Today started with a nice big breakfast of fruit, cereal and
toast (much more than I normally eat but it gets so hot during the day that I
can’t even think of eating so I had to build up reserves!!
Since I had seen the beach side of Rio I decided that I
should walk the streets and see what makes this place tick. I didn’t manage to
find the people who offer free walking tours through the city so I decided to
create my own. With tourist map in hand I plotted a course to see some old
buildings but very soon realised that I had no idea what I was looking at, but
they were pretty :-)
After a few photos of buildings, taking in the surroundings
and noticing that the contradiction is still evident just behind the tall
buildings my attention turned to the women, as always. I noticed that bikinis
were no longer the clothing choice but rather summer dresses, smart dresses and
business suites. On closer inspection, on even the smartest dressed woman, you
could find those all important bikini tan lines. One can only say that they end
up at the beach soon enough.
After looking at buildings for a few hours I soon lost
interest and made my way to the coast and then to Priai de Flamenco. All along
the beach looking back towards the mountain I notice Christ the Redeemer
peaking at me over the trees. From here I made my way down to Priai de Botafogo
and eventually back to Copacabana and into a favela n Leme where my hostel is
based.
Ouch, my legs cannot take this! The walk up to the hostel
was UP as in directly UP, but in the end the view was totally worth it!
Now for some social time with the other hostel residents
then back down the hill to get some beers...