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Parque da Chacrinha

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    • Fifi flipflopFifi Flipflops Big Adventure
      Day 72

      Sunburn and blocos

      February 8, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ 🌙 28 °C

      When we arrived at Bils this morning he had had to go to hospital, he had stayed down the beach with Mark yesterday and hadnt used sunblock , his back was a mass of oozing blisters, i felt so sorry for him as carnivalmis really in full swing and as everybody else is dressing up to head out he is covering himself with calomine lotion and taking pain killers.
      During carnival it is the norm to dress up and that can be anything from a pair of mickey mouse ears to a full blown fancy dress costume . The streets are littered with men dressed as women, women dressed as men, it really is anything goes , basically if you arent dressed you arent here for carnival.After along wait for every one to get ready we eventually head out. So we are accompanied by Mario, Spiderman , a captain, and multiple other characters.
      Its 9am in the morning and i,m drinking straight cacacha thismis going to get messy. The bloco is 10 blocks away from our hostel so we catch the tube and get off at the stop before. There are 200,000 people here and as you can imagine the tubes and buses are packed to the brim. The place is mental, i thought the beatles festival was crazy but this on another level . People dance drink and follow ths bus . My love for Brazil grows daily, but the heat here is relentless. Within an hour i have lost Mark , but the strangest thing I meet the guy off the bus who first helped us when we arrived here. Mark hasnt quite got the knack of being able to barge through people , who are quite used to it. The blocos generally last 3 to 4 hours , and aa we go to head back they have shut the metro, i guess this is a safety measure, but is an absolute pain in the arse. The walk back is arduous and as i arribe back at the hostel Mark is at there ber in hand !!! (Wasnt really his type of music anyway) A quick shower amd were ready to go again, nut first ww must eat. The guys take us to a local place where we eat chicken steak sosej rice chips and noodles for 20 reals , which is about 2 quid each, bargain.Now we are ready for heading out to catch amother bus(bloco)
      I swear the amount of people is mesmerising and as the days go on here the costumes get more eccentric. Mornings roll into days, days roll into nights and before you know it your back in your bed ready to do it all again.      Read more

    • Fifi flipflopFifi Flipflops Big Adventure
      Day 71

      Carnival

      February 7, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      First things first we hit the beach, ive missed being able to just get into the water and cool off so its a welcome break fro m the heat,It never cools down here not even at night. We hire a couple of chairs and very soon a couple of Brazilian guys called hedges and Bill ask if we can mind there things while they go for a dip. I invest in a dental floss bikini (dont worry i wont be posting any pictures) and the guys soon return. They are really keen to practice theyre english and we are really glad to have them with us as they have an art of being able to haggle to get us cheaper beer. The guys are really cool and we spend hours chatting before i have to leave to return to the hostel to go shopping for my carnival outfit, Mark stays with the guys and by the time i have finished Mark has returned and tells me to go and get myself a shower as the guys will be coming to pick us up shortly to take us to a bloko. The guys dont show but we just think that maybe they have carried on drinking and theyre probably pissed somewhere. So not to be beaten we head out solo.
      Carnival here is really something else, everyone is in fancy dress and double decker buses line the streets in various areas of town playing all different types of music (with a brazilian twist ) and we join the throbbing crowd(i mean thousands of people). Once they have a big enough crowd they drive very slowly away with the crowd sambaing behing them following through the streets. I have bought Mark a shrek mask and i have a masquerade mask, quite underdressed as it goes.We follow rhe parade through the streets for nearly 2 hours and then head back for a bite to eat and bed as we have arranged to meet bill and hedges tomorrow at 9 to follow another bus x      Read more

