Road Trip: Day 6

The goal of today was to hit some beaches a little bit south of Buzios.  We had been checking the swell report and this is where we thought it would be best.  We hopped in the car and started our mission.  After an hour drive, we struck out on our first stop.  After a little while longer, we came across Praia Grande, and I couldn't believe my eyes.  You have to drive through this very poor town to get to the beach, and therefore, I was not expecting much.  As soon as we got through town, all you could see was white sand and turquoise water for as far as you can see (you won't believe the pictures).  If this was the U.S., this beach would be surrounded by multi-million dollar mansions and huge resorts but here in Brazil, this was just another beach with nothing but sand (you could actually drive on the beach because hardly anyone was there).  I am still amazed at the lack of development in Brazil.  I think it's actually a great thing because it protects the beauty of these spots.  However, I just can't see it lasting forever as the economy continues to surge and money keeps pouring in to the country, but we will see.  Brazilians are very different than Americans, and it will probably be a long, long time before these areas see any change.  Anyway, the beach even had some great waves so we grabbed our boards and headed out.  We were told that the water would be really cold, but it was even close.  We were trunking it and having an absolute blast.  To say the least, we were psyched.  After the session, we headed back to Buzios for a churrasco (BBQ) at Hans' friend's house.  It is one of the most amazing houses I have ever seen.  It sits on the cliff overlooking the ocean in almost every direction with some of the best views in the world.  I could imagine myself being VERY happy living in a house like that (haha - we can all dream, can't we?).  We only stayed for a short time because we needed to head to Rio that night so we packed our things and took off (not a lot of down time during this road trip).  The drive to Rio took almost four hours.  Our buddy's girlfriend's brother (get that?) is in a band and he was playing in a concert that night so wanted to be there to support him.  We checked it out and it was pretty cool to see.  Hopefully, they will make it big and we can say that we knew him long before he was famous.  The big part of the night was after the concert.  We headed to a part of town called Lapa to a club someone recommended.  Rio is an incredible sight.  There are people everywhere and it seems like it is always a party.  The club we went to had four floors and all of them were packed.  They were playing all sorts of great music so we joined the crowd and danced the night away.  We ended up leaving around 4AM and hopped in a cab.  The drive home was nuts.  People were still partying in the bars, sidewalks, and even the streets.  I really couldn't believe it.  You would have thought it was midnight, and I'm sure these people weren't even close to going home.  After a stop for a cheeseburger (we never ate dinner), we made it home safely with some great memories of my first night ever in Rio.