Party night in Lapa

Every town has its area or suburb that is renowned for its party. In Rio, the place is the area of Lapa (no, not a braai place :) ). It is in the central area of Rio and borders the CBD. Sandy lived in Rio for a year and told me that this was the place to be on Friday night. I did a good job of spreading the word among the sailors and we had a whole group going.

I started off with the guys from Hot Ice and we trundled into a small street (one of the other guys had been here before) that looked quite local (code for a bit run down with a great atmosphere). We walked to Sala Cecilia Meiteles (steps that are very colourful and decorated with tiles that have been donated from almost every country in the world) where we sat down to have supper at a small restaurant. Prices are really good here :)

After supper with a Caparinha in the hand, we were joined by two gorgeous girls that the skipper of Hot Ice met on Copacabana. Unfortunately only one spoke English. They convinced that group that a Salsa club was the best option, but Hans and I thought otherwise. The local scene was a much more attractive, so we took to exploring the streets. We ended up under the aqueduct in Lapa and got informed by some locals that the “lady” dancing in front of use was in fact a “she-male”. Jikes, they disguise them selves well!

Later we met up with a younger crowd of SA sailors. Back at to the Aqueduct for some dancing, we met up with some South African girls (Carol & co.) who are working on cruise liners. After having a wallet stolen and an attempt on .. necklace, we decided this was a good time to go home.

We commandeered a minibus and piled in, Africa style :) We might have overloaded the minibus, as the cops were close by when we stopped and started to write the driver a ticket. NMP, so we went to sleep. Needless to say that the hangover was quite bad as our main alcoholic intake for the evening was Caparinha’s (Cachaca – Sugar cane spirit, Lime & Sugar).

The street where it all began; The “Sala Cecilia Meiteles “ steps

Supper

 
Our South African cruise liner friends :) Me, Carol & her friend

University tour

When you go to a different country, it is usually to get away from the stuff you are used to back home…like university. But for some reason we are always intrigued to see how things are done in other places. Since Adriana is a metallurgical engineer, I just had to go see what her work looks like. She is currently doing research on corrosion of pumps used to move crude oil from the offshore Brazilian mining fields to the land (if you didn’t know, Brazil does not depend on the middle east for its oil. They get it locally, even though the fuel prices don’t reflect this), which she does at Cidade Universitaria in the North of Rio.

We arrived by bus. This was another wild ride. I think everyone on the roads think they can drive like Senna. The lady on the bus was very helpful to make sure we got off at the right stop. As we were a bit early, we had a quick tour of Adriana’s building with has been newly build and sponsored by Petrobras (the Brazilian oil company). There is a pond in front of the building which is a clever design by the architect. They need to have a certain amount of water in case a fire breaks out, so there is a Koi pond in front of the building which serves this purpose.

After a quick look inside, we went for lunch. Everything is very modern inside with a card system to pay for your meal. Dish up what you want and then only pay for the weight. So meat works out quite cheap…score! For company we had Adriana’s friends from university: Tozelli, Andrea & Sergio. By this time a felt quite at home, since I’ve come from a university environment.

Adriana was able to organise a tour of the ocean lab. This isn’t part of the university, but on the same piece of land. The idea is to keep the academics and industry close together. This place was truly impressive. They have a huge tank (40x30x15m, with an additional 10m depth via a shaft) with a whole bunch of automated paddles on the one side. These paddle can be programmed to generate any type of wave. 6 pumps are located outside (to be installed this year) which control the current a various levels and control the tide. And to top it all off, a wind machine. So they are able to recreate any sea-state they wish! We were lucky to be there as they were doing a confidential commercial test while we were there.

Sergio gave us a lift to the ocean lab, but there was no regular bus service. So we had to walk halfway back to Adriana’s lab before we could get a bus. And it was incredibly hot!

Back at the metallurgical department, we went around the building. Now I am not a metallurgical engineer, but if I was….I’d be drooling over the equipment that they had. Adriana is doing a lot of work with an X-ray defractometer, which she pretty much has to herself! They have at least one electron microscope, multiple stress testing equipment and more. I can’t ever remember everything. If this is your field, try to do some research at this facility! It isn’t very pretty outside, but I’m certain one can look past that.

Sergio was kind enough to give us a lift home in his car. So all 5 of us squeezed in and off we went.

The building where Adriana’s works.

 

Inside & outside of the cafeteria

Outside the ocean lab. No photos allowed inside..sorry

Dye from the heat while walking back (all buildings have AC)

One of the labs in A’s building; The locals: From left Adriana, Tozelli, Andrea and Sergio; I’m standing in front of a tank that is used for blast testing. The last test shook the whole building. People thought there was an earthquake :)

Local football

There were a couple of complementary tickets supplied by the ICRJ (Iate Club do Rio de Janeiro – Yacht Club of Rio de Janeiro), which included a football match being played by the local club, Botafogo (where ICRJ is situated).
I mentioned this match to Adriana at supper and she was super excited to join as her team (Fluminese) was to play against Botafogo. So I wangled an extra ticket for her. Not knowing much about the local football, and partly because of Adriana’s insistence, we supported Fluminese.

