Sugar Loaf & Copacabana: Rio de Janeiro. 29.11.15

We woke up early that morning. We are staying at Santa Teresa, so our nearest metro station is Carioca. We got to the stop of Copacabana (Siqueira Campos) and picked Henry up from his hotel to have a walk along Copacabana. The beach is as impressive in pictures as it is in real life. It takes over half an hour to walk the length of it, especially if it's hot and you stop for a coconut on the way.

We walked in the direction of the Sugar Loaf mountain, hoping to get the cable car early, avoiding queues, however if you do this you will find yourself at the skirt of a mountain with a small avenue around it made for fishermen. We asked and it turns out we had to go to Botafogo and take a bus from there! And so we did.

The bus from Botafogo is number 512 and it leaves you at the very entrance of the attraction.

There were no queues to buy our tickets(71 reales each) and we were the firsts on the first cable car, which allowed us to take a good video of the way up. It lasts 2 minutes until you're on top of the first mountain and at the top there's a whole construction with restaurants, bars and souvenir shops. You can also walk a green path and do climbing but they are not responsible if you get injured...

We walked around for a bit, went into the museum, took a bunch of lovely pictures and unsuccessfully tried to get some memorabilia from "Moonraker", then we went up the second mountain where there's an even more impressive view. They are still building this part of the attraction, so it is a little smaller at the moment, but definitely worth a visit.

Tips for Sugar Loaf mountain are: go early in the morning in a clear day if possible, allow three hours to complete the attraction and leave when you see it starts getting crowded and finally, take a pen: you can write your name at the top mountain and a little message!

After Sugar Loaf we decided to walk the length of Copacabana and find Ipanema. The sky started to get a little gray and a storm was approaching. We walked regardless.

At the end of Copacabana the rain started and we took shelter until it got a little better to be able to walk what we had left, unfortunately, the gorgeous Ipanema was foggy and dark due to the cloudy sky, and we couldn't appreciate the view. We headed to General Osorio, which is a square in the area to have a look at a Hippie Market that was taking place there.

The rain was scaring everyone, sellers and buyers away. We too decided to go back home.

When we arrived once again to Carioca metro station, we found ourselves unable to get a bus back to the hotel and decided to flag a taxi down. The taxi driver told us he was not going to Santa Teresa, because it was flooded and took us to a bus stop for free, where we saw the disaster that was taking place: pavement and road all flooded, 2 roads cut off where people had water up to their knees. We went up somewhere out of the floods and got another taxi that finally got us back to our hotel.

Fluminense 1-1 Internacional, Maracana, Brazil. 28.11.15

Tickets were available in the ticket offices at the Maracana that morning between 8am and 1pm according to the website.
We arrived at about 11 am to the metro station that leads you directly to the stadium with a capacity of 92.000.

We walked around it under the scorching sun to get to the ticket office. Surprisingly, we didn't have to queue or make our way past early-rising hooligans like we thought, but instead got to an empty counter and paid for 3 tickets for 40 reales each to sit with the home team behind the goal.

After purchasing the tickets for ourselves and Henry, we made our way back.

 In the evening we arrived at the Maracana one hour before kick off. Again we found the entry and the inside of the stadium to be pretty empty but we expected it to fill up as kick off got closer. We had a drink in one of the stands and went to find our seats.

Just before the match started, we listened to the Brazilian national anthem. The stadium didn't get much more filled up than it was and the away team got a goal in the fourth minute of the game, scored by Vitinho. Internacional looked like the better team, having more possession and creating danger several times. Things were getting worse for Fluminense, when they lost a man due to a red card.

During the second half, the home team recovered and starting attacking. The crowd started to get behind the team and in the 74th minute Cicero equalised after being awarded a penalty. The Maracana burst into sudden carnival.

Fluminense had a great chance to snatch the game in the 93rd minute, but just missed. The final score was 1-1. Fair result.

Salvador de Bahia 26 & 27/11/15

Salvador was the first capital of Brazil, one of the oldest colonial cities in the Americas. It has the second largest bay in the world and it's known as the city of happiness for the amount of street parties and music, and also has the largest carnival in the world.

We arrived in Salvador the 26th very early in the morning, and from the cruise we could already feel the Caribbean vibe of this city.

After the immigration control, which was quick and easy, we jumped in a taxi to go to the host's house for 80 reales. It took 45 minutes to get to the building, in the area of Costa Azul. Many, if not most buildings in the city have a reception counter with 24h surveillance, and the receptionist helped us contact our host who received us earlier than agreed with a smile on his face. George and his wife, Naiara hosted us during our stay in Salvador. They are a relaxed, friendly couple and we spent the day with them: went grocery shopping, had lunch together and dinner.

At sunset, Naiara took us to Barra, to see the lighthouse and explained us where the carnival starts and finishes and we all watched sunset over the ocean.

