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JeffS
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looking for apartment in rio for 3 to 6 months or longer
looking for clean affordable apartment with internet.
plan to arrive in October.
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jubond
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The best of Rio Carnival
Carnival is always a hot topic when talking about Rio de Janeiro. However as a “Carioca”, I would say that the best of the Carnival is reserved for January and early February, before the parade actually begins. Since December the city boils with the Samba Schools rehearsals. Hundreds of people enjoy those rehearsals every week where the samba schools play new and classics samba songs.
When the Carnival days are closer, usually around two weeks before, the bands (blocos) gain the city with thousands of happy “folioes” (Carnival revellers). The blocos sometimes play since early morning until evening with everyone following them through the beach or the inner streets of the city. The most famous ones are Cordao da Bola Preta, Suvaco do Cristo and Monobloco. I have even more pleasure on participating on these pre-Carnival parties then the actual one.
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jubond
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The Endless Lapa nightlife
The bohemian region of Lapa, in the central Rio de Janeiro, attracts many people, tourists and locals, to its nightlife and historical monuments. The most famous and my favourite is Arcos da Lapa, a Roman-style aqueduct that crosses the neighbourhood and connects the city centre and Santa Teresa. Lapa has been well-known for its restaurants and bars, where different forms of Brazilian culture and music can be appreciated. I could view Samba circles and Capoeira, the most common in the area. There are also Fundicao Progresso and Circo Voador, two famous concert halls that host national and international attractions. Lapa is the meeting point of intellectuals and artists and the great atmosphere attracted me to go there.
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Edgey
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The park in Snoop Doggy Dog
Want to masquerade as one of the women in Snoop's Beautiful video? They dance around a beautifully chiselled out pool sunk surrounded by alabaster white mansion buildings. The scene is set deep inside city park, Parque Lage. Even if you do not want to recreate a scene from the rapper's film snippets of Rio de Janeiro, this is a great location to leave the madness of the beaches and chill out. There is a cafe that serves breakfasts and lunches at locals prices, which is popular with students. The park art college often displays artwork here with many arty types found here sipping coffee all day propped up on pillows. The park is a great place to wander round with plenty of trails. Parque Lage is a free version of the Jardin Botanico that is next door. Jump on a bus signed for the Jardin to get on your way. As Snoop says, it's a beautiful part of Rio.
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LucyHB
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Centro's Friday Market
Despite being on a limited budget, whenever I catch the scent of a market selling, bags, beads, jewelry or clothes, I just can't help myself from taking a quick look. And making a quick purchase. Or two. The market that takes place each Friday in Rio's downtown seems to have been designed specifically for those with flighty tendencies. Perfectly placed to tempt those who want to find something to spice up their wardrobe for the weekend, the market features countless stalls selling hand-crafted jewelry, bags, beads and knick-knacks, as well as handicrafts and some pretty dresses and skirts. I always seem to find myself spending half of Friday here, weighing up the pros and cons of various inexpensive items of jewelry. It's not the most sophisticated stuff in Rio, but it's affordable, pretty and perfect for jazzing up your Friday night outfit!
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LucyHB
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If you can't stand the heat...
Sitting here sweltering in my non-airconditioned house, it struck me that I should give a word of advise to anyone planning to come to Rio during the summer months (Nov-May). If you don't want your nights to become a night of sweat-drenched twisting and turning (and not in a good way!) make sure that the accomodation you book is air conditioned. Ceiling fans may be a help, but when the real heat of summer kicks in, they won't be sufficient. While most upscale accommodation has air-con, many hostels and budget hotels do not - the horror of squeezing myself into a cramped, non air-conditioned dorm in 40 degree heat is something I wouldn't want to repeat. Price isn't always an indication of whether a room will be airconditioned or not - Lapa's Sambaviilla Hostel is probably the city's cheapest, at R$19.99 a night, but it's dorms are fully A/C. That said, should you choose to stay there, you'd still have sleepless nights thanks to the non-stop street parties taking place right outside your window!
