Sofia Somewhere

For our last morning in Rio, Ange and I headed over to Pão de Açucar . The skies weren't quite as clear as the last time I went, but we still got great views of Rio.

We decided to spend the day just relaxing and walking around the beaches :) We took the local bus from our hostel which is near Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas towards Ipanema. We got off at the foot of the lake and walked towards the beach. View of Cristo from the lagoon Biking path of 7.5km!  We went to Ipanema Beach which I found nicer, plus it's less crowded than Copacabana. The waters are also much cleaner there since it's further away from Guanabara Bay. Beaches just a few steps away from the city. What a life! No crowd in the morning :)

After a slightly late night last night, we got up a little later in the morning and headed to Lapa. I brought Ange to see the Escadaria Selarón . It was really nice to be there in the morning. There were fewer tourists and we could take our time really looking at the tiles.

Back in Rio, we decided to spend the day seeing Niterói since Daniel invited us over for churrasco for the finals. We went to mass first in the morning at the chapel in a school (finally, an English mass). After mass, we were asking the guard for directions to the bus or metro, and an American couple who had been living in Brasil helped us out with translation. It was so nice because they asked if we were from the Philippines (there were some Filipinos attending the mass as well) and shared that they had lived there for a few years back when Cory was president. We were originally planning to take the bus to the ferry terminal, but when we were waiting at the bus we found one that goes straight to Niterói. At Niterói I showed Ange the Caminho Niemeyer and B met up with us there. View of Rio from Niterói + the ferry on the left Pão de Açucar and Corcovado

The day after visiting the falls on the Brasil side, we decided to try and visit the Argentine side. To make a really long story short, I only had a single entry visa for Argentina, and I couldn't use it then since I'd be going to Buenos Aires on the 16th. We tried to call the embassy in Foz but they said that only residents could apply for visas in Foz. So Ange and I stayed in Foz and B and Daniel headed over to Argentina. So in the morning we stayed in at our hostel, Hostel Bambu , which is actually one of the nicest hostels I've ever stayed in. We stayed in a 10 bed dorm room with an bathroom inside. It was clean and spacious and each bed has its own power outlet so you're not fighting to use one (automatically a plus in my book).

Here's a video of our boat ride at the Macuco Safari which Daniel took with his GoPro :)

Today, we headed to the Parque Nacional do Iguaçu to visit the famous Iguazu Falls! We took a local bus to get there, and it was only around 20 minutes from the bus station near our hostel (at the city center). The  Iguazú Falls , also spelled as Iguassu Falls or Iguaçu Falls, are one of the 7 Natural Wonders of the World and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site . As mentioned the other day,  Iguazu  from the Guarani words " y " meaning water and " ûasú " meaning big (and it certainly lives up to its name). We paid the entrance fee of R$49 and also bought tickets to the Macuco Safari (R$170) which a friend of Caio told me we had to do. 

One of Brasil's most visited places by tourists,  Foz do Iguaçu , is a city in the Brasilian state Paraná most famous for the majestic  Iguazú Falls . Iguazu comes from the Guarani word " y " meaning water and " ûasu " meaning big, and " foz " is Portuguese for mouth or portal. We headed to Itaipu Binacional in the morning (since we heard that it would close at 12nn because of the Brasil game in the afternoon). Also called the Itaipu Dam, it's one of the largest hydroelectric dams and is located on the Paraná River between the borders of Paraguay and Brasil.  The entrance to the complex

On my last full day in Niterói, B and I decided to walk up the mountain to Parque da Cidade . We took a taxi to the base of the mountain, well not exactly street level but a little further up, and then walked up the rest of the way. The first half was pretty hard mainly because the roads were steep. But it didn't take as long as we thought and in about 15-20 minutes we were at the road entrance of the park. The view from halfway up

I spent all of Friday at the hotel, in the morning catching up with my sister and planning our South America trip, and the afternoon watching the games. Delcimar (the dad of B's friend and the owner of the hotel) decided to cook us some barbecue for dinner and we watched the Brasil v. Colombia game at the bar with barbecue and drinks. Delcimar grilling the barbecue Meaaaaat and cheese bread. The meat was never-ending.  Delicious meat, but super gutted for Colombia's loss. :(

