Rooftop View

On our very last day in Rio, we hung out on the beach for a while and then hung out at the pool on top of our roof. Sadly, I didn't take any picture of the actual pool, I was more excited about the great views.

I found it interesting to see all the buildings stacked up on top of each other, with Ipanema Beach in the background.

And of course, we could see Christ the Redeemer from our rooftop.

Each neighborhood was separated by a mini-mountain, so there were lots of tunnels throughout the city.

With only about 3 blocks between us and Copacabana Beach, we watched throngs of people flock to the beach for a Sunday afternoon.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: OMGosh...Zoe is home, but so pitiful & with HUGE stitches :((((

Bar Hopping in Rio

After the official end of our GAP tour, our guide was super-awesome and took us out to go clubbing in Rio. I was sort of expecting some over the top MTV-techno, bumping club. Boy- was I in for a surprise! We hopped into a cab for the ride across town to Lapa.

The area also reminded me of a street in New Orleans, with open air restaurants mixing with clubs and live-music bars. Our final destination was Rio Scenarium, where we waited 30 minutes outside to pay a $25 cover charge. It was an awesome experience- 3 levels of unique Brazilian.

The live band and all the dancers added a great atmosphere, as well as the unique report-card system they used to keep your tab. The funky and unusual decor was like being in some unusual cultural museum, while kicking back drinks.

Great way to end our trip in Rio! I've got a few more posts of pictures, but that covers the major story line.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Zoe's surgery went well & I'll be home tonight to see her.

Zoe Update

Thank you to all my sweet blog friends who left words of encouragement last week. Yesterday morning, we left the house at 6AM for a consultation at Gulf Coast Veterinary Hospital. The staff and doctors there were just wonderful and most of the news came back fairly positive.

First off, the Dr. confirmed that the Mast Cell Tumor on Zoe's right leg wasn't a very serious one. She also thought it was likely the other 2 nodules on her leg were also MCT's. She suggested having those surgically removed, but was optimistic that we had caught them very early. She checked out a few other random bumps, but they all appeared to be benign. Given Zoe's history of skin issues, the vet was encouraged that these bumps were not growing or multiplying quickly.

She also heard a heart murmur, so we decided to go ahead and have 2 chest x-rays and a puppy EKG since we were down there (hence the new hair do). It would be better to find out what type of murmur it was before putting her under sedation for the surgery. Although that report came back with Zoe having a higher grade mitral heart murmur a III/V, we also found out that her heart was still functioning normally without any enlargement.

The vet said she felt comfortable referring me back to my primary vet for the surgery. She was glad to do it, but didn't see any complicating factors that necessitated Zoe having the surgery at their fancy (expensive) offices. They will do a biopsy on the MCT's once they removed them to ensure they are localized and not spreading to adjacent tissue.

Luckily, I was able to talk with my vet later that morning and Zoe is scheduled for surgery this morning to have the 3 bumps removed. I'm traveling to Indiana tonight, so she will spend the night at the vet's office. It works out perfect, since the weekend will be pretty low-key (with me being in class again all weekend!) and I'm in town until the middle of next week.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: So glad we have a great vet & everything looks like it will be just fine.

Football in Rio

No trip to Rio would be complete without a futbol (or football or soccer) game! Luckily, there was a fairly big play-off game between Botafogo, the largest of the 4 clubs in Rio, and Fluminense at Maracana Stadium. We had visited the outside of the stadium on our city tour, but attending a huge rivalry game was a highlight on our whole trip. The stadium originally seated nearly 200,000 people!! I can't even imagine what that would be like, but recent safety and comfort remodeling has reduced the capacity down to under 100,000.

Fluminense Torcida is known as the Tri-color. Obviously all the fans sit in the cheap upper seats. They had their own chants and flags and banners and band, but NOTHING compared to our side!

We sat in the crazy flag waving section, and regularly had to watch the game around the half-naked men and furiously waving banners.

I guess similar to a fan club here, they have large social groups of football fans. We sat among Torcida Jovem do Botafogo, who were loud, rowdy and ready to win the game. During the chants or after a goal, the crowd went NUTS. They all sang together, had their gear on and watched the game with amazing intensity.

And don't forget the flashing sparklers that were passed throughout the crowd and made the sidelines appear like a paparazzi show. Oh, let the beer flow with fire!

And then they had this GIGANTIC banner that would periodically come rushing down from the stands behind you, wave around until people became too upset about not seeing the game and then suddenly be rolled back up into the upper-decks.

The video above is just a regular chant session. Note there were at least 3 separate groups of fans, each with their own flags, band and style of cheering. Occasionally they would all synchronize and chant together.

