Rio day in Janeiro (January

Hi everyone,

We arrived in Rio very early this morning. Do you know the origin of the name of this city?  We did not.  It was named by Portuguese explorers in the 1500s who mistakenly identified a large bay as the mouth of a river. They came across this body of water during the month of January; hence the name. 

We had the opportunity to travel business class this trip because of a special deal from the cruise line, and it sure was nice!  

But even nine hours sitting on a comfortable plane seat after eight hours of sitting on an uncomfortable one the day before was pretty tough.  However, we are in RIO!!!  Life is good!!!

We landed right on time, and have never had an easier time of clearing customs. The guy took a quick look at our passports, and that was it! 

Then our luggage was the first off the plane. The carts were free! Yep, life is good!

We had heard lots of horror stories about how unsafe it is down here, so we had lined up a driver to meet us. And there he was, right on time, holding a big sign with our name. How nice that was. He loaded our bags and got us safely to our hotel. 

We are staying at the Windsor Miramar Hotel right on Copacabana Beach. When we arrived, it was still early morning, and our room was not ready. We sat for several hours at the rooftop pool bar and people-watched the beach goers. Here is our view. Notice Sugarloaf Mountain in the background. 

Copacabana is a vibrant and bustling beach area with a long, mosaic-tiled walking path where throngs of people congregate to walk, bike, skate, and sell their wares.  Just beyond the path is the beach itself, with its beautiful cream-colored soft sand and blue waters. Although it has been quite overcast all day, the beach is mobbed with tourists and locals alike. 

The cable cars on Sugarloaf Mountain disappear in and out of clouds on the way to the top. A bit of rain begins to fall. As we understand it, the night before (New Years Eve) was insane.  We were told there were a million people crowded onto that little strip of land and sand. A hotel worker said that if you were on the beach, there was no way you could get back to your hotel till the next morning. There was barely room to scratch! Glad we had spent the night in Miami!

After a long beach walk, we were exhausted and ready to return to the room. Just a quick dinner in the hotel, and off to bed we went. 

By the way, this was an interesting note we found in our room. Doubtful that you would see something like this in the US!

Good night everyone!  More tomorrow,

Karen and David