    • Fifi flipflopFifi Flipflops Big Adventure
      Day 70

      Travelling Circus

      February 6, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 26 °C

      So as we bid a sad farewell to Petropolis we say goodbye to some really cool people. Felipe Ray and Andreas to name a few , have made our stay here really perfect, thanks guys. We board the bus and head back down the treachorous hill that seemed a life time to get up, and yet is over quicker than i can blink an eye at, maybe because going up we didnt really get out of 2nd gear although it felt like we were travelling far to fast for the road conditions, although that seems the norm here. On the bus a young guy asks if we need any help and at Rio he takes us to the local bus to catch it to Copacabana. People here really are so helpful.
      Within mins of being on the bus he has run over a ladys suitcase who was waiting for the bus next to us and narrowly missed mowing down an old lady on the pedestrian crossing, having gone through a red light ( Ireally hope this journey wont take long),
      We drop our bags in the hostel and get handed a welcome pack consisting of a masquerade mask confetti and and a whisle. The hostel has a very young crowd and i feel like im on an 18-30 holidy , but if you cant beat them join them. Every night they have entertainment here pub crawls etc but tonight is a bbq so i pay our 30 reals each ( approx 8 quid) and we head upstairs to eat, or so we think . There is only so much meat that can be cooked and as the first tray is put out a French guy literally piles his plate so high that noone else even got a bit of fat we ended up having a bit of a row but you know what the French are like, (well most of them) . Mark went to bed before he lost his temper and i followed shortly after - wish i was back in Petropolis.      Read more

    • Fifi flipflopFifi Flipflops Big Adventure
      Day 77

      We All Smell The Same

      February 13, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ☀️ 29 °C

      Its a really strange concept, but its weird how noone really smells of BO out here (well not that ive smelt) and yet everyone is constantly sweating. Its been a nightmare the past few days as with it being Carnival everything shuts, and I mean everything. There are no washing facilities in the hostel and the Laundrettes have been closed for nearly a week and having ony packed 5/6 days of clothes is slight issue when you do your calculations. We eventually managed to put our clothes in yesterday and the girl said they would be ready at 1800 ....TOMORROW!!!! So today is the day we get fresh linen and I am really excited. Travelling really makes you appreciate the smallest things. Even the banks are out of money as they havent been filled for over 4 days and every one has come to Rio for Carnival so all atms have out of action stickers on them. Luckily Mark and I kept $100 as an emergency fund and the exchange places are offering the shittest rates as they know they can make money
      Mark is in a bad way today with his feet, he can barely walk so he has been to the chiropodist and even though they are better than they were, a day of rest is whats needed. We sit around the hostel catching up on loading photos etc clock watching for 1800 to arrive. I have an idea that maybe the lady in the laundrette meant they close at 6 so hedging my bets head down there at 1530 to be told come back at 6
      I really have loved our time here in Rio de Janeiro but I can honestly say i am partied out and in need of just getting by a beach and chilling for a few days . I would recommened anyone to come here its a city that never sleeps, but i am certainly feeling my age.
      Dinner tonight is Dominos and its one of the first western dishes we have eaten although i wouldnt actully say it tastes like pizza from home, another thing is they have sweet pizza filled with chocolate or "doce de leite"(basically evaporated milk boiled in a can to make butterscotch) they cover the pizza base in sugar and cinnamon and it really is delicious. So after feeding the wounded soldier we have an early night.      Read more

    • Fifi flipflopFifi Flipflops Big Adventure
      Day 75

      The Beatles

      February 11, 2016 in Brazil ⋅ ⛅ 27 °C

      So today is the Beatles bloco and its at 9 in the morning , so yes after just 3 hrs sleep I am up again as this is the one Bloco I really wanted to see . Feeling a little more than tender we once agin take a tube to a place called Cinemalandia. Another packed Metro and we arrive at a huge square. This Bloco is actually stationary so we stay back and allow all the crowd surfers to do theyre thing while we dance around in the space we have. I honestly can't believe i'm doing this after last night/this morning and feel like i have a second wind. Although when i stop i really feel it , so the only way forward is to dance.
      I am in my element here although hearing the beatles sends little pangs of homesickness through my mind I'm glad that I know the words for once. We sing and dance as the old tunes with a twist of samba play out, the temperature today is 40 degrees and i keep buying bottles of iced water, not to drink , but to pour over myself.
      The bloco has speakers all over the park, and at 2pm i suggest we start heading to the back of the park so at least we have a chance of catching the metro back before it finishes
      We are directed from one metro entrance to another as they are already closed (brazilian crowd control at its best) , and on our 4th attemp we are finally on our way back to the hostel.
      My age has finally caught up with me and i head to bed for a much needed siesta, waking a few hours later i still feel knackered so a couple of beers and an early night it is........      Read more

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    Parque da Chacrinha

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