corcovado

so, a few days ago we went to see the christ statue on corcovado. we took a little train up the mountain to the top, and then climbed up some steps, and there we were at the base of one of the most iconic statues in the world... and i was surrounded by tourists. the germans, the english, the brasilians, and a few americans. the walkways were filled with tourists coming to see the statue. it was the first time i'd had to deal with large numbers of tourists so far in rio. mostly, my interactions have been with brasilians. i've heard lots of portuguese. so, we were at the top, we walked around the statue, and saw for miles in all directions. maracana stadium, the jockey club, the sugarloaf, niteroi, the beaches across guanabara bay, beaches at ipanema, copacabana, leblon, and flamengo. after we got down from the mountain, we ate some popcorn, popped with a light chocolate flavouring... it's really good, and a bag costs about a dollar. then we went and looked at a small residential square near the mountain with some pretty houses, a fountain, and cobblestone streets. it kind of reminded me of a scene from the book love in the time of cholera, even though the book was written about colombia. it was pretty, and we looked at it, and then caught a cab back to the apartment so we could rest for our next big adventure... the sunset at ipanema. the weather here has been sporadic, a few nice days and a few overcast days and a few rainy days. because of that, we figured, we had to go see the sunset while we could, the day before we had just missed the sunset, we got there after it had gotten a bit dark. so this time, we left alot earlier, and got to watch the sunset from the rocks at arpoador. which is located between ipanema and copacabana beach, near nathalie's aunt's apartment... which is 2 or 3 minutes walk from either beach. people line the rocks and then clap after the sun has set, like in key west. and then, people walk the beach a little more and go somewhere else. we went to eat churascaria afterwards... which is the brasilian steakhouse thing with tons of meat. now that's good eats.

to niteroi

so, yesterday we went to the naval history museum and the modern art museum across the bay in niteroi. cariocas joke that the only good thing about niteroi is the view. on the way to niteroi we stopped in at the naval museum for two reasons, one, i like naval museums, and the second: nathalie's great great grandfather has an exhibit there. admiral barroso, the victor of the battle of riachuelo. which was fought against the paraguyans during the war of the triple alliance. the battle was pretty imporant because it helped put an end to paraguayan expansionism. today, there is a corvette named after barroso. after we went to the naval museum we took the ferry to niteroi. which was pretty easy and inexpensive. the ferry terminal is a cool old baroque building with a dome. the ferry trip was cool because you got to see the sugarloaf and alot of other things like ilha fiscal and some oil rigs and just being on the water is nice in general. the carioca joke about niteroi could apply to the museum as well. the exhibits inside were at best, quite strange. vienna sausage lovers was one of my favourite oddities. followed by really wierd dolls. just the pants and the feet hanging out and nailed to the wall. the building itself mirrors the crazyness of the inside. it is hardcore 1980s architecture. and the view of the sugarloaf is amazing.

first few days in rio

so, i'm in rio. everything worked out... just in time. the navy gave me my country clearance 3 days before we left, my visa came the day before we left, i got out of norfolk (because we bought plane tickets out) and then we somehow made it onto the flight to sao paulo. thanks bad weather! we're staying at nathalie's aunt's house. which is about equidistant from copacabana beach and ipanema beach. which is nice because it means we can walk to either beach within a few minutes. which is important, since the beach is an integral part of carioca culture. wake up walk along the stone-paved sidewalks. similar to the ones in lisboa, only lisboa's pavings have more intricate patterns and ships and things. but they're all fun. and pretty. the weather has been difficult. its overcast in the morning, then the sun burns it off and its sunny for midday, and then in the afternoon reverts to overcastness, but it's kind of cool because it increases the aura of mysteriousness. the first night in rio we went to a concert in lapa for a band called something like bangafumenga, which was cool. they had a huuuge percussion section, it was mostly percussion, and they had a guitar, and a flute, and a saxaphone, and a trombone, and a trumpet, and a little electric mandolin looking thing. and they'd play songs and sing, and then everyone would sing along or dance. everyone would hold hands and go in circles around the stage which was in the center of the room. and then they would make pyramids and everybody would run under the other people's arms two at a time. the next day we went to breakfast with nathalie's aunt and cousins by the forte de copacabana, which has a nice view down the beach and of the sugarloaf. and then we went and ate at her nanny's house in another part of town. and then went back to forte de copacabana to look at some of the museums there. on the way, there was a samba school getting ready for carnival. so they were having a block party down the beach. today we slept in, well, i slept in nathalie kept trying to wake me up from 7am to 10am to go to ipanema and the beach. we were there from like 11 to 230... so, yeah, my legs got a bit sunburned because oops, i forgot to put suntan lotion on them. tommorow, we will probably go downtown and go to some of the museums i want to see, hopefully, the weather will be nice. maybe we will go up to the corcovado.

Adventures in Tidewater, VA: williamsburg and Jamestown

thanksgiving was very low key here, because i am saving leave for a trip this christmas... if everything works out like it is supposed to. nathalie flew up on friday, and we went to jamestown and colonial williamsburg. end of fall, pretty time in virginia. the drive up the york penninsula. the first place we went was jamestown settlement. it is right next to the original jamestown settlement, which is underwater, or partially submerged and fully not there. there is a big museum, and then there is a replica of a powhattan indian village, and then, the reconstruction of jamestown, and the three ships the settlers came over in: the susan constant, the godspeed, and the discovery. contrary to popular belief, the pilgrims were not the first anglo settlers to colonize the new world. the first permanent settlement was here, at jamestown in 1607. after jamestown got crowded and old the people moved inland a bit to williamsburg. which was built in the late 17th century, early early 18th century. it stayed the capital city of the commonwealth until the american revolution, when the capital moved inland again, to richmond. it's funny, the capital continued to just move up the james river. but yeah, colonial williamsburg was rennovated by the vanderbilts or carnegie family... to go into alot of the exihibits costs alot of money, but its free to just walk around... so we walked around and ate at one of the restaurants that had a pseudo-period food. it was good and yummy.