Our room was tiny! We were definitely paying for the location.
After our check-in adventures (all 9 of us with Dani being translator extraordinaire!) we were off for a traditional Brazilian barbeque dinner. We ate a late breakfast in Lorena and didn't stop for lunch on our drive, so we were starving!
Taxis in Rio are not big, so getting anywhere with a group of 9 was quite the process. It took 2-3 taxis to get us anywhere. Dinner choice was easy though - flat fee all you can eat! All we had to say was 'go' and the "meat ninjas" were at our table. I wish I would have gotten my camera out earlier, because this whole experience was pretty funny. There were 9 of us, and there were equally at many waiters standing around our table with huge meat skewers waiting to serve us. Everything was very tasty, including the sides, and the salad/sushi bar. I had been to a Brazilian BBQ in the states before, but this was authentic and SO good! We capped off dinner with an assortment of desserts and left extremely full!
The fabulous BBQ restaurant
Our whole crew!
After dinner we headed back and had some caipirinhas on the beach to cap the night off.
The next morning Colin and I got up to take a long walk on the beach. I was wishing I had my camera with me as we ran and walked the almost entire 2 1/2 miles. Everywhere you looked it was just gorgeous. After heading back, we grabbed some breakfast and met up with the group for our day's outings. Our first stop - HANG GLIDING!
We taxi'd once again to another beautiful beach just a few miles away. Rio de Janeiro was pretty much one beautiful beach after another, mixed with modern, urban landscapes, mountains, and authentic Latin charm; it is probably one of the prettiest cities I have ever seen.
Scenery from Sao Conrado beach
All the guys went hang gliding. Caroline and I were planning to go to, but once we realized how long it was going to take (4 hours in total!), we decided it could be a guy thing afterall. The girls hung out on the beach, had a few drinks and just enjoyed the beautiful view while the guys came down the mountain, one-by-one.
This is the mountain they jumped from.
Herb was first!
Hang gliders parked on the grass
Colin was last! Colin sat on top of the mountain for 3 hours before finally coming down!
I brought him a beer when he finally made it - figured he could use one!
And here is his video! I am amazed this actually uploaded. It's about 10 minutes long! Eduardo, the hang gliding 'pilot', was a pretty funny guy. Check out the view just after his run off the ramp! Wow!
After everyone made it back down the mountain, we were once again starving. We made our way to a lake in the middle of the city where there were parks and bunch of different restaurants. We picked one and chowed down once again.
With fully bellies we then headed back to the hotel for a bit of downtime (good thing for the night that was ahead!) But then after a few drinks in our hotel, we made our way to the beach once again. This is one night where I am very curious to see what pictures others captured. The cameras were out this night! It was all good, clean fun (of course!), but if my headache the next morning was an indicator, I'm sure there are some good pictures to be seen. I got a few good ones myself! =)
Group shot!
I believe this is Caroline's 'model look'.
Colin got his payback for karaoke night. He and Dani had a dance on the beach =)
Our beach bar
Skol buckets of beer...went down a little too good this particular night! I don't have pictures of the end of our night (I KNOW others do), but we walked back to our hotel to the tune of Michael Jackson Thriller (playing on iPod)...ahh yeah...fun times!
A local peddler playing a drum joined our party at one point. Oh, this was a funny moment! Caroline, Dani, and Chielli (Caroline's childhood friend who met up with us) knew all the songs he was singing; the rest of us just danced and played the tambourine =)
The next morning we were up early to head to the Christ the Redeemer statue. We contemplated not sleeping at all the night before, but managed to get a few hours in. Who needs sleep when you're on vacation?! This was mine and Colin's last day in Rio (the rest of our trip will be Part 3), but we could not leave without seeing the most famous landmark in Brazil, and one of the most famous in the world. The monument was awesome, but the view was magnificent!
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After about an hour we made our way back to our taxis, and Colin and I said our good-byes to the group. It was an emotional good-bye seeing it'll probably be at least a year before we see Ashley and Caroline again...we will miss them! I am trying to convince Colin that our next BIG vacation can be to Hungary to visit them, and I think we should take the kids. Probably not for 3 years or so, but I think it's a possibility! Colin is not so convinced. Up next, Part 3 (I will try to add it this weekend!)
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