Rio, Day 5

March 4

--Bom Dia (Good Morning)

The samba parade lasted throughout the wee hours of the morning. Each school had a maximum of 82 minutes, so basically an hour and-a-half, to completely pass through the avenue and finish their show. Multiply that by six, and add in 15 minutes breaks between each school, and that makes for a loooooooong night! Thankfully I had rested-up Monday before going, so I didn't get too tired. Plus, the atmosphere there was so energetic, it would have been pretty difficult to go to sleep- [although I did see some people catching some zzz's.]

Once the last school, Tijuca, had passed by, we headed for the exit. The vans that had brought us there were not picking us up, that was just a one-way trip. We walked to the metro. The nearby station was packed with samba fans, but we made it through ok without too much of a delay. Once we boarded, I stood next to some folks who had participated in the parade competition. This was evident because they were carrying parts of their costumes they had worn as they danced down the avenue of Sapucaí.

The metro does not yet have a station close to where Ida lives (they are actually in the process of constructing one), so after the metro we had to find a bus or taxi. I believe it was already 6am when we started our feeble attempts at hailing a taxi, of which none stopped for us. Thankfully after waiting a good while, one of "our" buses headed our way. Ida's husband José Carlos picked us up from the bus stop once we had reached their side of town. We finally arrived back at the apartment some 13-and-a-half hours after we had departed the previous night!

Needless to say, I did not do very much Tuesday. Aftr resting through the afternoon, I got up and mozied-around. We ordered pizza for dinner. I also had a good conversation [in Portuguese ofcourse ;-)] with Carina's boyfriend who was at the apartment, Freddy. I told him that I would like to do some more traveling while I am here in South America before returning home, and he recommended a travel website that has many reviews posted by travelers, of different places both in and outside of Brazil: Mochilieros. It's basically a website for travelrs, by travelers. I plan on reading some different reviews and learn some insider information on the places I intend to visit.