Cidade Maravilhosa

The charms of Rio crept up on us. They lay in soaking in the atmospheric neighbourhoods and beaches. Even without the sun, Ipanema and Copacabana weave their golden ways. Flanked by the imposing faces and lush slopes of Rio's numerous hills, including the stunning Pao de Acucar extending into the sea, they form an almost unbeatable one-two. We spent our third morning succumbing to the Praias. Combined with a happy half-hour spent browsing around a bustling street market full of fresh fruit and vegetables - one of our favourite things - purchasing ingredients for dinner, and wolfing down a mango and an acerola suco it made for a near-perfect morning. We even found a cozy little nook to laze about at, between the two beaches, on a rocky outcrop overlooking surfers and the city.

The beach-Rio of movie and imagination isn't the only one that will suck you in though. Our afternoon was spent wandering about Centro - gazing at the Biblioteca Municipal and Theatro Municipal both beautiful colonial-era buildings - and Santa Teresa. Taking a bondinho (streetcar) to Santa Teresa is part of the experience as you rattle along and pass by graffiti, art galleries, hip restaurants and decaying old mansions. We browsed through some stores and an art gallery before taking in a jazz performance at a restaurant called Marco while enjoying a local beer - Antarctica - and another suco. Eventually, before it got too dark, the bondinho rattled us back to Centro and the metro sped us back to the hostel, where we served ourselves up some quick and simple (but delicious) dinner with the fresh vegetables from the morning.

I suppose it was only fitting that our Rio jaunt ended with us being transported to the bus station listening to Samba de Carnaval and, as MF Tree described, an unfortunate adventure at the boarding area.

P.S. My beard, it grows!