Yesterday was our designated beach day. (For the record, this has nothing to do with the weather forecast as every day we are here it is sunny and in the low 80’s.) We awoke to clear, blue skies, repeated our breakfast of the day before, took care of some business online, and headed down to the water.

What a change from the weekend! We had been wondering how many of the people on the beach were tourists vs. Rio residents; yesterday there was about a quarter of the number of people on the beach. This meant we had an unobstructed view of the water (win) but fewer beautiful people to admire (fail). We spread out a sheet and set to reading and tanning. (In an action that defines “oxymoron”, I read the Economist.)

Eventually, the hot sun drove each of us to the water. Let me take a moment to describe the water here. Although it’s not clear, it’s cleaner than anything I’ve seen in the US and has a lovely greenish-blue quality to it. The waves are HUGE. Yesterday we learned that swimming at Ipanema qualifies as an extreme sport. It is not for the faint of heart! Getting past the 6+ foot breakers takes a lot of daring and cunning. You run a very real risk of being clobbered and losing your bathing suit, and coming back in is even harder. I got hit very hard at one point, which resulted in me corkscrewing along the bottom and for the first time ever feeling slightly disoriented underwater as a result. I also think if you stay in too long that you’d get seasick from the height of the waves. Nonetheless, I have to wonder how to place Ipanema on my list of favorite beaches. Although it does not meet criteria #1 of clear water, it meets the next two (sand and waves). I think the size of the waves merits some bonus points, as do the coconuts to drink (check out my new profile pic on facebook), and the people here provide a stunning visual similar to beaches with clear water. I have to keep mulling this over.

We came back from the beach in the late afternoon. My back is burned, but the rest of me started on a nice tan. After showers and an application of aloe, we set off in search of Havaianas, Gilson Martin purses, and Brazilian bikinis.

The Havaianas store we found did not disappoint, and there is a larger one awaiting us in Copacabana. I was thrilled to find Croatia flip flops amidst the international selection and also bought a pair of the standard whites with the Brazilian flag.

Gilson Martin is a Rio purse brand, and the store completely overwhelmed us. Almost all of their accessories have images of Cristo Redentor and Sugarloaf Mountain on them, and they come in all sorts of colors and shapes. After agonizing for half an hour and making friends with both the staff and other clientele, Stacey and I each bought an incredible goldish-bronze purse with a Rio landscape on it that is worth every penny. I was equally thrilled to meet a Colombian woman while checking out; she told me that I spoke Spanish without an accent and had to ask where I was from! That’s pretty much the best linguistic compliment it’s possible to receive!

Speaking of linguistics, let me take a moment to say that I’ve never had such a good time attempting to speak a language in which I am not highly proficient. The Brazilians are very friendly and patient and seem to truly enjoy the fact that we make the effort. I managed to talk to a Gilson Martin employee about why she had a tattoo in English on her arm, another about the best type of Cachaca to buy, and a bikini saleswoman about whether Brazilians are more likely to learn English or Spanish as a second language (English).

We went into several bikini shops; Stacey and Mary tried on a few and learned just how itsy-bitsy teeny-weeny the suits are here. Mary bought a lovely one with crochet flower detail.

For dinner we visited a pay-by-the-kilo restaurant that provided a delicious buffet. I got to sample a number of veggie dishes along with steak, squid, salmon, and cod. Mmmmm!

We finally got back to the hostel around 9:30 and got ready for our first real attempt at clubbing. We headed to a place at the border between Ipanema and Copacabana, discovered we were too early at 11, and spent 90 minutes sipping beer at a stand overlooking the beach. Copacabana appears to have significantly smaller waves.

The club proved to be fun although not what we expected from our Lonely Planet guides. Stacey requested Lady Gaga and got “Born This Way” 40 minutes later; needless to say, it was awesome.

Last night we decided to forego the funk party in the favela as it a) was expensive without including drinks, b) took place in a favela so far they couldn’t show us on the map, and c) would have required that we stay out until 5. We figured it would be better to save our energy for other evenings.

