Dear Nomads, I arrived in this city with no expectations and I felt so WOW that I decided to … GO AND SEE IT FLYING LIKE A BIRD!
On the hill Pedra Bonita besides enjoying some spectacular views, you can meet some crazy people, one in particular, Guto from Flyinguru, he makes adventurous people, like me, happy, and the not so adventurous too, he is such good vibe. I encourage you to launch yourself, literally, on the hang glidder with him, you won’t regret it.
This is one of those experiences we should all have on our list of “1000 things to do before I die”. The mixture of adrenaline and the peace you feel floating in the air before such beauty is … INSUPERABLE.
And if you want more adventures, let me tell you about the one Miriam and I got intowhen we heard about the bar with the best view in town, where? In the favela Morro do Vigidal, and yes, you guessed well, off we went. To stablished international relationships we showed the kids a picture of us with our friend the footballer David Luiz, as a result… they escorted us like VIPs!, there’s nothing like having good contacts, even if they had been obtained on groupiemode.
If you go up the bar by yourselves (not in a tour), I recommend you to take an Uber (safest way to move around Rio), it can leave you at the bottom of the hill, as to go up there are little velociraptors motorbikes with yellow riders who will drop you off in the bar in a split minute, there, have a drink to celebrate life!
We didn’t only come to taste the adrenaline, we also want spectacular beaches, right? One of my favourites is Prainha, little beach, they call it like that due to its smaller dimensions. It is located west of the city, surrounded by mountains and a natural park. It has perfect waves for surfing and you’ll want to spend the whole European winter there, you’ll see.
If you adventure yourself to visit Ipanema or Copacabana on a Sunday, you’ll meet all its inhabitants there. Plenty of football, street vendors and of course, tiny bikinis; the law forbids going topless, but no one said anything about the size!, so here you will witness where the divine outfits, many of us ladies love, come from.
The beaches are organised by numbered sections so you can chose to go to the family and children one, or the gay area or to train to the gym one, yes gym… they have a zone with the most picturesque gym equipment.
I was so lucky to meet this wonderful tour guide Brenofrom Xplorario, very good vibe too. He has fabulous tours. Amongst other things he takes you to the famous Lapa Steps, created by this Chilean artist from all the tiles people would send him from all over the world. I bet you’ll find one from your city or even your football team.
Breno will also take you to Praia Joatinga, another excuse for not going back, not even to the hotel.
Following Breno into the depths of the Rain Forrest of Tijuca Natural Park, finding the cascades in the heart of nature itself within the city is what makes this place so magical. The first view point Breno took us to was the Chinese Window, Vista Chinesa, from where I saw for the first time the bay which left me speechless.
Of course the Crown Jewels of Rio are Christ the Redeemer, the biggest Art Deco statue of the world placed on the Corcovado mountain, and the other jewel is the Sugarloaf mountain. From both you’ll be able to admire the bay and the city as its peak.
I recommend visiting the Christ first and then going up to the Sugarloaf on the cable car to enjoy the sunset, IT IS TO DIE FOR! And then I wonder why I am in love with Rio de Janeiro, which means river of January, as this was the month the Portuguese arrived and thought it was only a river, what a surprise when they realised they had the second biggest bay of the planet before their eyes.
In Rio we can also enjoy relaxing moments, in my visit to Prainha I took a sarong, a picnic with loads of pão de queijoand The Japanese Lover by Isabel Allende. I like this Chilean author very much and in this novel she melts the lives of two characters, the one of this young woman from difficult origins and the one of this lady almost at the end of her days. The young Irina is discovering Alma’s life through some love letters, love she met in her youth during times where differences in ethnicity mattered , separated by a war, love she never gave up. She also discovers Alma’s live on beautiful fabrics which represent her life and how she had been successful doing what she loved.
We have to be in love with life my dear nomads, every minute of it, we must love what we do, the planet, the animals, all the amazing people we cross paths with….and Rio, we musto love Rio.
