Carly's Ramblings Blog - Style

Virtually Yours - Day 8, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Blogging Challenge - Day 8 - Rio De Janeiro

Aug 8th-
Breakfast THE VIEW RESTAURANT
Rio de Janeiro Half-Day Walking Tour---After pickup from your Rio hotel at 1:00pm , follow your local guide on this engrossing tour of Old Rio.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductDetail-g303506-d11447460-Rio_de_Jan...
Ginga Tropical Show in Rio de Janeiro 5:30 pm
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductDetail-g303506-d12346770-Ginga_Trop...
I’ve made arrangements for dance lessons after the show back at our hotel in one of the conference rooms.


Journal:
Lyn's a sly fox has got a reservation for breakfast at THE VIEW RESTAURANT. It is on the 4th floor of our hotel and it overlooks the ocean. I can see Copacabana beach where I spend yesterday afternoon. It is quiet this morning. The sun is just dancing on the gentle waves. If we did not have plans for the day I would escape out there again today.

Our breakfast is a buffet restaurant which serves Brazilian and international cuisine. I started with a mimosa - champagne and orange juice (usually reserved for Christmas morning, but hey, we are on holiday) and I coffee (of course) - just keep it coming. I also ate my fill of the wonderful rolls that got brought to our table and other buffet delights - eggs, ham...

We had the morning to rest up for the rest of the day, so I chose to head down to the beach for a quick dip before going back to my room for a shower.

Our Rio de Janeiro Half-Day Walking Tour was to start at 1 pm. Our very knowledgeable guide was Jean Baptiste and he was fabulous! It turned out to be our very own private tour. Our guide was flexible and adapted the program to avoid the places we had already visited yesterday.

We got to see Rio's most impressive church, Nossa Senhora de Cadelária, as well as the ornate São Bento Monastery to view its paintings and gilt carvings. We stopped by Praça XV do Novembro, where Brazil's emperors were crowned in the 1800s and many other important historical events took place. We got to see the Portuguese-style Paço Imperial (Imperial Palace), built for Brazil's rulers as a home and workplace in the 1700s.

We took a stroll down Uruguaiana Street, which takes you to the Metropolitan Cathedral and Carioca Square. We got a ride back to your hotel when the trip concluded.

There is only time for a quick clothing change and we’re off again. This time to the Ginga Tropical Show. We left at 5:30 pm so we could get to the Brazilian Barbecue Dinner. It was another delicious buffet dinner that included a variety of barbecued meats, local specialties, seafood, and salads.

The show started around 7:30 pm. There was dancing and music and we were able to learn about Brazil's vibrant history and culture through its traditional music and dance. It was a 90-minute performance that allowed us to see very talented performers dance the lambada, samba and bossa nova dressed in outrageous Carnival costumes. We also got her hear the folklore from this diverse country. There was also live drumming and the Brazilian martial art: capoeira. It was all extremely exciting.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/AttractionProductDetail-g303506-d12346770-Ginga_Trop...

Afterward we headed back to our hotel and Lyn had organized a dance lesson for us to learn some of the moves we had seen tonight. It was a hilarious experience. I love to dance, but I am not good at learning to follow certain steps... my brain kicks in... and it was a little murky with all the cocktails we had imbibed. I didn't care, we all tried and laughed at our attempts.

To sober us I took another fine swim before heading up to bed. A few of the group went along with me and a few decided to go put their new dance moves into practice. I knew they would have a grand time.