Carnival 2012

For the last 25 years I have spent one week each year in New Orleans, the Madi Gras party capitol of the states, but never experienced its madness. Less than a year in the southern hemisphere and I find myself with two girlfriends dancing through the streets of Rio de Jinero, Bazil's version of Mardi Gras times 10 

DAY 1: Santa Teresa, Centro, and villa

On our way, via ferry from Nitoroi to our first bloco (neighborhood Carnival street party) at Santa Teresa, the oldest barrio in Rio.  I had no idea what was coming

And here it is!

Barrio Santa Teresa:The oldest neighborhood in Rio. Normally quaint and quiet with cobblestone streets and colonial architecture....I did not see this Santa Teresa...I saw this!

Not sure exactly what was going on but it is the best kind of madness

Keeping up with the locals with a Capariani otter pop. Absolute brilliance! A drink in a cup would have been on the floor in seconds with this romping crowd...but in otter pop form....it was enjoyed in total!

These kids where keeping it real. Spidey and Superman sneak attacking unbeknownst passerbys with streams of water straight to the dome. 

Felt like Zaccheaous climbing a tree to get above the crowd to see Jesus, except there was no Jesus, just more partying crowd. 

The party people?

From Santa Teresa the parading crowd weaved its way down the hill catching glimpses of the sun setting over the bay along the way. At some point there was a long bathroom line, got taught a new form of "gettin' down" by a very large German fairy-man and took a break to seesaw.  

Even the church was lit up in its best for the occasion. 

And then we arrived to Carnival celebrations in the Centro!

a whole other step up!

some lovely transvestites showing the rest of us what Samba really looks like

our crew for the evening that miraculously kept on reconvening despite the eb and flow of the dancers 

Late night fuel: tasted like a fried quesadilla mixed with a pizza. Yup, that'll do the trick

Bibby in the Carnival sea

After bloco Centro, took a crowd-less stroll down Copacabana for a fresh coconut (plus some) to rehydrate and a Rio style pizza piled with corn (not suggested) to re-energize for bloco #3 of the day in some un-named villa with a spectacular view.

And then this snuck up on me....the sunrise.

Ready for Carnival day 2!

DAY 2

After a mere hour and a half of sleep I found myself decked in swim suit and tennies hiking (or more like crawling/climbing/dragging whit and myself) up a rock face with Elisa strong in the lead. Once I get the pics from this hike, they will be posted. It was possibly the most spectacular view of Rio I have seen... yes, even better than the post cards!Stunning!)

We chowed down on some of Elisa's mom's homecooked Brazilian cuisine of black beans sprinkled with farhina (a toasted onion and flour mixture that was a rain of magic), then once again hit the carnivaling streets. 

This time we chased the bloco along the beach stretch of Copacabana to Impanema. This beach bloco was more of an over run college party than anything resembling the classic Carnival as seen on TV. We started playing our version of slug bug, where rather than punching your car-mate every time you pass a beetle car, you point and gawk when ever spotting a passionately making-out couple....needless to say we were doing a lot of pointing and gawking. Weaving through the crowds you had to stay on alert to dodge the arms fishing through the crowd looking for a willing bate to hook and swoop into a make-out sess. It was dangerous out there!

 Taking a much needed beach break from the nonstop crowds plus an excuse for a capariani....

....oh wait....the crowds are here too! inescapable!

at least its a plethora for some quality people watching!

During our entire stint in Rio we were continually warned that attempting to score tickets to the Sambadrome parade (where the real-deal, as-seen-on-TV Carnival festivities take place) was nearly impossible, if not ridiculously expensive, and not worth the energy....boy were they wrong!

We rocked up and immediately did not regret the decision to go. The street surrounding the Sambadrome was lined with opportunities to see the elaborately costumed dancers and dolled up floats up close. 

But it got better....Within 5 mins of walking towards the entrance gates we scored 25 dollar seatsclose enough to see the sweat on the samba dancers foreheads. The drums started up their beats at 9pm and kept the dance party going till 6 in the morning! The stadium was packed with everyone sambaing along as the Samba schools rolled by strutting their stuff. 

All great events start with fireworks! 

Surprisingly, some of the best booty shakers of the night were platform booted men!

So many colors and sounds....it was a sensory overload of a parade. So much going on it was hard to know where to focus your eyes, especially when your feet are moving to the beat of the drummers the entire time.

4am...starting to fade but not giving up...must keep sambaing

We didnt get the bumble bee costume memo, but they were forgiving and sold us some of their beer and laughed at us as they tried to teach us the "simple" Samba step.

On our way out we snuck by the exit and found mountains of discarded costumes from the earlier Samba school participants who had de-robed and headed to the exclusive Samba fiesta. It was like a little girls dress-up closet but sweaty.

And got Bibby's #1 Carnival goal accomplished:

picture with Samba dancer...check! 

Strolling the streets mid morning on Sunday, for one last time, was like a leisure meander through a deserted battle scene where Skol beer cans were bullet shells and passed out party goers on the sidewalks the victims.

Thanks ladies for an unforgettable three day whirlwind and for not laughing at me too hard as I tried my darnedest to keep my feet in pace with the samba beat. 

In conclusion, while I can say I've danced Samba till the sun came up at Carnival 2012, I can not say I've been to the real Rio....it still remains top on my list of must see cities in South America!