Observations on a bus (and a city)
Everyone has to do it, and so do I: I went on top of the Pão de Açúcar today, Sugar loaf mountain. First: how to get there: a taxi, or do I dare to take public transport? I have heard different things: it’s safe… be aware of your surroundings… no cameras… don’t take it at night… […] Read More
Lagoons, parks, and all the wild things therein
I still haven’t seen a bit of Rio, its center, old town or even the sugar loaf. Still, as the day was nice, I embarked on a long walk around the lagoon that is practically on my doorstep, called Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, a lake that is just separated from the ocean by Ipanema itself. So off […] Read More
Back to life
After some more rest, some Brazilian medicine in form of a high octane Caipirinha made by Mauricio, followed by a highly camp movie about Liberace at the film festival (Michael Douglas is hilarious!) and a good night’s sleep…. I’m back in business, more or less. Breakfast this time at another new favorite spot (I might have […] Read More
Still under the weather
I’m still under the weather, struggling with my cold, so I went to a pharmacy to get some paracetamol and something to unblock my nose…. On the way, I stopped at Delirio Tropical again and had lunch, a veggie burger (that turned out to be just the burger, not the bread stuff) and salad…. healthy […] Read More
Festival do Rio 2013
Turns out, I’m here during the Rio film festival, the Festival do Rio 2013. Tons of movies, playing in cinemas all across town. They even have a big German film selection with films that never made it to the Belgian movie theaters… Now the Rio night life will have to wait a bit. I’m at […] Read More
Walking the beach
The weather has been a bit mixed today, so I just strolled around Ipanema’s little streets and on to the beach. Ipanema is really as nice as they say… rectangular streets, all lined with lush green tropical trees that make a perfect cover (rain or shine). Orchids are growing on those trees and judging from […] Read More
First impressions at breakfast
I woke up at 8 and strolled over to some kind of bakery that is only a few blocks away and had my first breakfast in Rio. A café com chantilly and a pao com creme…. What I thought might be a latte actually was a kind of espresso with a big chuck of sweet, […] Read More
Got TAP’ed
So this morning I got up at 3h55, went to the airport again (only to be there before they actually opened security…) and went on my flight to Lisbon. Which was delayed by one hour, due to ground fog and the need to get more fuel. I already saw my chances of getting to Rio […] Read More
On my (new) way
So, to keep the statistics accurate, here’s the updated itinerary: Flight 1 to Frankfurt Date: 03/10/13 Code: LH1197 from ZRH to FRA Airline: Lufthansa Plane: Airbus 320-200 Distance travelled: 272 Miles Duration: 0h45 Flight 2 to Lisbon Date: 04/10/2013 Code: TAP571 from FRA to LIS Airline: Transportes Aereos Portugueses (TAP) Plane: Airbus 320 Distance travelled: 1157 […] Read More