A hot day announced itself, and I was struggling to get my jeans on, due to my sunburn…

So I strolled over to Copacabana beach, which is in fact pretty close, too, now that I have figured out the surroundings.

The beach is long, perfect sand, with big waves rolling on. Don’t let the sunny pictures confuse you: I tested the water and it was cold! Damn cold! I wonder how anyone went in there….

Copacabana was once a little fishery village, and to the right of the beach, just before that military fort, you can still find a few small wooden boats of the local fishermen, and their nets rolled up on the beach.

It was pride day and I strolled along the huge beach promenade full of people, some floats and the occasional drag queen…

The parade however only started later in the afternoon, by that time I was already back on the more quiet Ipanema beach, fleeing the deafening sound systems of the floats …

So in the end: a bit of evening sun, making sure my burned parts were all well covered, some corn on the cob from one of the beach vendors, a (strong) Caipirinha and another book…

Quite uneventful day, all in all.

At 5.30 though the beach gets empty as the sun sets behind the mountain and Ipanema life moves over to the bars…