In the land of beef and malbec...: Brazilian Babymoon IV

Th 7.18.13 cont'd

so we left off with the bus ride from Paraty to Rio...which took a little longer than expected, getting us to the Rio bus station around 2pm...so by the time we waited in the long line for a cab, we didn't get to our hotel in Ipanema until close the 3pm
we chose to stay in Ipanema, just to check out a different scene, and because a friend had recommend a very basic, affordable (apparently hotels in this area can be very expensive) hotel, Hotel San Marco
despite its very poor reviews on TripAdvisor, we decided to trust the friend and go with it, mainly because we knew it was basically just a place to crash for the night...thus needing nothing fancy
good thing we had that mind-set, because it sure wasn't anything fancy!
but was clean, in a great location, and the right price
anyway, we dropped our bags at San Marco and immediately hopped back in a cab to the base of Sugarloaf Mountain (pão de acúçar)
our goal was to get to the top by sunset, and luckily the lines were fairly short and we were able to make it up in time

we again enjoyed some stunning views from the top...really worth the trip
we saw many youth groups in town for World Youth Day and to see "the man", (Argentine...shout out) Pope Francis...many were wearing matching backpacks in green, blue, and yellow, like the one you see here: (hi baby!)

the view continued to change as the sun lowered in the sky, giving us more and more to awe at (and snap photos of)...can you spot the lit up Christ the Redeemer statue?

once the sun had completely set and we had had enough viewing, we took the cable cars back down and walked along the waterfront in Urca

this looked fun...a little youth vball practice on the beach,..they were really good!

we stopped at the point of the little peninsula for a drink and snack at Bar Urca, as recommended in the books/online

there's no formal seating at this place...you just go to the counter, order what you want, then take it over to the seawall where a crowd of people are doing the same (there is a restaurant located above the counter with nicer sit-down meal options)
we got some sort of fried fish with tartar sauce (delicious) and me a strawberry smoothie, Jake a Bud Heavy...haha

then because John's recommendation had been pretty spot-on so far, and we wanted to check out the Samba/dinner scene in Lapa, a renovated historic district just south of the center which features serveral bars with live music and a great nightlife scene, we ventured further north up to Rio Scenarium
this place proved to be super unique...housed in a refurbished 3-story building, with the second and third floors looking down onto the main floor stage/dance floor...
also the decor is very interesting, making the place seem like a classy antique shop or vintage museum...every section sort of has a theme, whether it be a collection of old mirrors, clocks, or baby buggies...

first band of the night

we sat in a little area on the second floor that resembled a pharmacy from the 20th century, and we ordered the soup of the day (amazing sort of split pea soup with ham chunks), I got another fruit juice (mango) and Jake, another caipirinha

we split a second appetizer, which we kind of just closed our eyes and picked (not really sure what some of these Brazilian dishes were) and we got basically crackers topped with melted cheese or meat...they were actually quite tasty

then we split a main course of penne pasta in a bleu cheese sauce topped with sliced up beef; again food was good

we then toured the other floors to check out all the decor, furniture and interesting architecture, all while enjoying the live music

second band of the night...they played longer and were really great

street view out of a second floor window

view of the stage/dance floor from the third floor

F 7.19.13

I was excited for our morning run around the lake in Ipanema, Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas, a 7.5k loop
excited until about a half mile in and I had a limp-waddle going on like a 100-year-old pregnant lady
needless to say, after lots of walk breaks, stops to stretch, and a few frustrated tears, we made it around the darn lake...I guess running while pregnant isn't so easy for everyone (I'm planning to post a training update later this week...)
we got cleaned up and headed to the supermarket to get some souvenirs

spotted a cute little market in a park on our way

hey there baby! are you about this size?

Jake had heard of a café/bakery chain called Cafeína that sounded like a nice place for breakfast, and had a location in Leblon, a nice neighborhood right next to Ipanema
Jake ordered a drip coffee that he thought was good, but didn't compare to Inteligentsia

whereas Jake went the savory route with an omelet...they kinda got his order wrong but when we tried to explain this to the waitress when we went to pay...she wasn't so helpful (p.s. Portuguese is not so easy)...

although that whole incident was a bit of a turn off, the place was a decent breakfast stop with nice sidewalk seating
after breakfast, we walked a few blocks to Leblon's beach:

which was beautiful...love the black and white tiles all along the coast...a signature beachside walkway pattern in Rio

both of us got in the water and caught maybe 40 minutes of sun before it was time to leave
...Jake practically had to peel me off the beach to get to the airport in time for our 3pm flight...if we just had one more beach day!

this is me getting a little beat up from the waves...good surf today!

really, if I had know the beaches in Rio were so nice, I think I would've planned at least one full day to spend enjoying them...
nevertheless, I think we had a great trip, a relaxing Babymoon, a final little vacation before the little one comes along!

In the land of beef and malbec...