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LucyHB
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Rio - City of Neighbourhoods
Rio is often described as a city of very distinct neighbourhoods, and it's this very fact that stops this metropolis of over 8 million people from feeling overwhemingly large. The city centre itself is very easily navigated on foot, and although it is busy during working hours, never feels crushed. This is largely because very few people live in the city centre itself - with wealthier locals living in the relatively upmarket districts of the Zona Sul, and the less-well-to-do living out in the sprawling Zona Norte, far from the beaches. The one notable exception is Santa Teresa, the hillside neighbourhood that lies slightly to the north of Centro, but is full of beautiful colonial mansions, artists' studios, museums and some very lively restaurants and bars. Santa Teresa's residents fancy themselves as artists and intellectuals, and frequently talk of 'gente boa' - good people - while the residents of Ipanema and Leblon prefer to talk of 'gente bonita' - beautiful people. This reflects the obsession with wealth, class and the body beautiful in these well-heeled districts, and eating and drinking options here, as well as accomodation, is very expensive. More relaxed, but a little seedy, is Copacabana, while middle-class Botafogo and Laranjeiras offer a chilled out vibe, little pretentiousness, and good nightlife.
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LucyHB
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Futebol - picking sides
If the English invented football, Brazilians like to say, it was Brazil that made the game beautiful. Brazilian's love of the game is legendary, and everybody - man, woman, and child has to fly the flag for one or other of their city's teams. In Rio, things can be a bit confusing as their are several strong local teams. Probably the most famous are Flamengo, who play most of their games at the Maracana stadium. If you choose to declare yourself 'Rubo e Negro'n (Red and Black, the team's colours), you'll make yourself a good few friends, but will also incur the wrath of supporters of opposing teams Vasco, Botafogo, and Fluminense, who love to complain that 'foreigners always support Flamengo'. I have to admit that I chose to nail my flag to Flamengo's mast for the sole reason that I already owned a t-shirt in the club's colours! That, and the fact that on my first trip to Maracana I saw arch-rivals Botafogo get beaten 4-0 by a team from the south, was enough to turn me into a 'Flamengista'.
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LucyHB
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Look, guys, no hands!
Cariocas don't tend to sit still for long on the beach - preferring to keep that beach body toned and taut by combining a tanning session with some physical exercise. You'll see locals practicing their skills in everything from football to capoeira on the sands, but one game that takes some getting used to is Footvolley - like volleyball, but using only the feet, head and chest. Be warned, if you've never played this before don't expect to be able to simply join in a game - take it from me, you will be humiliated! Normally played as a game of doubles, the sport is as delightful to watch as it is difficult to master. Those with a flair for the game can play for hours at a time , displaying some extraordinary ball control skills as they go. If you fancy learning a trick or two yourself, ask a friendly local to give you a few pointers - but be prepared to put in an awful lot of hours if you want to be anywhere near as good as the locals!
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LucyHB
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Best of the Blocos
The colourful exuberance of the carnival parades in Rio's Sambodromo is famous the world over, but you don't have to shell out for tickets to the famous show in order to join in the thrills and spills of carnival. While decent seats at the Sambodromo can set you back up to R$200, it costs very little - and often nothing at all - to join the street parties, or blocos, that wind their way through Rio's neighbourhoods throughout the four-day festa. Among the most celebrated is Bloco das Carmelitas, in Santa Teresa (for several weeks before carnival you'll find locals and the samba band rehearsing the words and dances in front of Bar do Gomes on Rua Monte Alegre), Monobloco, at Posto 6 in Copacabana, and Banda de Ipanema, in, erm, Ipanema. Each bloco has its own distinct style and musical sounds , and some require you to buy a t-shirt in the bloco's colours in order to join in the parade. Local newspapers carry listings prior to carnival, outling where and when each bloco will take place. A relaxed, lively affair, to my mind these are even more fun than the world-famous competition inside the Sambodromo
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LucyHB
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Classical music in Rio
Rio's more famous for its samba than its symphony orchestras, but there's some decent classical music to be found in the city nontheless. The wonderfully ornate Theatro Municipal, the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil (CCBB) and Lapa's Sala Cecilia Meireles are all good venues that hold fairly regular classical music events as well as opera and ballet.
Rio has, in fact, two symphony orchestras, and chamber music is also frequently on the musical menu. Interestingly, there are even some projects that aim to bring classical music to the favelas - I was lucky enough to witness a group of teenage boys from one favela playing the violin - quite impressively - to a crowd of shoppers at Ipanema's Sunday 'hippy fair'.