After yesterday's no visibility at Cristo Redentor, we headed into the city praying for clear skies. We lucked out, it was a beautiful day. We headed to Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain)  to check out the view of the city. Pão de Açucar is a mountain peak at the mouth of Guanabara Bay, and is supposed to offer one of the best views of Rio (the other good view is from Cristo Redentor). It rises 396 meters above the city. It's accessible by cable cars, called teleférico , which run about every 20 minutes. You take a ride from the plaza/ground level to the peak of Morro da Urca (about 212 meters high; the one you can see in the picture below), and from Morro da Urca, another ride to Pão de Açúcar (on the left in the picture below). View from the ground Entrance to the cable car station

Today, we (Bianca, myself, and two other Australian guys Bianca travelled with) went into Rio de Janeiro (the city) for a bit of sightseeing. From Niterói you can either drive, take a taxi, take the bus, or take the ferry. From the hotel we took a bus to the dock and then took the ferry across to Rio (R$ 2,30 one way). Lots of people going on the ferry Ride across is about 20 minutes and it leaves every half hour View of Rio from the ferry Part of the Ponte Rio-Niterói, also the longest bridge in Brasil

I left São Paulo at around 10am and was set for the bus ride to Rio. Took a picture of the snacks because I love it when you get free stuff Not much of a view on the way to Rio (or maybe it's just because I was asleep most of the ride)

Thursday morning, we visited Instituto Tomie Ohtake , a cultural center named after a Japanese-Brazilian artist. The current exhibition was Yayoi Kusama's Obsessão infinita (Infinite Obsession). Kusama is one of Japan's most famous artists. One thing she is famous for is her obsession with polka dots. The exhibit was very interesting. Some of her works were intriguing and I found a lot a bit strange. But she had a nice light series and several beautiful paintings. Photographs of the artist

We spent the next few days relaxing at the beach. Caio, his friend Mauro and I drove to Barra do Una , a beach about 2 hours north of the city. Caio's family has a lovely home in a small residential area which is a 1 minute walk away from the beach. We were lucky we had great warm weather (since it's been pretty cool in São Paulo). We had a fun 3 days just relaxing by the beach in the morning, eating, relaxing some more, watching movies at night, and cooking. :) The drive to the beach. Weather looking good! Walking to the beach Steps to paradise

I arrived in São Paulo on Sunday, a little after midnight. My friend Caio picked me up at the bus station, then after I washed up, we headed out to a party and I met some of his really nice friends. We started the next day with a late lunch. Proud friend moment - Caio was in the paper for getting into two (hard) courses in his university

I started off the next day with a visit to Parque Tanguá , at the outer part of the city. It took awhile to get to and find, but I made it. A very simple park, not that great, but it's a bit higher up and you get a view of the city. View from the observation decks View from the observation decks

For my last live match for this World Cup, I watched Honduras v. Ecuador in the Arena da Baixada in Curitiba. It was my first night game too; it was pretty cold, but still nice weather.

After visiting Inhotim, we rushed back to the city so I could catch my 19:45 bus to Curitiba. The trip to Curitiba would be 14 hours long, and I booked myself on a sleeper bus. The bus was actually pretty comfortable. The seats were big and they recline almost all the way so you could lie down. They even give you a blanket and a pillow. The sleeper bus The trip took a little over 13 hours and I arrived in Curitiba at 9am. While in Belo it was nice, warm, and sunny, in Curitiba it was COLD! Curitiba is a located in the more southern part of Brasil, and it really felt like 'winter' there (technically, it is winter now in Brasil). Everywhere I looked there were people wearing scarves, boots, and coats, and there I was in my Toms and 2 sweaters. It was about 10-12ºC in the morning, but it went up a bit to 14-15º in the afternoon. I was able to stay warm enough in my sweater and jacket.

On my last day in Belo Horizonte, T. Mona took me to Inhotim , actually in Brumadinho, about an hour and a half away from the city. It was beautiful . Inhotim is a 5,000 acre botanical garden and outdoor  contemporary art center founded by Bernardo Paz, a Brasilian mining billionaaire. It started off as a 3,000 acre private collection of plants (the gardens were designed by his friend Roberto Burle Marx), which he then expanded, and eventually began collecting contemporary art. In 2006, it opened to the public. Such a beautiful beautiful place. The pictures don't do it justice.