you ask for, mountains and beaches. What I didn't know when I went there was that these two beaches were actually connected to each other. Copacabana starts from the east, ends at Arpoador, a rocky outcropping and then turns into Ipanema. There's actually another beach connected to this, Leblom but it's in a more exclusive part of the city so the beach life isn't as "exciting" as the other two.

Here's another thing that I found weird and wonderful about the beaches in Rio, they are actually in the city. Most of the beaches that I've been to are a good plane, bus or jeepney ride away from the city but here you have people driving to work in their suits and ties literally beside the beach. The proximity is so close that the people make really good use of it 24 hours a day.

So how did I spend my time there? Well, with my hotel on Avenida Atlantica right on Copacabana Beach, there was a lot of time spent just walking the beaches and a lot goes on there. You'll see frolicking young couples, to the old guy in his red speedos doing push ups and the hot mamas taking their toddler children to beach soccer (what else?) play groups. You could spend the whole day walking on the beach watching people. Beyond the beach though I decided to go into the old city and there you can really feel for the city. Lots of hustling and bustling but you don't feel like the people are really in a rush to get anywhere like say in NY. People go out to lunch, meet up with friends and sometimes just hang out in the park. The old city is even more laid back and beautifully situated on the surrounding hills giving some of those old houses the best views of the city.

Chatting with the cabby, he told me about a shootout near his house last night and although all the guidebooks talk about the high crime rate in Rio, I never saw any of it. You know it's there though, I tried exchanging money in a bank and got caught in their bullet proof revolving door / metal detector for a few seconds. It got sorted out though after I assured them that the only shooting I was doing was with the camera in my bag.

Coming back from the city I was in a packed subway tram and standing right there in the middle of all the powersuits and briefcases was a family decked out in full beach wear. I guess it all goes back to the beach, it may not be the only thing in the city but the people here love it.