We left our respective cities and met up in Miami. Swapna met me at the gate with a mojito!! Vacation officially started.
Our flight to Rio was easy - we figured out how to get a secure taxi to our hotel, the JW Marriott right on Copacabana beach. At check-in, the nice staff person helped us learn some basic words - "bom gia!"= good morning; "oi!" = hi, etc. We spoke to the concierge and decided that because the weather was right, we should head right off on our hang-gliding adventure!
First we took the concierge's recommendation on a nearby locals lunch spot - Santa Santisfacao - which served Brazilian comfort food. The food wasn't that exciting but we enjoyed sitting outside in the nice weather and feeling like true "cariocas".
Around 4 we returned to the hotel and a driver took us to the the hang-gliding headquarters about 20 minutes from Ipanema. We met up with our guides, signed our lives away and took another drive to get up to the launch spot. They convinced Swapna to do paragliding while I did hang-gliding.
As we drove the guide was emphasizing how when we took off we needed to run and look up towards the sky - never look down. When we saw launch pad we knew why because you basically had to run off a cliff!! Freaking out, we practiced our runs with each of our guides. The wind died down so we had to wait for what felt like an eternity, not getting any less nervous. But finally it was time! We successfully ran off our ledges and were up in the sky looking down at the Sao Conrado neighborhood in Rio. We were flying right with the birds. I could see Cristo in the distance, beaches, and the neighborhood which had seemingly half high-rises and half favelas. After about 15 minutes, I landed and Swapna was also standing there in one piece. Success! We celebrated with beers and decided to buy some pictures to remember our adventures.
The guide drove us back to the hotel - to avoid traffic we drove through the roads around the Tijuca forest and botanical gardens. We made it back to our hotel and went up to the 9th floor lounge (which Swapna had negotiated access to of course). and had drinks and snacks and planned our evening.
We decided to go to the neighborhood of Santa Teresa since a friend recommended a restaurant so we booked a reservation with the concierge, got dressed and headed out. Finding a cab that would take us turned out to be a challenge because the roads there were "steep" but finally we got one.
We arrived at Espirito Santa - a cute place set in a restored mansion. We sat on the back patio that was decorated with colored ribbons and looked upon lime trees. We tried some interesting caipirinhas with amazonian fruits and shared appetizers and a main that were decent.
We headed to a place where we read about the Design Hotel popping up and were seeking out its bar but the addressed turned out to be a small pousada instead so we went to another place recommended by the concierge called Bar dos Descasados in a hotel. There weren't many people there but it had a nice chic hotel type vibe. Apparently the name came from it being a gathering place for divorced men in the past but they were not there that night!
Next we headed to Leviano Bar in the Lapa neighborhood which was PACKED. We finally found out where everyone was! Instead of going to the bar, we walked around the neighborhood where there appeared to be a street festival - there were a ton of street vendors and music playing and people dancing in the street. Around 1 we headed back to the hotel and slept!
Our flight to Rio was easy - we figured out how to get a secure taxi to our hotel, the JW Marriott right on Copacabana beach. At check-in, the nice staff person helped us learn some basic words - "bom gia!"= good morning; "oi!" = hi, etc. We spoke to the concierge and decided that because the weather was right, we should head right off on our hang-gliding adventure!
First we took the concierge's recommendation on a nearby locals lunch spot - Santa Santisfacao - which served Brazilian comfort food. The food wasn't that exciting but we enjoyed sitting outside in the nice weather and feeling like true "cariocas".
Around 4 we returned to the hotel and a driver took us to the the hang-gliding headquarters about 20 minutes from Ipanema. We met up with our guides, signed our lives away and took another drive to get up to the launch spot. They convinced Swapna to do paragliding while I did hang-gliding.
As we drove the guide was emphasizing how when we took off we needed to run and look up towards the sky - never look down. When we saw launch pad we knew why because you basically had to run off a cliff!! Freaking out, we practiced our runs with each of our guides. The wind died down so we had to wait for what felt like an eternity, not getting any less nervous. But finally it was time! We successfully ran off our ledges and were up in the sky looking down at the Sao Conrado neighborhood in Rio. We were flying right with the birds. I could see Cristo in the distance, beaches, and the neighborhood which had seemingly half high-rises and half favelas. After about 15 minutes, I landed and Swapna was also standing there in one piece. Success! We celebrated with beers and decided to buy some pictures to remember our adventures.
The guide drove us back to the hotel - to avoid traffic we drove through the roads around the Tijuca forest and botanical gardens. We made it back to our hotel and went up to the 9th floor lounge (which Swapna had negotiated access to of course). and had drinks and snacks and planned our evening.
We decided to go to the neighborhood of Santa Teresa since a friend recommended a restaurant so we booked a reservation with the concierge, got dressed and headed out. Finding a cab that would take us turned out to be a challenge because the roads there were "steep" but finally we got one.
We arrived at Espirito Santa - a cute place set in a restored mansion. We sat on the back patio that was decorated with colored ribbons and looked upon lime trees. We tried some interesting caipirinhas with amazonian fruits and shared appetizers and a main that were decent.
We headed to a place where we read about the Design Hotel popping up and were seeking out its bar but the addressed turned out to be a small pousada instead so we went to another place recommended by the concierge called Bar dos Descasados in a hotel. There weren't many people there but it had a nice chic hotel type vibe. Apparently the name came from it being a gathering place for divorced men in the past but they were not there that night!
Next we headed to Leviano Bar in the Lapa neighborhood which was PACKED. We finally found out where everyone was! Instead of going to the bar, we walked around the neighborhood where there appeared to be a street festival - there were a ton of street vendors and music playing and people dancing in the street. Around 1 we headed back to the hotel and slept!
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