The video above is totally worth watching- it was after a GOOOOOAAAAALLLLLL and the fans went NUTS! Luckily, our side won the game and the crowd was loud and rowdy a LONG time after the end of the game. It took us about an HOUR to just get out of the stadium. Fans still chanting and beer still flowing. It was an AWESOME night!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Despite the 2 hours sitting in traffic to get to the stadium, it was an experience of a lifetime.

Rio's Beaches

Instead of doing a Favela Tour, H wanted to hit up the beaches. He's a beach boy at heart and just radiates happiness with the sand under his feet and the waves crashing nearby. Our hotel was about 4 blocks from Copacabana beach, but we passed by this awesome little park. Every day, no matter what time, there were always these cute little old me (and occasionally a woman) out playing cards or chess or domino's. How awesome is that?

The beaches in Rio are just as awesome as everybody says they are. We walked all the way down Copacabana and over to Ipanema to check it out. The white sand it wide, and gets pretty full by mid-afternoon. Chair and umbrella rentals are cheap, and the waves are pretty wicked looking.

This was definitely the highlight of the trip for my husband. He was so excited to be here. There is a fantastic boardwalk all along Ipanema and Copacabana, with lots of small food stands and vendors. The neat thing is the characteristic mosaic tile that lines the entire boardwalk and many adjoining streets in the neighborhoods. Ipanema has one pattern and Copacabana has the pattern above.

You don't need to take much to the beach- there are literally hundreds of vendors selling EVERYTHING. They are fairly nice, and not pushy or rude like beach vendors in Mexico. We could generally look around at any given minute and could at least 10 vendors in eyesight. From what I can remember, they were selling: beer, bread, sandwiches, soda, shrimp on a stick, heated/melted cheese on a stick, sunglasses, swimsuits, jewelry, ice cream and others things I can't remember now.

Our main beach day was Saturday, but apparently Sunday is the big day for all the locals to head out to the beach. The actually make the main road Atlantico 1 way, and open up all the eastbound lanes for pedestrian traffic. There is normally a bike and jog lane beside the boardwalk, but on Sundays it gets a little bigger.

Cariocas NEVER sit still on the beach. They are constantly busy playing games or playing with kids or reading books or doing something. We didn't see many people just sleeping, but saw lots of soccer and volleyball games going on, especially on Sunday.

Nothing like a good game of volleyball with old men in speedos!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Off to Jackson, Mississippi today.

Sugar Loaf Mountain

The final part of our half-day city tour of Rio de Janeiro ended at Sugar Loaf Mountain. The cable car rides were about $20 USD each, but totally worth it for one of the best views in the city. We were just hoping lingering clouds, like above, would blow over and we'd have cloud-free views.

There are actually 2 separate cable-cars; one to the first mountain and another to the top of Sugar Loaf itself.

The views from the top were awesome- you could look down in between the mountains at little pocked neighborhoods with private beaches.

Us on the middle mountain, with Sugar Loaf in the back.

We ran into some unusual monkey like animals up there too.

The 360 degree views were amazing. It was cool up there, with a great breeze. You can see Copacabana beach to our left and Christ the Redeemer is on the mountain peak on our right.

I think this shot gives you an idea of how jam packed the Copacabana neighborhood really is. The beach forms a nice curve, with buildings built up on every square inch.

At the base of the mountain was a neat little marina, which was beautiful with the setting sun and all the boats waiting to go out for a day of fun in the sun.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Had a great dinner with the parents last night.

Rio de Janeiro City Tour

The next stop on our city tour was the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. It was a very unusual structure, but still gorgeous. It reminded me of their love for football stadiums, and expected the inside to be arranged thus.

I loved the bell tower. It was similar in geometry to the main cathedral, but something about it's uniqueness tickled my fancy.

The inside of the cathedral was gorgeous, with 4 floor to ceiling stained glass windows at each of the 4 ordinal directions.

They had this beautifully carved crucifix handing above the altar.

Loved the colors!

Can't pass up a flag photo, with the hills it the background showing an old city wall nestled among the greenery of the city, with several types of architecture in the background.

Our next stop was the site of the infamous Rio Carnival! The Sambadrome is *THE* location where all the amazing parades and samba dance competitions occur. Less than 800 yards in total length, this is where the costumes and dance routines carry on for hours and days!

Both box seats and stands are available, but not nearly enough for all the locals who want to see Carnival or all the visitors who pack Rio every year. There are numerous street parties and local neighborhood parades for those unwilling to pay a small fortune for event tickets.

We just missed Carnival by a few weeks, and they were still cleaning and tearing down temporary stages. The area was littered with garbage, glitter, feathers and confetti. The very small museum is worth a look through, and you can take your picture in an old, smelly costume for a few dollars.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: First day of class yesterday wasn't *TOO* bad. Hopefully today and tomorrow will be as useful.