The 27th we made plans to visit the city with our friends from table 277. We met at 11:30 at the bottom of Elevador Lacerda, which connects the lower town and the port with the upper town (we didn't try the lift but it costs 0'15 reales per ride).

We decided to head to Barra and see the lighthouse we visited the night before. We walked along the beach and up to a statue that represents Jesus. After taking pictures at the lighthouse and walking the entire avenue and beach, we went for lunch at the "LightHouse" restaurant, which offers a food buffet by weight (1 kg  - 29.90) and we walked in the direction of the port, where we found another beach. This was a little smaller and locals crowded it, and after a few stares we decided to get the bus to the Old Town (Pelourinho), which we hadn't seen.

The pelourinho really is the heart of Salvador. The colourful old fashioned houses gathered in steep and irregular roads. Accompanied by the sound of drums we walked until we managed to sit down on some stairs where some locals were selling something. It was five in the evening and we had to go back home to cook a promised meal for our hosts.

When we arrived we had dinner, that I cooked and prepared our luggage for a late flight to Rio de Janeiro. Our hosts kindly dropped us off in the airport at 1 am.

We heard all sorts of things about Salvador on our way there and we were a little nervous about getting around but we were pleasantly surprised by the kindness of locals who would warn us and help us find our way with a smile. We definitely recommend it.

Transatlantic cruise

This Pullmantur cruise cost £108 per person and sailed from Las Palmas de Gran Canaria to Salvador de Bahia in Brazil.

The £108 includes food and drink (not including alcohol), 8 nights accommodation in an inside cabin and on-board entertainment. 

The cruise has 14 decks, including restaurants, bars, swimming pool, jacuzzis, spa, gym, library, shops, casino, climbing wall, theatre and sports court.

The reason this cruise is so cheap is because the cruise season has finished in Europe and beginning in the Caribbean and South America and the cruise relocates for this period.

We found this deal on HolidayPirates.com which I highly recommend for great travelling deals.

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After saying goodbye to Yvonne's family over a coffee in a shopping centre near the port, we walked to the big cruise ship and was greeted with a long queue still four hours before departure.

Once on board we found our room on deck 6, refreshed ourselves and then went for our 3 course dinner included in the price. We sat on table 277, with other 5 people also residents in England.

After dessert, we made a routine of going up to deck 11 and have more food at the buffet. There is food available all day!

After buffet breakfast the next morning, we were chilling at the pool area when we saw lots of dolphins swimming next to the cruise! It was a beautiful moment but we didn't manage to photograph them.

Our dinner table of 7 was the same throughout the cruise. We had Henry from Scotland, who works as a flying attendant, Joss from Guildford, a full-time traveler, Helene and Conrad, a young couple soon to move to Denmark and finally Dave from Manchester who is the life and soul of table 277.

This group kept united the whole cruise, always doing things together, playing cards, sunbathing and eating (mainly eating).

The crowd in this cruise is different to the usual. We have hippies, backpackers and families... young faces in general and the atmosphere is relaxed, spontaneous and happy. Everyone is friendly: there are hippies outside of their circle, people that just talk to every set of people, and even people that sit with someone new every day at lunch time.

There is nothing I can say about this cruise that would make it any less amazing than it has been, and with information of a return cruise in March, who knows?

El agujero + Gofio mill. Gran Canaria 16.11.15

Today we woke up and decided to go for a walk to explore Galdar again. This time we headed towards the sea, which led us to a rocky beach called "El agujero". The walk took around 45 minutes, including the time we spent wondering whether we would get anywhere walking that way (even though Yvonne lived in Galdar 20 years she had never been to that beach before).

The way we walked to get there was quiet, there was nearly no one around only banana plantations and small farm houses along a narrow road. After walking a long time under a 35ºC sun, we could finally see the way to the beach, we followed the signs and ended up inside some banana plantations where a worker helped us out to his amusement.

Finally at the beach, we sat down and relaxed for a few minutes to the sound of the waves hitting the rocks and watching the surfers. The small avenue doesn´t have any shops, it all consists on houses very close to the shore and at the beach, there is a cute little sea water pool where you can bathe. The water looks so clean even we had to try it, so we sat down in one of the sides of the pool and left our feet in the water, watching small fish swimming around them.

When it was time to head back we found a sign, and the sign showed us an old aborigine settlement and a graveyard. It is not open to the public since it is very fragile and in its original shape.

We also found a little shop where we got refreshments and again, another archeological site welcomed us to see the remains of an old coastal home. Galdar is full of history!

On our way back we stopped at the gofio* mill in Becerril, where the owner told us everything about the history of the mill: that it is the oldest working mill in the island, that it has 3 metre wide walls because the water "pipes" used to go on top of the mill and how the system has changed from water to fire and now the mill works with electricity. The worker allowed me to go in the mill to take a picture of it and I bought half a kilo of corn gofio which I thoroughly enjoyed.

*Gofio is a powder made of toasted grain (mainly corn or wheat) and it is used in coffee, as a single drink with milk, in biscuits, stews and you can also make a delicious dish with it.