Instead, we headed off to dinner at an outdoor restaurant just down the block. Once again, we went for a tapas-style approach to the meal so we could share different things. No disappointments: in addition to caipirinhas, we enjoyed meat fritters, some salade nicoise, steak, grilled veggies, and sort of a farofa (the fried flour) covered scrambled egg. All was delicious; in Brazil, they keep flavors pretty simple. They just throw on some salt and grill the meat, so we really got to savor the flavor of the steak.

Our plan after dinner was to buy some beer and head to the beach, but the markets had closed by the time we finished dinner. However, as we headed towards the beach, we passed a samba bar that appeared to have a line outside the door, and we thought that might be fun to try later.

The beach proved to be a disappointment in terms of providing drinks; it was practically deserted (quite a change from the daytime). The large waves crashing in the moonlight along with the outline of the lights in the favela in the mountain to the west made for beautiful scenery, though.

We decided to head back to the hostel and get another drink there. At this point it was about 11:15. We arrived to find the downstairs full of people but the bar closed! We quickly formed a new plan: drop everything we didn’t need and head to the samba bar.

Fail #4 happened at the samba bar. They wouldn’t let us in because it was closing at midnight! Lesson learned: Rio does in fact have limits on drinking and fun. (I find it terribly ironic that the Green Leafe in Williamsburg stays open longer on Sunday than anything we experienced in Rio.)

Defeated, we returned to the hostel and settled in for the night. We now possess the three bottom bunks in our room, which makes things significantly more comfortable for us. The room is quite small; three sets of three-tiered bunk beds line the walls, leaving an open space in the center that’s maybe 5 x 9 feet. Controlling the floor helps!

Good morning from Rio de Janeiro, “a cidade maravilhosa”, the marvelous city! From what I’ve seen, this is an apt description.

My post will be brief as I am in fact typing this on my iPhone. Oh, technology!

Mary, Stacey, and I arrived in Rio with no problems. Mary even sat with someone from Brazil on our first flight and learned some good phrases and important words like “chope”, a small, ice-cold draft beer. I used my new Cabin Pillow, a large inflatable pillow designed to sit on the tray table and help you sleep bent over. I think I slept more on our 9-hour flight than I have before, so it was a success!

Upon clearing customs, we exited into an airport not unlike the one in Caracas, where many solicitous men offered taxi services both in and outside the terminal. We spoke with a helpful woman at the info desk to find out where to catch a bus into the city, and she complimented us on our Portuguese!

After an hour’s wait (as the first bus was full), we boarded a very nice bus with air-con (no one says air conditioning here) and enjoyed a trip through Rio to Ipanema. The airport is at the northeast corner of the peninsula, and Ipanema is down in the southwest, so we got to see quite a lot. We were thrilled to catch many glimpses of Cristo Redentor, high atop Corcovado, with His arms stretched out as if to welcome and/or hug us.

After checking in at our hostel (located a convenient one block from the beach), we cleaned up, donned bathing suits, and set out for sustenance. We checked off two things from our list of foods to eat in Brazil: smoothies and acai. I got a smoothie with acai and strawberry that was delicious.

We spent the next two hours on the beach, surrounded by beautiful, tan people clad in thong bikinis and boxer briefs drinking straight from coconuts. It’s the stuff of dreams, but here it is real! We plan to drink from coconuts today.

After the beach and showers, we headed to a grocery store. I love going to grocery stores abroad; you learn so much and see such interesting things! We saw fruits that were completely unfamiliar, juices that don’t exist in the US, and dried cod, among other things.

From there we returned to our hostel for the final 20 minutes of the Real Madrid/Barcelona match and our free welcome caipirinhas. Oh, my. New favorite drink. So good and so strong.

For dinner we ventured a little further to a place called Jobi that one of my guidebooks recommended. We enjoyed some beer and a host of fried but very Brazilian appetizers: cheese balls, cod fritters, yuca fries, and fried manioc flour with ham and egg. It was all delicious!

Our final stop was at the Academia de Cachaca, where we sampled caipirinhas flavored with passionfruit, pineapple, and something unidentifiable but tasty.

I love it here!!!