Rio with Nicki: Saturday - Monday

Mellow Yellow from afar.

When Nicki and I woke up on Saturday morning, we experienced our first Hotel Copacabana breakfast and it was delicious.  A buffet had about 5 different kinds of fresh fruit, 3 different juices, various breads and pastries, eggs, sausages, and bacon, just to name some of it.  Great.  We decided we’d try to stick with just one purchased meal a day and would fill up on breakfast every morning.

That afternoon we went off to explore a bit together.  We walked by Mellow Yellow in the daylight so, again, I could show her how gross it was.  Oddly, I missed it a little bit already.  We noted some clothing shops we’d like to stop in later and saw some restaurants that had promise for dinner one night.

In the afternoon, we made our way to Fifa Fan Fest to watch the third U.S. first round world cup game together.  We got our wrist bands and I showed Nicki the interior of the set-up and we sat down in front of the huge screen.  Half way through the game, someone tapped me on the back and I turned around to find Ricardo, a guy I had met my first night in Rio.  A real Brazilian!  

Really?  Fifa Fan Fest again??  Yes.

He asked why I was still in Rio, thinking that I had left with the English ladies I had met the previous week, and I explained my situation and when I was staying until.  He met Nicki and they chatted on the beach while I started looking around and realized how hard it was going to be to leave in a few days.  When we left around 6pm, the sun had already set and we made our way back to the hotel.  We decided to make it an early night so we could get up early the next morning.

Ipanema coastline.

On Sunday, we woke up and got on the metro to go to Ipanema Beach.  Nicki had really wanted to go there, and the weather was cooperating, so it seemed like a good idea to visit.  Upon exiting the station, we saw a huge market in front of us and decided to take a peek.  After about 30 minutes, I realized we would end up in the market all day if we didn’t leave ASAP, so we took off for the beach.  

Nicki and I laid down, realizing we had forgotten any towel or sarong to lay on,  I didn’t care and took off my dress anyway so I could finally get some color on my pasty pale skin.  Nicki stayed with me for a while before taking a walk down to the end of the beach.  When we reunited 30 minutes later, Nicki went for a quick swim, I opted not to because the water felt like ice, and we got back up so we could hit the market again.

Mmmm, coconut water.

Once we got back to the market, the anal, conservative with money Alison apparently took a break and I went on a bit of a spending spree.  I acquired a pair of red, leather gladiator sandals ($15!!), a necklace made of buttons, a sarong with the Brazilian flag on it, and a gift for someone.  2 hours later, we left and again, made it an early night in.

Monday was our last full day and night and we had a lot planned.  After our glorious breakfast again, we went to Sugarloaf, a conical mountain in the middle of Rio that is said to have some of the most stunning views imaginable.  After trying to get a bus, missing it, running after it down the street for 3 blocks, and eventually giving up, we got a taxi.  

We arrived, took the gondala-like lift up to the first point, and took some photos.  We were a little confused and thought that the first stop-off point was really the top of Sugarloaf and we both got really upset because there was too much fog to see below. We tried to make the best of it, taking photos of some small monkeys that reside there and other photos of us messing around in the old cable cars on display before I saw a sign for the next set of gondolas.  

That is not a backdrop... it's real, folks!

Up we went to the second stop and as we ascended, we saw what people had been talking about: the views were amazing.  The whole of Rio could be seen and I realized that this probably would have been a good place to go when first arriving to Rio to get a good understanding of the layout.  Nicki and I wandered around, taking tons of photos of every and anything.  Nicki left me alone for a little bit so I could reflect on not only my time in Rio, but my time in South America as a whole, and the tightness in my chest got a little tighter.

Nicki and Ricardo happy after a goal.

Luckily, to life my sprits, we had planned to go see the last first round Brazil game together that afternoon, so we had to hurry down from Sugarloaf to get there in time.  An hour later, we were back on the beach at Fifa Fan Fest.  20 minutes later, knowing where we’d be, Ricardo found us again.  

The game was even better than the other Brazil games I had seen.  The crowd was again enormous and decked out in yellow and green but the crowd had a sense of joy that hadn’t been there the other times.  I think it was because they knew that regardless of the game’s outcome they would be going to the second round.  

Celebrating and dancing at Fifa Fan Fest!

After the game ended and Brazil had won, a huge stage performance went on.  Various bands came on, we met some of Ricardo’s friends, and we all danced on the beach until late in the evening.