Rio-here we come!

Preparations 

So, its the end of yet another great year 2010... I say 'great' because of the brand new addition to our family-Neo!

We decided to mark it with an international travel...so let's see, where should we spend the New Years? Some warm place was at the top of my list, as I was already tired of the freezing cold winter in North Carolina. After not much of debate, we decided on Brazil. Rio de Janeiro would be our New Years destination! Got our visas - not much of a hassle there. A tip: give yourself at least a month or more to assimilate all visa documents, send it by post (depending on where you live, you might be asked to appear for a personal interview or send docs by post). You will also be required to book your flight and hotel prior to visa application- I know, how silly is that! But I guess that means you will definitely get your visa ;)

We were allowed two check-ins per person - what more can a girl ask for, right? We were scheduled on TAM airlines (RDU ---> JFK ---> Sao Paulo ---> Rio de Janeiro). The only hiccup in the flight was the unavailability of vegetarian food :(. Alas, I had to make do with the rice from the chicken and rice platter. Tip: Request vegetarian food at least a day before you fly! 

Our friends from California were waiting for us to join us for the rest of the trip. We were thrilled to meet them at their hotel to freshen up. We had a 5 hr wait in Rio, after which we were scheduled to fly to Manaus.  

12/26/2010: Half-Day 1: Rio Downtown, four and a half  hungry Indians and the hunt for greens!

Our first destination, few blocks away by walk was the Metropolitan Cathedral. It has an interesting conical architecture and is worth a visit. Inside the stained glass walls gave an amazing effect on that sunny day! 

The beautiful inside of the Metropolitan Cathedral. Courtesy: Rahul

So, did I mention that Brazilians are hard core meat eaters? And unfortunately three of us were vegetarians! Also, good luck trying to explain in Engliguese (what else would you call the half Portuguese, half English we were speaking!!) that we don't want meat. 

Turns out, our options were cheese pizza and fries!! Hey, no one is complaining (yet). Our first beer in Rio was 'Brahma', that tasted more like water, nevertheless was refreshing in the heat and humidity.

After learning that 'pepper' is 'pimenta', not always served on the table with salt, 'water' is 'agua', 'no' is 'nao' and  'yes' is 'sim', we headed out to explore the downtown. Our aim was to take the little red train to Santa Teresa (about a 30 minute ride to-and-fro) which gives a spectacular view of the downtown (Rio Centro), some favelas and Corcovado. The cost for the trip was 60 cents/person. Cool right? Its a great way to get a quick birds-eye feel of the downtown and mingling with the friendly locals.

After half  a day well spent in Centro, we headed back to the hotel, picked our belongings and headed to the airport.

Destination 2: Manaus...