It was well past 4:00 am by the time Caiqian and I made it to our hotel room due to Buenos Aires' transport strike earlier that day. We were exhausted, but it wasn't too late for us to appreciate the beautiful view from our room at the Windsor Hotel.
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| Hotel View at Night |
The Windsor is the tallest building on Copacabana (the most populous) beach. I want to make something clear right now: Rio de Janeiro is most famous for the giant Christ the Redeemer statue. Caiqian and I did see the statue, in fact , you can see our picture with the statue below.
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Our view of Christ the Redeemer (can you see where it should be in the top pic?) |
If you couldn't pick up on my sarcasm, we were exhausted, and not in the mood to be in long lines and waste a day to see the statue. We decided to instead Rio's natural beauty, the beach, which was breathtaking.
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| Copacabana Beach |
There is another popular tourist trap, Sugarloaf mountain, which features a gondola. But Caiqian and I have already been in gondolas in Switzerland! Again, we passed on this option.
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| Sugarloaf Mountain (has gondola) |
Our favorite part of the hotel wasn't the view from the top, but rather their awesome breakfast bar. It was there that I discovered my new favorite fruit, fresh cut persimmons (the beautiful soft, juicy, sweet, red fruit shown below).
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Breakfast at the Windsor Atlantica hotel... I love persimmons! |
After a filling breakfast, we were able to finally hit the beach. I personally love the sidewalk next to the beach, which has a famous pattern.
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| Copacabana Beach |
My favorite part relaxing on the beach was the cheap, available coconuts for $1.50 USD. For each coconut, the vendor would pull one out of a refrigerated cooler, crack open the top, and put in a straw. Each freshly cracked open was so refreshing that Caiqian and I now buy coconuts from the Asian mart back in Houston to re-live the experience.
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♫ I've got a lovely bunch of coconuts ♫ |
It's hard not to be happy sitting in the shade on the beach. Vendors walked around and sold us Cangas, magical patterned Brazilian towels that refuse to have sand stick on them. You can see one on Caiqian's face below!
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♫ Summer loving, had me a blast ♫ |
After our first full beach day, we treated ourselves to a nighttime sushi meal (which Caiqian told me Brazil is also known for). If you are ever in Rio, I would suggest Hachiko for the sheer volume of good sushi.
While we are talking food, I might as well include our other food adventures. Rio's top rated establishment is a pastry shop called Kurt, which featured legitimately good French pastries.
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Kurt (loved the giant macaroon) |
As usual, Caiqian and I didn't only enjoy local restaurants, but also grocery food. One coworker recommendation was Cashew pseudo-fruit. It is interesting, each pseudo-fruit has a cashew growing on the top, but since the seed is on the outside it is not a fruit. I ended up not really liking it, the outer skin is tough and the inner fruit is soft but spongy and weak.
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Cashew Fruit (from grocery store) |
After all that food, we better get exercising to show off our beach bodies! Fortunately, Rio has free outdoor gyms everywhere. I wish I had one of these at home, maybe I'll build one one day when I have enough time.
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Why doesn't America have free exercise machines everywhere? |
Whew, with that workout behind us, Caiqian and I also explored the other, less poplar Ipanema beach (with a new sidewalk pattern). We were taxi'd there, but to our own surprise we managed to walk all the way back to our hotel over the course of a day. So we can now say we've walked all of the major tourist beaches in Rio!
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Ipanema Beach (where the cool kids go) |
The way back brought us miniature new adventures. One finding was that coconuts are actually even juicier and cheaper (~1 USD) at Ipanema beach.
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| Even the coconuts are better over here |
Caiqian also found her favorite purchase on the walk back, a man who painted Rio scenes on the cut-out bottoms of coke cans.
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| Caiqian loved these painted coke can bottoms |
Well... now it's time for the beach pictures you guys have been really waiting for.... that's right, bask in my Sunga (Brazilian swimsuit) glory :)
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| Sexy in a Sunga |
My swimsuit seemed to be middle-of-the-pack when it comes to raciness. Some men wore man thongs, but there were others who had more "traditional" swimsuits, although even those were shorter than typical US swimsuits.
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Bryan learns that waves are heavy |
Caiqian also enjoyed herself with a swimsuit that made her look like like a local. Like me, it wasn't the raciest or tamest suit seen on the beach. However, she more than made up for it with her physique and cool demeanor.
Overall, being on the beach was a blast, and we did not feel ripped off buying from the vendors who walked around. Caiqian and I enjoyed ourselves tremendously.
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| Buying from a beach vendor |
After the Cangas, Sangas, Souvenirs, Coconuts, and Capiranhas, the last thing we bought was a cover-up for Caiqian.
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Brazilian Cover-up |
Well that's it for the honeymoon! It was an unforgettable two weeks and it's amazing we managed to do so much. Gramado has the best hotel we've ever been in (or will ever be in). Buenos Aires and San Antioni de Areco were perfect cities to partake in activities and reach outside our comfort zones (we learned basic Tango!). And Rio was relaxing and taught us how to live in a tropical paradise. Each city taught us something that we will bring with us for the rest of our lives. Until next time!