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LucyHB
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Concerts in Rio
Given the size of the city, Rio receives pitifully few international artists on its live music scene. As a result, whenever a band or artist of international repute appears in the city, locals of all ages and tastes swarm to pick up tickets. The unfortunate end result of this is that prices for concerts have become extremely high - prohibitively so for all except the middle and upper classes. You can expect to pay upwards of R$100 for a concert - whether it's Fatboy Slim or the Police (to give a couple of recent examples). Hardly cutting edge events in the UK, but tickets sold like hotcakes here - even though the Police tickets surged up to around R$400.
Appearances from Brazilian artists are generally cheaper, but by no means bargains - if you want to see a famous name such as Jorge Benjor or Rita Lee, you can expect to cough up around R$40-50.
Notable exceptions are occasional free performances on the beach - such as that of the Rolling Stones in 2006, when the band played to in Copacabana to their biggest ever audience. New Year's Eve, too, normally features one or two big names at no charge - expect huge crowds, but a great atmosphere!
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LucyHB
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Lapa's drumming legend!
If you're in Lapa for a night out, you might be lucky enough to catch the legendary drummer who astounds onlookers with his skillful solo sets that go on for hours...and hours. The drummer, who is most often spotted by the Lapa steps, opposite the Sambavilla Hostel, must be at least 60 years of age, which makes his energetic, relentless drumming all the more impressive. A law unto himself, he could be found at any other spot in Lapa, and you'll hear him long before you see the crowds of gawping tourists and dancing locals that surround him. Not only does he have the energy to keep going longer than the Duracell Bunny, but he's also amazing at what he does, delivering driving beats that keep Lapa's dancing queens and kings on their feet. There's no rhyme or reason to when and where he will appear, but if you do spot him, grab a caipirinha from a street stand and prepare to stay a while - those beats will have you hooked.
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LucyHB
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English language newspapers
Unless you're lucky enough to have a hotel room with cable TV, it's easy to get a little behind with international news while in Rio. Even if you can understand Portuguese well enough to follow the local news, it tends to largely ignore international affairs and focus on events closer to home. This is where, normally, international newspapers come in handy. Except they're very hard to find in Rio. When my parents visited me here recently, I noticed that they'd stop at every news stand, scouring the racks in the vain hope of finding English (or at least English-language) papers. They had no luck in Centro, or Santa Teresa, but did eventually find a place in Copacabana selling a couple of North American papers at a very high price (I think they were around R$11 each). In Leblon and Ipanema, a couple of upscale bookshops sell the glossy mags such as Vogue and Glamour, as well as more obscure titles like Record Collector, but expect to pay through the nose - over R$100 in many cases. Maybe it's better just to bring a stack of mags and catch up on the news when you get home.
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LucyHB
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Tasty tapioca - yes, really!
Think of tapioca, and you'll no doubt call to mind images of sloppy, lumpy desserts synonymous with school dinners and hospital food. It's small wonder, then, that I had never been particularly enticed by the street vendors in Rio with signs advertising 'tapioca'. Taking a closer look recently, however, I was intrigued to see that this was available with toppings including cheese and tomato. Cheese and tomato?? I had to investigate. And I was glad I did. It turns out that tapioca here is vastly different proposition to that in the UK. The grain that is used to such ill-effect in school canteens is here made into a kind of dough, quite light, that is then used as a sort of pastry to encompass all manner of fillings. My savoury version was very tasty, and at R$2, a good lunch snack. The same vendor was also selling fillings such as Minas cheese (a salty cheese from Minas Gerais state) with goiba (guava), and sweet fillings such as dulce de leite (similar to caramel). As someone who tries to avoid wheat, I found the cheese and tomato version makes an excellent, wheat-free alternative to toasties or pizza!
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LucyHB
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Beaches or bargains?
