Day 3, Part 2/3: Samba Parade

The Samba parade is the highlight of Carnaval. There are nearly 200 samba schools in Brazil, and here, at Carnaval, the top 12 compete for number ONE! Six schools parade on parade night one, and another six schools on parade night two. The are judged on things like color, creativity, fan response, etc. Locals usually favor one school and cheer for them, wave their flag, wear their shirt, etc. The parade is held in the Sambadrome, about 850m long.






(Sorry for the crap pictures... They just don't do it justice!)





This is just one section of 15! You can see the parade through the middle (the bright colors, from left to right: white, red, orange, yellow, white...)





Floats are huge!!!





Very intricate floats!





Many themes!





Douglas & Marcelo!






Rainbow snow crabs...

ALL THOSE FLOATS (and that's not even all of them!)... AND THATS ONLY THE FIRST SCHOOL! That's right! Each school has 6-8 floats, and 3500-4500 people in the parade. Their part has to be between 1h05m and 1h22m (nothing that crosses the "finish" after an hour and twenty two minutes counts for points).

School two was our favorite:






So colorful! This one has two large snails pulling it...







Cute little "Nemo's" (and they had lady bugs, butterflies, grasshoppers...)






A man flying out of a canon ball!





They are huge - this is one of my favorites!




See the three green shaggin wagon vans? And the two red punch buggies on top of them? They were all over the float!




So sad; at the end of the parade line they just trash all the costumes! :(





Manu, Natalia, Douglas & Marcelo




Us fabulous ladies!!!



Our ultimate favorite float.... Tiered layers of pianos spinning in all directions!


Close up of one half.


No festival this cool is complete without condom balloons flying around!!! Lmao!



Whoop whoop!

Continued in Part 3...

Day 3, Part 1/3: Holy the Redeemer

This morning we were on our way at 7am, to get up to "Holy the Redeemer" before it opened to the public. A bit of a cloudy day, but it was still 27 and barely enough drops to call rain.



The train station to Corcovado ("hunchback") mountain; you can see the little red train in the back middle.

Corcovado is one of the seven natural wonders of the world, as it is 780m of solid granite. Also, the
rail line was the first electric rail line in Brazil.


Christ the Redeemer is made of soap stone and took five years to build; the base is made of black granite. His arms are open, welcoming everyone to Rio who enters Guanbara Bay. It is one of the only articles where Jesus is not weeping or sad.


View from above, looking towards Flamengo area (our hotel).


View from above. (The large ring is a horse racing track)


View from above, towards Copacabana beach.

After "Holy the Redeemer!" it was back to bed (at 10:30am!) to prepare for tonight's festivities, the first portion of the parade, starting at 9pm and lasting until 3:30am!


<3 Krystle

Day 2: Fun In The Sun

Up at 7:45am, breakfast, and then off to discover Rio de Janeiro.



Ipanema Beach, and the infamous portrait mountain.


Ipanema Beach





Looking towards Copacabana area.


View of Ipanema beach from "the Rock."


Cacti flowers






Marco, the Carnaval dog!


Copacabana beach & street party (or the early beginnings of). Costumes are just starting to roll in.


Amazing sand castles on Copacabana beach.


+30 degrees.



We took the Metro to Maracana stadium, where the FIFA World Cup final game will be held! Gorgeous stadium, originally built in 1950 to hold 20,000 people, now holds 80,000 people.


All jersey-ed up! Go Flamengo Go!


Notice the chairs in the stadium are painted yellow and blue. This is because, when Brazil lost to Uruguay in the FIFA World Cup, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro painted all the seats Uruguays color so the people of Brazil "would never forget their loss." He has vowed not to change them until Brazil wins the World Cup. (This year it is expected that Uruguay and Brazil may be in the final together again)