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.