We were concerned that we would be a bit late, so we took a taxi. This guy was great. He had a mini TV in the cab so we, and he, could watch the other game (Flamenco) and he ran some red lights (that were obviously safe to cross) to get us there on time. I’m glad to report that his efforts were not in vain, as we made it just on time….and in one piece :)

Due to fans becoming quite violent, the spectators are separated. For some unknown reason we got seated with the Fluminese fans, which didn’t bother us too much :)

The stadium was only partly full, probably about 40-50%. The atmosphere was awesome though. And here I noticed why the spectators get separated…people from Latin decent are quite fiery :)

At home you always notice how the refs try to keep their cool, remain professional and try not to get involved (most of the time). But this ref was like a primadonna! He was almost more emotional than the players. You know how football players always crowd the ref when a card is about to be given…well this ref lost it. He looked like a child throwing a fit. By the end of the game I thing he had given 10 cards…with 3 of them within 60sec of the initial infringement. It looked like a poker game in a casino :) I’m not sure if this is because of the ref or the fans, but at every interval there are guards that come to protect the ref & linesmen.

The game did not have the outcome we were hoping for as Fluminese lost 2-3. Most of the locals were so upset with the ref’s performance that some were waiving money or wallets and some were throwing cans at the ref. Quite a sight, but I can’t blame the supporters. The ref was shocking!

As I had never taken public transport in Rio before, I suggested we use it. It was already quite late, but this did not deter us. One train and a Metro (subway) later, we were in Botafogo. Adriana had to go home as she was working the next day, but we were hungry. After consulting some high-tech watches, we strolled down an unassuming road. There we found an awesome local pizza place…and cheap (close to the corner of Rue Sao Clemente and the beach rd). We fed 6 of us with 2 Caparinha’s (a local drink) for R$30 each! Bargain :) Take in to account we only sat down at 1am! and the place was buzzing.

This was a great night! and I got to do two of the things I was looking forward to.

The stadium

  

Security. There are about 10 dogs on each side of the pitch

Leroy with a passionate team supporter; Ryan, Leroy & me; Me & Adriana. Gillian & Ian in the background.

  They have even named a street in Rio after Nelson Mandela :)

 Some random hot chick willing to take a photo with me :)

The ultimate steak house

In any city, locals are your key to a good time. Nick, our delivery skipper for Xtra-Link, knows a local girl named Adriana. So instead of just the two of them getting together, he invited all of us along for supper. The restaurant was Adriana’s suggestion and called Porçao. This is an upmarket buffet type restaurant, but its focus is meat!

 

 

The idea is pretty simple. If you want meat you flip a card next to your plate to “Sim” (Yes in green) which tells the waiters that you want more meat. Each waiter has a different piece of meat on a skewer (sometimes more pieces cooked to various degrees) and cuts it off as you desire. You are also issued a small picture of where the various piece of meat come off the animal (mostly beef), so if you’re Portuguese is non-existent you can still get what you want. Once you feel you plate is full enough, or can’t keep up with the pace of new meat, you flip your card to “Nâo” (No in red).

As Hans is a vegetarian the thought of going to a steakhouse was a bit of a problem, but their fish is good too (at least that is what I gather from Hans as he didn’t complain).

To make sure I got a bit of a balanced intake I set off to the table containing greens. There is quite a selection including sushi to choose from. I came back with cheese, sushi, tomato, some salad and (this is where I failed) salami :) At least I tried to make my mom proud.

While walking out, we saw their whiskey bar. It appears that you buy your own bottle and drink it when you feel like. It looks like Johnny Walker is quite popular here.

The collection of Johnny Walker Red & Black label, with what appears to be people’s names on them.

Initial impressions of Rio

Arriving in Rio I was very tired as we sailed through the night, so these impressions might not be totally accurate.

The yacht club in in the middle of the river mouth, just under Sugarloaf mountain. The mountains have very steep edges and are very dark. For some reason, I had this idea in my mind that Rio’s surroundings weren’t very high. Boy was I wrong. The mountains are high, with Christ the Redeemer on a mountain that looks surreal. I have no idea how they got all the cement up there.

We took a taxi to Copacabana beach as Dale and Hans wanted to sleep in a hotel after the long voyage. We took a taxi there, which was a truly scary experience! The drivers in Rio make minibus taxi’s back home look like old ladies. They drive in a very fluid manner, so they change lanes quickly and mostly without warning. Close calls with busses is the norm! If I end up getting my own transport, I’ll try not to drive in Rio. These guys are crazy :)

I was expecting the people to be more laid back (like at the yacht club), but instead they seem wound up. I understand that Latin-American people are passionate & hot tempered, and that is true here.

The sailing is incredibly well organised here. There are aircraft hangers full of Oppie’s, Laser’s, 420’s and others. And I say a bit motor yacht give way to a bunch of Oppie’s…as it should be :)

 

Nick and Phillippa, our delivery crew, have arrived. They sail an Class 40 yacht (Phesheya-Racing) in Europe and are raising funds to take part in the Global Ocean Race starting in September 2011. Great people & really hope they are able to raise the funds.

So in a nut shell, Rio is not what I was expecting. However, I think after some much needed sleep I will like it.