As promised another update on Rio
The Santa Teresa tram was an experience. I was expecting a modern tram but it was one carriage of an old style tram. The funny thing is the locals who do not want to pay just jump on the side and ride for free. Santa Teresa used to be a rich neighbourhood so many of the houses are big mansions on the hill. When the rich moved further inland and the Favela was built on the hill. The area has become dilapidated, there’s lots of graffiti which is a shame. You can see how beautiful it once was.
The Blocs (street parties) are part of carnival. Everyone meets on a certain street or square and parties. Sometimes you follow a marching band, floats or just dance to music. One of the first blocs we went to was the Santa Teresa bloc which was finished when we got there (Brasillian time a bit like Caribbean, unreliable!). Anyway we were eating some food when we bumped in Jon’s friends Wayne and Earl from LONDON! How random, bumping into friends at a bloc in Santa Teresa, Rio de Janeiro. They were also with some of the girls we met a week before!!!! The two blocs that stood out to me were the Lapa & Centro blocs. The Lapa one was a serious drink fest where we followed an amazing marching band the vibe was great, until some young boys swiped our friend’s camera. It was funny when Jon hauled two of the culprits up by the scruff of their necks. We didn’t get the camera back but I defo think they’ll think twice as they nearly got their arses kicked.
The main carnival parade is in a purpose built stadium called the Sambadrome, I thought the parade would be good but it was FANTASTIC, BRILLIANT, BEAUTIFUL. The attention to detail was amazing every time you looked at a different part of the same parade you would see something different. The show starts at about 9pm and finished at 6am so it was long but well worth it. When the sun came up in the morning the view was amazing you could see the mountains in the background, the Favela’s on the hill.