After a couple days of hanging with friends in Olinda, Carnaval has started. It is non stop blocos -marching street bands! Constantly from 10AM until after midnight the streets in the Citade Alta are filled with bands and marchers, and people in costume. Tons of street vendors supply the beers and cocktails, also there is a large contingent of clean up people collecting empty cans and sweeping etc. If you throw an empty on the street, it will be picked up in literally nano seconds! The music is mostly Frevo featuring tons of horns, and Maracatu which is more drums and vocals. We are lucky enough to be staying at Pousada Quatro Cantos which is in the center of the parade route, so we have constant entertainment from two diffent streets at two different levels. We have also been hanging at Jonah's house which is right around the corner, and his balcony is on the second floor, so we get yet another angle to view the costumed dancing crowd, floats, blocos, stilt walkers, and giant dolls. Yesterday we hung around at Nando's house with Fofa, Sergio and others getting dressed and ready to party on the street. At around midnight there is a parade of the giant dolls which is about 25-20 two story tall dolls literally running together up and down the cobblestone streets!
The big bonus is that here at the Pousada, they are also throwing a 4 day party from 10am to 7pm with open bar, DJ and amazing bands -included with the Carnaval package! Yesterday there was a killer pagode group right here at the Pousada on a shaded patio. When the blocos come, the band takes a break, and resume as soon as they are past the Pousada. There is security at the door, but we haven't seen any robbers or violence of any kind so far! The pool is only open to guests at the Pousada versus the entire party, so we can hang in the pool, cooling off, enjoying cocktails and music, and there are only ten of us who are staying here and not working, so there is plenty of space for us. The mood is happiness! Alegria Geral! The weather is perfect 85 degrees and sunny!
I had to post this because it is part of a campaign to clean up Rio. New this year in Rio, no smoking in bars and restaurants! Also, no peeing on the street, and it is enforced! Another sign we have seen around is Segura a xixi, qui o banheiro e logo a li - Hold your pee, the bathroom is over there!
After an amazing weekend of partying in Rio, we decided to take a little break and spend a couple days in Ilha Grande. There are no cars on the island, and it isn't too far from Rio, so we hopped in a cab to the bus station, and got the next executive bus out of town to Angra dos Reis where we got the ferry to Abraao. The water is super clean and clear, and the people very chic with a few exceptions of course... We had brought the C4 iSUP boards, and planned a trip to Lopez Mendes the next day. We wanted to spend the whole day at the beach, so after breakfast we got the first boat to Mangues, and hiked with the boards to Lopez Mendes. It was completly stunning 10km long white sand beach, no houses, or any development at all, just surfers, and a few vendors. The backdrop is Atlantic rain forest climbing up to about 2500 feet! For sure we are going back because it was so fun, and one of the best beaches for SUP we have found anywhere! The surf was mellow, but really fun.
Tuesday night was Viradouro in Niteroi. We met up with Luiz and Jim at their apartment in Icarai, had some beers, then from there had an amazing salad in the neighborhood. We got a cab to the quadra. When we got there, it was after midnight, but the music hadn't really started, so we hung around outside the quadra and had some more beers. When the music started we went in, and it was a giant space, even bigger than Estacio de Sa, and outdoors so with the breeze, it was a bit cooler. The bateria was super tight, with amazingly technical breaks. Mexico is the theme for the samba enredo this year, and the lyrics are super fun about drinking tequila! You can hear in the YouTube video when the bateria kicks in it is so intense because of the volume and the energy. It is hard to describe the feeling other than everyone gets goose bumps!
Monday we had a great morning doing our first stand up paddle session with the new C4 boards. We took the boards down to the lobby and inflated them, then left the pump at the front desk, and walked barefoot to the beach with the boards and paddles. It is about a 3 block walk from the hotel, no problem although the sand was so hot on the beach that we had to run to avoid burning! The paddling was fun because the local beach is Flamengo which is on Guanabara bay, and wonderful views.
That evening, Xuxa called and wanted to go out to see this group Samba de Roda in Lapa. We met him, Eris, and Dalva at Xuxa's, had a couple beers, then got a cab to Lapa. When we arrived at the club, Carioca da Gema, it was packed and the band was taking a break. We got some Caipirinhas, and found a great table upstairs that had a view of the stage. This woman came around and was taking pictures of us with her camera, so I asked if she would take one with my camera. We were all laughing after because I didn't understand that she was going to try to sell her picture to us. Dalva actually did buy one from her, and she was cool about the whole thing, so it all worked out. When the band came on, they did not stop for the whole set, and it was one Enredo after another. The singer was amazing, and the band was super tight. This video doesn't really do it justice, but it will give you all an idea of the quality at this club. There was a R$20 cover I was asked to stop shooting video when one of the bouncers caught me...
Sunday was Xuxa's party which started at noon. Luiz and Jim stopped by the hotel, and we made our way over to Xuxa's apartment. There were about 25 people there preparing for the Banda de Ipanema parade which was starting in the afternoon. It was super festive because we had a ton of ice cold beers, makeup, costumes and friends.
Dagoberto was there dressed as the tres racas (three races), Xuxa had black makeup, done by Eris and a blue afro! There was a little drama in the elevator getting back down to the street level, but from there we headed over to Ipanema for the parade. We bumped into Kathleen there, and took some more pictures.
