Rio Carnival

Rio carnival….where to begin?!

In some ways Rio was calmer than I expected. The carnival itself is quite spread out, with localized blocos (street parties) and then the sambadromo parades. When we arrived on Saturday we had a little wander through Copacabana and saw lots of stalls selling costume accessories and bits, and some people in various stages of fancy dress. We had tickets to the sambadromo that night so decided to dress up Hawaiian style (nice and easy!). The city was busy, and parts of it did feel a lil rammed (the beach especially), but it was never crazy or felt like there were people pushing everywhere.

The sambadrome was huge. Its capacity is 75,000, and the runway is half a mile long! The parades started at 9, and each lasted about an hour (they had to be between 60 and 100 minutes or they would be penalized).

Look at the size of this!

The runway

There was about a ten minute break between each one for the runway to be cleared and then the samba drums would start again. The time flew….it was daylight before we knew it, yet we barely yawned. We were completely focused on the parade. Each school had something different, and there were multiple floats per school, and then also thousands of dancers (schools lose points if they have less than 2,500 people parading). It was insane!!!

Floats and dancers

Any lulls in between samba schools was taken up with people watching…there were a few good costumes about in the crowd!

Impressive costume....though he got into so many of my photos!

The floats were so big. They were all so original and each of the schools told a story which the floats and dancers explained. Some we got, others we didn't!

Samba school flag

The Samba drome

Classic Rio showgirl!

Everything was so well organised; we barely had to queue for anything. The streets were full of people selling drinks so we didn't need to worry about high bar tabs or having to queue for ages. Crime…well, we were very careful and didn't take much out with us each day. A few things did go missing, but on the whole, we were completely looked after and safe.

Dressing up was great fun, and we did it every day….a range of costumes. I was coerced into dressing up as Princess Peach from the Mario games (love wearing a crown!), which was a giggle, though less recognizable than the brothers!

I was impressed with some of the elaborate costumes we saw, people even wore them on the beach!

But, compared to Cologne, which was more centralized, I would say we saw less people dressed up. However, there were plenty of dressed up dogs!

Every evening we saw an amazing parade go right outside our street. The noise was amazing, and then there was a little bus and just so many people! We would sometimes go and join in for a little while. Thanks to our school carnival a few of the songs were familiar.

I spent the day time chilling on the beach, whilst my friends joined the blocos. I missed having a girl with me, and just needed some quiet solo time! Our apartment was five minutes between Ipanema and Copacabana so was in a great location.

Sunset

Beach play time!

The evenings were amazing, and I was amazed by the friendliness and levels of English on the streets. It was an incredible few days.

Giant ant head lend

Hello clown!

I am so glad we got to go, and am rather gutted now that is all over and we are back at work! Post holiday blues…. but Friday night we get to watch the Winner's Parade in Sao Paulo's samba drome! Woo!

Carnival Build up

Carnival is coming!! There is samba playing everywhere and lots of street parties are popping up, as well as pre samba processions.

Sunday afternoon samba band

In school we had a mini carnival parade, and were so busy making costumes, learning Portuguese songs and developing a dance routine (who needs to learn English and Numeracy, right?!). The carnival itself was so much fun! Probably the best morning we have had at school. My house won, I am thrilled!

Burn's Night

I am so impressed with the St Andrew's Society in Sao Paulo. We went to their Caledonian ball in October, and it was great fun, so we were keen to go to the Burn's Night, which was held a few weeks later than it should have been in late January, but I don't think anyone minded.

Scottish dancing is so fun…though we are really clueless and very dependent on the Scots there to help us out! I did eat a bit of haggis….not a huge fan at all, but it would have been rather rude to decline! The champagne flowed, which helped the various poems pass! Ode to Haggis did make me smile though. I do love all of their toasts too. It was such a fun sense of occasion. There was a full on Scottish band, and plenty of bag pipes and kilts about! If only there were more Welsh of us here….

Feliz Navidad!

Feliz Navidad de uno reno impresionante en Buenos Aires

LOVE LOVE LOVE

Buenos Aires

I admit to falling in love with cities. Cape Town was the most recent....the same has happened with Buenos Aires. It feels at last like being in South America. The architecture is gorgeous, it is walkable, and the people are so friendly. The men are insane, though very polite. The invisible feelings of São Paulo are long gone...marriage proposals and compliments abound here, it is hilarious. Even had a growl, much to our amusement!

The beautiful Floralis Generica

People often say that Buenos Aires feels very European. Totally! It felt like a cross between Vienna and Barcelona. The stone work was so intricate and detailed, wrought iron balconies abounded and every few blocks another impressive church appeared. There were little squares filled with statues of men on horses and the place just oozed charm.

National theatre

Street market

The Obelisk

I am glad I did a little Evita research before I came. It was nice to see some of the places she has now made famous and to understand a little of the history and legacy that she now leaves with Argentinians. We went to see her grave. Wow, what a cemetery! I could not believe how elaborate some of the statues and tombs were. 

I love that the US has the White House, and Argentina has Casa Rosado, the pink house. We went there on Sunday and got to go inside and have a lil wander. It is so beautiful. 

There was some very funny looking dressed up guards that caused us lots of giggles. 

Ana with an awesomely dressed guard!

One night we went to Cafe Tortini to watch a tango show. We were given front row seats which is a great bonus for a short sighted lady! The show began with such terrible acting, it was so cringeworthy! Thankfully the painful acting didn't last too long and the dancing was so beautiful it more than made up for it. 

Tango!

One of my favourite areas was La Boca. It is a gorgeous neighbourhood with lots of painted houses. It was so beautiful and felt really South American. It was a lovely lil area to just wander through. 

 
Onto the food.....Steak. Wow, it really is amazing. My veggie days are so far behind me..... Also loved the dulce de leche here, was a daily breakfast highlight.

Very tight dress afterwards!

Travelling with a Brazilian taught me two major things. Brazilians shop! And Brazilians pose! Haha Ana is amazing and we had great fun together, but it did mean that smiling for a photograph is no longer acceptable, and shopping is a daily event. One bonus of this was getting to see Gallerias Pacifico. It was a stunning shopping centre just off one of the main streets, with a stunning ceiling.

We found a beautiful book store inside an old theatre. People were sitting in the stalls reading, and we went and had lunch on the former stage.

Understand why I love this city?! I'll end with some classic poser shots!

Love the lady to the left!

Christmas prep

It is strange preparing for Christmas in hot weather. The last few years have always been the same but knowing that I won't be going back to the cold does make it feel different. On our last weekend together in São Paulo, we went to a lights and music show in the park. It was really fun and very pretty. Lovely to hear some English Christmas songs, as well as of course, Feliz Navidad!

Lights and music in the lake in Ibirapuera Park

Christmas concerts in school have amused me for the last few years. Tinsel and Santa hats are just not practical in boiling weather! At the end of term we had a Christmas dinner in one of our apartments, each cooking a separate part of the meal in our tiny ovens!

My lovely friends and I celebrating a British Christmas dinner together before heading in different directions

Genuine delight haha

Hats on!

Secret Santa gifts!

The New Year's Eve tradition here is to wear white. The shops are filled with white dresses! Very different from the UK. It will be interesting to see everyone dressed up. Mine is in the wardrobe ready.....