It's a nice day in Rio, even when it rains!

As our friends at home are experiencing record low temperatures and loads of snow, and the iguanas are falling out of the trees in Florida, we are sweating buckets in Rio. It's super hot here! We have tried to walk earlier each day, but it is 27 degrees at 7:00 am. The sunshine is out until mid-late afternoon, then the clouds roll in, and the showers start. It has suited us quite well as we are usually ready to get out of the sun when the bad weather hits. This is very typical of a tropical rainy season. We've been caught out in the rain a few times, but since it is so warm, it hasn't bothered us at all. Today the sun was shining, and it started to rain. Everybody just stayed put on the beach, some under umbrellas, some swimming, and some just sitting out enjoying the rain. What a far cry from Canada, where beach showers send the crowds running.

Our morning walks and coconuts. Today we saw an ice sculpture counting down until the start of the Olympics! Lots of people are out playing beach soccer in the mornings.

It is incredible all of the setup for Carnaval. One of the areas on the beach in Copacabana
stretches about 4 city blocks at least.

We figured it was best to head out to see the world-famous Christ the Redeemer statue first thing in the morning to try and avoid the heat, but I'm not sure it made that much of a difference to get up at the crack of dawn. We did want to see it in the sunshine, and we were in luck! The morning was clear and beautiful. We took one of the first cog trains up the steep 700 metre hill and found lots of people already at the top. Although it is tough to get a picture of the statue without the crowds, we managed to get some great, nearly solo, shots of one of the new 7 Wonders of the World and incredible views of Rio and the islands beyond. We were lucky to be at the front of the train on the way back down and captured a time-lapse video of the entire trip. There is a huge Catholic population where we are staying, and Leblon essentially shuts down on Sundays. The 3 lane road along the beach is closed, and everyone is out walking, running and biking. The vendors set up along the roadway offering drinks and snacks, and the beach is exceptionally busy on Sundays.

A beautiful panorama of the view!

Shocking to get this shot without many people in it!

Us with the Christ the Redeemer statue.

Leblon road closed on Sundays, and the beautiful patterns on the boardwalks along the beach. There are always fellows fixing them. 

Since it was cloudy out, we took a "free walking food tour" in upscale Barra da Tijuca and Isla da Gigoia and learned loads of historical facts about Brazil, Barra da Tijuca, Rio, slavery, the favelas, and, of course, food. We even saw the hotel owned by the now jailed ex-president Jair Bolsonaro. One of the things we learned is that many of the Brazilian foods need to be mixed together to enjoy their full flavour, rather than being eaten separately. Eduardo, our guide, mentioned that visitors have asked him, "Why do people like eating sand in Brazilian meals"? He explained that although farofa does look like sand, it is intended to be mixed with the rice, beans, sauces and maybe eggs to add to the texture of the dish. Mixing the side dishes really did make a difference in the flavours. If you are someone who doesn't like their different foods touching, such as Mark's dad, Brazilian food may not be the right choice for you! The first dish we had was a very old dish consisting of dehydrated meat and cassava cooked in a buttery sauce. It was my favourite and was the Brazilian version of slow-roasted beef and mashed potatoes with butter. Years ago, cattle ranchers would salt the meat and dry it in the sun to preserve it. It was then boiled before it was to be eaten. We have tried some of the famous brazilian barbecued meats since being here, and we were waiting to eat fajoida, which is Brazil's national dish. It is a rich, slow-cooked Brazilian stew made primarily of black beans and a variety of pork and beef, such as smoked sausage, bacon and dried beef. The stew is served with rice, farofa, collard greens and orange slices. This is a very hearty meal and is usually enjoyed on the weekends. All the restaurants claim to have the best fajoida. Lastly, we tried a variation of risotto made with rice and cream cheese, served with meat in a red wine sauce. This risotto-like dish was Mark's favourite.  We learned about Carlota Joaquina  (Queen consort of Portugal and Brazil) and her affinity for Brazilian sugarcane liquor used to make Brazil's signature drink, caipirinha. Mark can't get enough of the potent lime forward drinks, but when I asked for mine without alcohol, the waiter smirked and said, well that is basically lime juice. 

The vendors cook this cheese in little grills on the beach, like the top right photo. We really wanted to try it, but thought it a little questionable on the beach, so we bought it at the grocery store and grilled it ourselves. It was delicious! It reminded us of halloumi cheese. 

We will see what tomorrow's weather brings. Cloudy means a trip into Centro, Brazil's downtown area and sunny means we will have to tough it out another day on the beach. Either way, we are definately not dealing with any snow or falling iguanas!