On Saturday I embarked on a little adventure to the token football stadium, Maracanã, where I went around on a group tour. I don’t have a huge interest in football but it was cool to see some original footballs, shirts, and shoes from legendary players like Pelé. We were taken around the changing rooms, conference rooms, and finally the pitch itself, where 78k people can come and watch a game.
After lunch myself and my Aussie friend hiked up the Two Brothers Mountain. To get to the start of the trail we had to sit on the back of a motorbike and ride up through a favela. The actual hike took about 30-40 minutes and we were rewarded with magnificent views of Rio. Ipanema beach, Copacabana beach, and the racecourse all in the same snapshot.
After a spot of dinner at a local restaurant we played games at the hostel and sinked a few Caipirinhas. We then headed out to a bar in ipanema and danced to funk. Rio absolutely doesn’t quit and we were still going at 4am!
The next day myself and a couple of the boys from the hostel went on the tour of Rio. We first visited Christ the Redeemer which was genuinely amazing and was a great platform for getting panoramic shots of the city. What made me laugh was the amount of ‘instagram boyfriends’ lying down on the fooor to get that perfect shot for the girl.
The second stop was in Santa Teresa, where we walked around and took in the street art and colourful houses. It looked to be a very happening place and is somewhere I would want to spend more time in.
The third stop was the Rio cathedral,which doesn’t look like a conventional church from the outside but instead like a pyramid. The architecture was insane but beautiful too.
Our fourthstop was the mosaic steps in Lapa, where we climbed to the top and took photos.
Our last stop was the sugarloaf mountain and it required us getting a cable car to the top. We watched the sunset over Rio and when it became dark the lights of the city stood out and looked amazing. I even saw a plane land at the local airport!
The post tour nap of course happened but afterwards we headed to a French restaurant for dinner and enjoyed steak/fish with wine. Following this we headed out to Lapa where we bought Caipirinhas from trolleys outside the club – it was very fun and the vendor selling held the bottle upside down for a VERY long time… one drink and we were gone!
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