rio de janeiro – mesmerizing!

there’s the real world and then there's rio! learn a bit of portugese, pack your bags and treat yourself to the rio experience. spectacular geography, awesome beaches, the samba and soccer are trademarks of rio but for me its people define this city. a melting pot of race, color and creed (i could have passed of as brazilian as long as i didn’t open my mouth). the cariocas are beautiful, smiling and have a real zest for life! sri and anu joined me from the states and we were here to live it up!



we stayed at the windsor excelsior, a real nice hotel in the center of copacabana beach. a stage was being erected right across on the beach for a rolling stones concert! this 3 mile spectacular stretch with a backdrop of towering cliffs is a theater. swimmers, surfers, joggers, bikers, street vendors throng this beach. volleyball and soccer are the popular beach sports.







a little walk away is the trendy ipanema beach. immortalized by the song “girl from ipanema”, this beach is as much for people watching as enjoying the sun and sand. tried a bit of body boarding and i don’t think i am primed for competition yet.







centro is the financial district of rio but also makes place for the city’s best churches, monuments and museums. we walked around it on a busy weekday and even got a chance to walk into the parliament of the state of rio de janeiro. A hop onto the bonde (old fashioned street car) and a nice bumpy ride brought us to the hilltop neighbourhood of santa teresa. dressed up in colonial and art deco architecture it is a very pretty place. we heard what could have been gunshots from the nearby favelas (slums) and had to make a hasty retreat before sundown.













lapa is the birthplace of samba and this is where we had the most fun. sidestreets lined with crazy clubs and bars. listening to the samba bands and the rhythm of the locals here can make a dead man dance. made us return here most nights!





we joined a random street party one evening on the edge of a lagoon (rodrigo de freitas) and fun it was! a slight drizzle, noisy band, crates of beer and partying people. can you ask for more?







sugarloaf (pão de açúcar) is a rock (a big one!) right near the beaches of rio and is a top tourist destination. after one aborted attempt due to low hanging clouds we did make it to the top (on cable car) to enjoy stunning view of the city and beyond.







corcovado, christ the redeemer, is the identifying image of rio. The 30 meter statue of Christ on a 710 meter mountaintop was built to mark the 100th anniversary of brazilian independence. the views of the city and beyond are surreal.







if you haven’t had enough of this city try jumping off a cliff and glide high above it. exactly what we did when we tried tandem hang gliding (it does take some guts once you look down the ramp!). we took off from "pedra bonita" (520 metres) and flew over the tijuca national forest and the ocean before landing on the sands of são conrado "pepino" beach. mindblowing and serene at the same time!





all good times come to an end (let’s call it a pause)! and its time for us to leave rio and head back to the real world.

sao paulo - it's a watermelon!

sao paulo, the largest city (~ 18 million people) in south america, overwhelms you with its sheer size (a taxi driver tried to explain it to us – “if new york is an egg, sao paulo is a watermelon”. he is right). this was a brief stop for me on my way to rio de janeiro. my cousin sri was waiting for me at the hotel after my endless taxi ride from the airport.



avenida de paulista, the most expensive real estate in latin america, is lined with shops and financial institutions. we walked around and had a quick bite on one of the streetside restaurants. it kinda seemed like we were in new york except that the signs were in portugese.





sao paulo has the largest japanese community outside japan (~ 2 million)! quite unbelievable. a walk to liberdade (little japan) gave us a feel that it was a pretty integrated community unlike in other places in the world.



the elegant iguatemi mall houses brands such as tiffany’s and rolex. once inside it’s hard to comprehend that brazil is a “developing” country!



next stop – rio de janeiro

england – take me north!

liverpool and manchester are rich with history and tradition and give you the “real” english experience. the weather adds to the charm – cold, dark and cloudy. drive away to the lake district and it gets sparser and exquisitely beautiful.



i was here to meet up with my cousin and her husband (mayuri and kiran) and we had a jolly good time! founded in the 13th century, liverpool is situated on the river mersey, near the irish sea. it houses an important port and has an heritage that attracts a lot of visitors (i would guess in the summer!). if you have heard of the beatles – they are the “sons of liverpool”







manchester, the industrial capital of england, is a vibrant city. the town center is charming and lively even on a cold winter evening.



we stayed near old trafford, home to the manchester united football team. the stadium (dubbed the “theatre of dreams”) built in 1910 is pretty as a peach and bears witness to the legends of soccer.







we ate and shopped at the trafford center, which is apparently europe’s largest shopping mall. Also a chance to watch the latest bollywood potboiler rang de basanti. highly recommended.





the lake district is riddled with picturesque villages against a scenic backdrop of mountains and pristine lakes. it is england’s “most celebrated, most visited and most hyped scenic area”. the great british poet william wordsworth hails from this part of england.



we drove up and stopped by the hillside hamlet of windermere. the villas, guest houses and shops draped in victorian architecture is a wonderful sight.







A drive down to bowness and a cruise on the windermere lake to the pretty town of ambleside exposes us to the picture postcard beauty of this place. have to come back to experience it in the summer.









would love to stay a little longer in the queen’s country but have to go! brazil beckons.