Rio Round II

IMG_0752, originally uploaded by cbern18.

It was nice to start and end my South American journey in Rio with Freddy. We've known each other since I was a wee freshman in high school so it's always great to catch up, hang out and party together. On Friday when I arrived, Freddy was at work. It was so nice to have my own, modern, clean space after camping and staying in hostels. Once Freddy got home we decided to have a chill evening. However, when he got out of the shower, he was like a new person. He said to hell with it, I was only in Rio for the weekend. We should take advantage of it. Our first stop was Porcao (not sure how to spell that), which is a restaurant where they bring big skewers of meat to your table and an all you can eat salad bar. The beef was so delicious. It really melted in your mouth. Then we met up with Freddy's friend, Max, at a bar near their houses. After a few drinks we headed to another bar with live music on the first floor and dancing on the second. The music was great and it was so much fun to dance. I was shocked at how the Brazilians are making out all over the place. It was a bit rude how much I was staring but I just couldn't help myself.

The next morning, we met up with another of Fred's friends, Neil, and headed up to the Christ and the Sugar Loaf. We had gorgeous weather and a nice relaxing time at each. After a long, deep nap, I rallied to go out to dinner and we called it an early night. The next day we took it easy, rode bikes around the lagoa and ate at this incredible restaurant in a beautiful park. The building used to be a palace for a Portuguese king but now it is a cultural center and restaurant. It was great to get some veggies after a meat filled weekend. And that night, we had delicious sushi, which I had been craving since I left Brazil two months earlier. I had a blast with Freddy and it was hard to leave!