Carnival in Rio. This was a once in a lifetime plan for us. It all alined when a friend was travelling South America on his sabbatical. He had one fix date. It was Carnival in Rio 2020. So we decided to meet in Rio with another friend to experience the craziness of this special time of the year in the melting center of international Carnival.
We were lucky enough to stay in the beautiful home of a couple in the artist quarter of Lapa / Santa Teresa. This place is packed with artistic places/bars and the center of the local carnival parade on Sunday. We could follow the parade from our terrace.
When the carnival crowd sieged Rio de Janeiro colourful and loud chaos takes over the streets. The costumes are brilliant and make one fantastic motive next to the other.
From dusk on, when the sun falls and the streetlights light up, the streets are packed with people dancing, celebrating, and enjoying themselves. Some parades have their highlights like musicians or special dancers.
I spent days walking the streets of Rio. I must have made 20 kilometers or more a day. There’s always something to discover around the next corner, which stops me from traveling by bus or subway.
The library of Portuguese literature is worth a short visit right in the center of the city. And of course, a visit to the world-famous Copacabana Barry Manilow sang about. We grabbed a drink and hang out in the warming dusk.
Rio was truly impressive. A fascinating colorful city. We moved on along the coast down to Santos.
Brazil is huge. When you travel the coast by car you realize the pure size of this country. It’s a great destination for a road trip along the coast with heaps of time. The people are fantastic and very friendly. Even when not speaking Portugues is sometimes a difficult barrier to overcome.
Next to the photography I had the chance to catch some video shots of Brazil. Enjoy the following short video: