Carnaval in Rio

Such a freaking, spectacular, messed up and sleepless time of the year. Carnival in Rio de Janeiro is as intense as being member of a Guggemusig group during Fasnacht. 😉

Two days before I arrived in Rio I received an email with a cancellation of my hostel. That was pretty unfortunate as it is almost impossible to find an accommodation during Carnival. I went straight to the hostel with the idea of discussing any possibilities to get a stay somewhere else. After a few lettres mêlées which we typed into google translator we finally found an agreement. I could stay 3 instead of 5 nights without any extra costs, meaning my advanced payment for all 5 nights were reused as a 3-night stay in. Within a 5 minute walk I could reach Copacabana and another 15 minutes to Ipanema. I spent the first day with two Brazilian guests who went to Leblon beach to meet a dozen of other Brazilians from their home Puerto Alegre. The first and only day with blue sky and a powerful sun which induced a high level sunburn on my legs. 🙃

The next days were super cloudy and rainy but rather calm. I visited the two main attractions aka. Cristo Redentor on the Corcovado as well as Pão the Açucar, the super famous loaf of bread - pardon - sugarloaf mountain.

Friday came and the city got more and more crowded. Blocos were playing during daytime and parties in the city center went crazy in the night. Saturday, Sunday and Monday were dedicated for the main carnival events. All famous Samba schools were marching through Sambadrome and the huge Blocos were on the streets equal to street parade in Zürich, with a massive platoon for safety reasons and thousands of vendors for thirst satisfaction reasons.

Through all days and nights I visited some places to observe this crazy event. After 6 nights in Rio I was totally satisfied and decided to take a bus to São Paulo.Read more