79 year-old birthday party + San Felipe. Gran Canaria 15.11.15

We attended Yvonne's grandmother's 79th bitrthday party, hosted by Uncle Sergio and Auntie Esther who prepared plenty of food and drink for the many guests.

Yvonne's Grandmother (Agueda) is mother to 7, of which most were at the party, I also got to see four generations in one room, including three new additions since last time we visited in the New Year. This big family just keeps getting bigger!

The venue lasted 5 hours, including the cake, me singing Guantanamera with Agueda and a long time to get updated with everyone's life in the past few months or years. In a house that is only a five minute walk to Las Canteras beach, there was no better location for this party.

On the way back from the party, we stopped at San Felipe, a village famous for surfing. Most houses in this village have an amazing sea view and you can bathe in the sea water pools that have been created for the inhabitants of this place. This village is small and easy to miss, just after the Pepe Chiringo and the BP in the highway to Galdar from Las Palmas. Check it out!

Gáldar. Gran Canaria 14.11.2015

 


Gáldar (Yvonne's hometown) is a town in the north west of Gran Canaria. It is the old capital of the island, before the Spanish arrived. This town has a lot of cultural and historical interest. Galdar hosts the "Painted Cave", an archeological site that contains paintings and remains of houses of a pre-hispanic settlement.

To get to Galdar, you only have to take a bus from the main bus station. Number 103 or 105, and it costs 3'10 euros a single and takes around 40 minutes on a very scenic coastal road.

We walked into Galdar from Yvonne's house in the early evening and there was a great atmosphere around the main church with people sitting outside bars, restaraunts and cafes with live traditional music being played that everyone seemed to enjoy. We went to one cafe where we had ice cream and a cup of tea (Ollie's words: "You can take me out of England but you can't take England out of me"). Close to this area there is a museum, the already mentioned "painted cave", that has been uncovered in recent years and you get a great feeling of how they lived before the Spanish arrived. Entry costs €6 per person and it takes around 45 minutes to an hour to see the entire museum counting in the informative clips about the life of aborigenes, how the entry of Spain affected them and what happened to them then.

In the past couple of years, 7 more caves have been found in Galdar, along with cookery items and graves. The paintings found in the caves and items used by aborigenes can also be found in t-shirts, earrings and necklaces.

In the centre of the town there is also a square with a fountain overlooked by a church built initially in 1496, and reconstructed in 1778-1826 over the place where "Guanartemes" (a group of aborigenes) had their palace. It is now considered the centre of the town.

Do not hesitate to visit Galdar and get immersed in the history of the pre-hispanic societies.

Maspalomas. Gran Canaria. 12.11.2015

This time we headed to the more touristic side of the island. Maspalomas is where you would stay if you come to Gran Canaria. It´s specifically designed for tourists and you can find just about anything you want from your country of origin.

We first stopped by the Varadero shopping centre. It looks more like a market and you can find cheap clothes and beach items. It is surrounded by British, German and Scandinavian places (restaurants, bars and even hospitals). This is also the area where you find the best hotels and the best nightlife of the island, if that is what you´re looking for.

At the back of this shopping centre you will see an avenue next to the sea that will lead you to the lighthouse. Even though the lighthouse is closed to the public and you can not go in it, it is a pretty place for pictures and to chill. At this walk we found an archeological site that has remains of pre-hispanic buildings signed with all the history of the discovery of this site.

After having a walk to the lighthouse and taking way too many pictures, we headed to the dunes. You can walk to them but we took the car just to go up to the top of the dunes. However, we were late to arrive and it was already dark. The only picture I have is the one down here. Sorry!

You can walk the dunes but you need to allow a few hours and be interested on sports and trekking. It can be quite a tough walk, especially during the summer. The advantage: it´s completely free.

Columbus' house. Gran Canaria 11.11.2015

La Casa de Colon (Columbus' house) is a museum in the historical centre of Las Palmas. Columbus stopped here in 1492 and again on two more occasions on his way to America. This area of the city has remained faithful to his memory.
The museum consists on thirteen exhibitions including the history of the city, replicas of the ships and Latin American culture previous to the discovery.

To get there it is five minutes from the main bus station and easily found following the sign posts. It costs four euros for an adult to go in the museum, and you should allow one hour to see both floors of the museum. It opens 10 am to 6 pm Monday to Saturday and Sundays and public holidays 10 am to 3 pm.

We got there at around 4 pm. The museum is currently under construction for an extension. Now there are even parrots next to the shop (to attract more tourists, I expect) and it does attract them, Ollie nearly got his toe bitten by one after it charged at him. Luckily the security guard was around and things didn't get too nasty.

The museum is in the old town, and it is surrounded by historical building like Santa Ana's church.

There are also bars, cafes, restaurants and shops in the vicinity. It is a must if you're looking for some culture beyond the lovely Canarian beaches.