In Rio!!

Janet and I have arrive safely in Rio and have now been here for about 24 hours.  We met at the airport, both having long but uneventful flights.  Our stuff arrived, and we hopped in a taxi and drove to our hostel in Copa Cabana.  The hostel is called Stone of a Beach.  It is nice and has good security.  Our room is on the second floor and has a private bath and a veranda, which just about doubles the size of the room.

Yesterday we walked towards the beach, went to a buffet for lunch, and walked down Copa´s beach to Ipanema where there was another nice series of beaches.  We walked around a rocky point between the two beaches and then headed back to the hostel. The beaches are very scenic (despite all the tall buildings not far off of them) with dramatic rock outcroppings and cliffs surrounding them.

When we got back to the hostel we took it easy for a few hours, planning our route up the Bahia coast and then we went upstairs to the rooftop bar/hot tub/grill area and got yet another buffet (I´m sensing a theme here in Brazil.  A tasty theme) - this time it was BBQ.  Now one thing I can say beyond a doubt is Brazilians know how to cook meat.  The BBQ was great.  I had chicken, sausage and a bit of steak (in small quantities).  The sides were alright-doesn´t seem to be high on the list of importance, but they focus on what is important.

The weather is slated to be perfect for our stay in Rio.  Clear blue skies, in the 70s and (most importantly) not humid.  Today we are probably going to go see the huge Jesus Christ statue and maybe a tour of some other sites in Rio.  We also want to take a ´favela´ tour - a tour of some of the poorer areas in Rio, and then of course hang out at the beach and relax.