We just spent a long weekend in Rio de Janeiro  - happy Waitangi day to all you kiwi’s . I can understand why so many tourists go there. So far it has been the easiest city to stay in as an English speaker. Subway announcements, menus, even some signs are in English. I guess they are probably pushing it a bit more since they are bidding for the 2016 Olympics. It actually threw me and John a bit, we would be listening for familiar Portuguese words when waiters asked us questions, only to realise after a certain amount of processing time that they were speaking perfect English hehe.

We had heard a lot of horror stories about how unsafe Rio can be, but we were pleasantly surprised. Of course John and I are cautious, but we didn’t run into any problems and didn’t feel our safety was an issue at any time.

While we were there we went to see Cristo Redentor (the statue of Christ), went to the Hippie Fair at Ipanema, ate Brazilian style KFC, and spent at lot of time at Copacabana – singing the obligatory “Copa, Copacabana…..”

I loved our short time in Rio and am already planning a trip back, next time hopefully for longer

Filed under: South America, Adventure, Ramblings by Louie Date 10 February, 2009