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Pousada Barra do Sol
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| Rio Part II | |||||||||||||||||||
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14th-17th June (Fri-Mon): Come Friday night, friends from both of the hostels I had been staying at & I went to the suberb of Lapa, close to the centre of Rio, for its infamous street party beneath an old aqueduct.. the place was packed, and although there were reportedly 5 drug related shootings in a row for the previous 5 fridays, there was no violence except for when Hen (danish) decided to try to see how far a group of 7 rude brasilians would go.. I somehow woke early and, after the England/Danemark football match in the hostel (poor Hen) took the bus down to Barra with my chokkas backpack.. to find that the room I thought I had been told was available... wasn´t. I was about to leave before Ana, the owner of the Pousada do Sol, drastically reduced the price of the more expensive room, with en-suite.. finally a place to unpack. The place is just like the one in France: long term students and travellers, mostly speaking Portuguese, except for Manuela (a romano-Australian girl who took me to a club like Adelaide´s Heaven Sat night with her friend Emilio), Josh (a canadian guy who I played my first game of volleyball with on the beach on Sunday) and an English guy called Steve I have yet to meet. I still can´t believe I landed on my shoulder in my first game of volleyball, stuffing it for a few days.. A few more comments on Brasil: Police cars have their flashing lights on all the time.. apparently if they want to pull you over, they flash their headlights (yet another meaning for the flash), and you´ll be needing to reach for your wallet to get out of trouble. The Brasilian flag has `Order and Progress´ written on it, but until they pay their police more this is a dream for everybody. Brasilian men are as appreciative of their women as the Italians. Every 3rd car driving past a group of girls on the way to the beach honks their horn in an attempt to get some attention. My henna tatoo which was supposed to last for 15-20 days was gone in 4, but I´m not about to go back to Buzios to have a word with the vendor.. I managed to wake at 8:30 this morning to catch the Brasil-Belgium game (the fireworks helped with waking) to find that the students who had returned to their parents for the weekend had returned - good atmosphere when Brasil finally scored their first goal during the final minutes... the swearing and gestures were most illuminating - they like a game as much as we like Aussie Rules. I tried the Brasilian whiskey which has been established for 40 years (well, better than Oz!) but its better mixed with Guerana champagne.. The Pousada is located across the canal from a shopping centre 20 times the size of Burnside Village and with more opulence. On the Pousada side, locals cast nets into the fetid canal and pull them in and mangey dogs wander the dusty streets. I hope the photos tell the story because its a long one. Apparently crime is not a problem here! I have no protection except a flimsy locked door - virtually unlocked. Maybe I´m living on the `right´ side of the canal. Mike/Keiren - This internet cafe even has counter-strike - whoops! I laugh at my Portuguese teachers description of Brasil as 3rd world sometimes.
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17th-20th June Photos Back to Rio page Pousada Barra do Sol Back to Home | |||||||||||||||||||
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| Name: | Craig | ||||||||||||||||||
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