Road Trip: Day 7

After waking up a bit late thanks to our late night, we were bummed to look outside and see a little bit of rain.  We wanted to have a nice breakfast so we headed over to one of the cool spots of Rio called Leblon.  I was actually surprised to see how nice it was.  It actually reminded me a lot of San Francisco, especially since all of the breakfast spots were happening.  Afterward, we walked to the beach to check it out.  It was cool to see Ipanema and Copacabana for the first time.  I really wished it was raining though so I could see it all in its best state.  The light rain really never gave up so we ended up just walking around and killing time.  It was wild to see the flavellas for the first time.  It is incredible to see people living like that.  I'm still not quite sure how they exist as they do, but somehow they manage.  I can't imagine the crime that goes on but I sure as hell didn't want to find out.  The rest of the day was very mellow until night time rolled around.  We found a club that was supposed to be great on Sundays.  Hans called them around 9PM to see if it would be good that night.  When he called, they said that it was already packed (unusually early, especially for Brazil) so we had a quick bit to eat and headed over.  After some "negotiations" at the door, we finally entered the club.  It was a very cool spot.  They were pumping some old school American jams, which are my absolute favorite, so I knew this would be a fun night.  One of the most interesting things about the culture that I have noticed here in Brazil is that no one really cares about the U.S. (I have described this in depth in previous posts), yet they almost exclusively listen to American music.  It's like the music from the U.S. is the one thing that has been able to penetrate Brazilian culture.  I'm not sure why but I love it so I'm not complaining.  Anyway, I partied late in to the night and eventually made my way back home for a flight back to Floripa...

The road trip was actually cut a little bit short for me.  The main premise of the road trip was not only to enjoy some of the different areas of Brazil, but also for my friends to research other warmer areas of Brazil for a possible additional location for their tourism business during the colder months in Floripa.  Our original goal was to rent a car after our Rio stop and head south, but it was determined that it wouldn't be warm enough in these spots to make it worthwhile.  Therefore, they were going to head back to Ihla Grande for a few days.  However, since I had already been there and it was supposed to rain all week there, I decided to come home a few days early.  I was looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, eating more regular food and, of course, the beautiful women of Floripa, which I had missed dearly on my journey....