Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Copacabana beach in the background. The views were spectacular at night, and hard to capture with the camera.
This group of Brazilians came up for sunset and sang and danced
Rio. It was an overcast day... we had gone up to see sunset, but it didn't happen.
Walkways wind down the mountain, providing serene rest stops and lovely views
We befriended these nice Brazilians, who didn't speak English, and they took a picture of us
At the intermediate stop on the cable car ride up to Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf)
David and I frolicked in the waves at Ipanema and almost drowned several times. (Mom--I'm just kidding). The waves were brutal, but insanely fun. I think I drank my bodyweight in saltwater... which is kind of funny since we were SO careful about the water in Rio, even brushing our teeth with bottled water to avoid contracting hepatitis or cholera.
Copacabana Beach. It looks calm, but not long after a brawl broke out between the lifeguards and a group of Brazilian 20-somethings who were singing and laughing and drinking beer. The lifeguards (who were, mind you, barefoot, wearing shorts and tanktops) broke out the night sticks (I'm NOT kidding) and started whomping one of the guys. He suffered a pretty serious head wound--there was a big gash and blood was gushing--and his friends dragged him off down the beach to go to the hospital. All of this happened in front of a refreshment tent, so we thought maybe the kids weren't paying or something, but this nice French tourist who was sitting next to us explained that the life guards are very violent here--they want to keep it "safe" for the tourists, and that all the kids hadn't done anything... yeah, I felt safe.
Me and Caroline, our last night in Rio when we went to a great Samba club.
