Upon arriving in Rio, there was only one thing to do. Have one of their famous cocktails? No. Go see Christ the Redeemer? No. Visit the Sugar Loaf Mountains? No. The first thing to do was to check-in on Facebook. A status about being in Brazil for the World Cup is an easy status to fish for ´likes´ but that was not what this blogger was about – he is all about letting his friends and family know we arrived safe. Of course in that status I was not about to mention we were welcomed to paradise with the 3 days forecast of rain – why would we?
After checking-in (hostel that is), we familiarised ourselves with our surroundings for where we would be staying the next 2 weeks. I wouldn´t define paradise as an 18 bed room but having a breakfast buffet included helped alleviate any fears of budgeting for the most important meal of the day. At our hostel, El Misti, it is a very chilled and outgoing place that is only a few blocks away from the famous Copacabana beach. Our room cost about 40 Brazilian Reals per night which is about £10 per night (during World Cup season it will be 200BR/£50 per night).
Due to the weather, any major sightseeing was to be put on hold for the first 3 days but with a strict budget and time on our side, it did not damage morale at all. Speaking of budget, our breakfast was included in the 40BR and I was always sure to put aside some breakfast for lunch later in the day…which was usually eaten by brunch time. With an all you can eat dinner in the hostel at a cost of BR18, you could easily eat off BR25 (£6) a day – can´t go wrong on that side of things for a man who likes his 5-6 meals a day.
Not wanting to stay hostel-bound, we did a walk around Copacabana up through Ipanema and back to the hostel via the Lagoon nearby. My girlfriend Natalie who stated she was ´not going to exercise prior to the holiday and exercise in South America´ (never heard of anyone doing that before), wished the intended 15 minute walk didn´t take 3 hours in the end was not best pleased to hear some of the intended incidents of the favelas we were staying during the World Cup. It has put a spanner in the works to hear that people fear for the safety of tourists in the favelas due to the inflated costs of the tournament. Maybe it is the Corkonian áh sure, you will be grand´attitude or maybe I have indulged too much in Drizzy Drake´s YOLO outlook on life that I am thinking more about my wallet than my brain. Hopefully more positive stories about the favelas surface in the coming days. During the coming days, I guess a famous cocktail (caprinana) and a trip to the Sugar Loaf Mountains and Christ the Redeemers will have to be a welcoming distraction.
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