When most people think of Rio, they automatically think of beaches, and it stands to reason therefore that many visitors consider their accomodation options to be limited to the neighbourhoods of Ipanema, Copacana and Leblon. If you can stand to be more than a few minutes' walk from the beach, however, you'll find accomodation that delivers more bang for your buck, as well as less touristy bars and restaurants, and some of the city's finest colonial architecture. The beach neighbourhoods are all fairly modern, and as a result boast little other than high rise hotels and apartment blocks that date no further back than the 1950s and 1960s. (Not to mention plenty of 1970s horrors). Head for areas such as Gloria (the Hotel Gloria is Rio's oldest, and oozing with historic charm - but make sure you request a room in the original building rather than the new wing), Catete, Largo do Machado or Santa Teresa, and you'll be within walking distance of many an antique building, and the beaches are just a hop, skip and a jump away by bus or Metro. As you'll be well away from the main tourist zones, prices will be hugely favourable in comparison with the super-touristy Zona Sul.
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LucyHB
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Vargem Grande
Just 25 km away from Rio itself, Vargem Grande is like a whole other world. Lazy horses plod the tree-lined streets, the pace of life is as slow as central Rio is fast...and shady paths lead into wooded groves. Vargem Grande lies at the foor of the Serra Carioca mountain range, and is a wonderful place to come to escape the hustle and bustle of the city. Horse and pony trekking are popular activities here, but I was happy to ramble on foot through the beautiful jungle, past waterfalls and babbling brooks. Tropical vegetation abounds (as do insects - bring your repellent!) and there are a number of spots to rest your weary limbs and drink a coconut water up in the hills, far removed from the chaos and traffic of Rio de Janeiro iteself
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LucyHB
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Getting to grips with capoeira
A graceful mix of martial arts and dance moves, Capoeira is a joy to behold but a tough sport to master. Eyeing the smooth moves of the capoeiristas on the beaches of Rio is enough to make anyone want to perfect this most admirable of sports for themselves, and there are no shortage of schools offering classes for beginners (both locals and gringoes) but you'll need to be prepared to put some effort in if you want to get any further than the most basic of moves. That said, you don't have to be a natural athlete to partake - it's more about patience and mental attitude than anything else, if you put the hours in you'll start to see results relatively quickly. Unfortunately, I lacked both the patience and the discipline to stick with my lessons in Rio's Cantagalo favela (behind Ipanema and Copacabana), but had fun for the few classes I did attend! If you're curious, it's possible to just watch a session before deciding whether or not you think it will be right for you. Ask at your hotel or hostel, or visit www.capoeirarj.com
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LucyHB
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Rock climbing in Rio
With so many spectacular mountains and sheer granite faces, it's no wonder that Rio is a favourite destination among rock climbers. Whether you're a complete novice or a seasoned climber, there's an opportunity for you here. There are a good many groups organising climbing trips - Climb in Rio, based in Laranjeiras (www.climbinrio.com.br) is a good one, but ask at your hotel or hostel about any special deals or packages they can recommend. Even novices (accompanied by professionals) will be able to make the ascent up Morro de Urca, the smaller hill alongside Sugar Loaf mountain, which enables them to take the cable car right to the top for free. Rio and its surrounds are awash with opportunities for climbing - I'm only at the beginners' stage, but experienced climbers rave about the excellent challenges to be found in the nearby mountain town of Teresopolis.
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LucyHB
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Nightlife and dress codes
The beach culture and sticky heat means that Cariocas tend to be relatively relaxed when it comes to dressing for an evening out, but it's worth bearing in mind that some places will still require a certain amount of effort if you want to get past the door staff. If you're heading for a night out in the hiphop of funk bars and clubs of Lapa, you'll be wise to stick to your Havaianas (Brazilian flip flops) teamed up with skirt or shorts and top for girls, jeans or shorts and a t-shirt for guys. Lapa involves a lot of walking around, sticky puddles etc, so don't wear your best shoes. You'll fit in more if you dress down anyway. On the other hand, flip flops are a big no no if you're heading for a fancy-pants bar or nightclub in the Zona Sul. Spots such as Baronetti, in Ipanema, Bar d'Hotel in Leblon and Nuth in Barra da Tijuca all have strict dress codes and you'll be turned away immediately if you haven't dressed to impress. It's also not uncommon for men to be turned away if there are no females in their group! Restaurant dining tends to be relatively informal whatever the price tag - a tie is rarely required, but bear in mind that in very upmarket spots such as La Cipriani, at Copacabana Palace, or Le Pre Catalan, at Sofitel Rio, smart trousers, shirt and shoes will be required for men, and a presentable dress and shoes (not Havaianas!) for the ladies.
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