A Carioca Sunday

Sunday, July 17, 2011

I'm told that we just spent a typical Carioca Sunday. If that is true, they really know how to live! We all slept in, then Brian and Brenda made the daily jaunt to the bakery down the street for a variety of great pastries. When we finished brunching, Brenda hit the beach and the rest of us went to the Hippie Fair. This takes place every Sunday and fills up a park. There are all sorts of vendors selling wonderful things at great prices and in the center are all sorts of lovely art works for sale. 

After Brian and I had seen all we wanted to, we sat on a bench and watched the locals enjoying the beautiful day, while Jason haggled over a painting. He has been haggling with the artist for a whole month, and still thinks he can get a better deal.

 We then strolled over to the Ipanema Beach and found a spot to sit, drink caiparinhas, and watch the crowds on the beach. We decided that we should mosey along if we were going to get a table somewhere to watch the Brazil/Paraguay soccer game. Jason took us to a place he knows and ran into some friends. These friends told him that they had just seen Brenda looking for us, so we waited while he went back to the Hippie Fair and found Brenda.

 There was a very small town feeling to the whole business. We then took a really wild taxi ride to the Leblon area, found a restaurant for a Brazilian meal and watched the first half of the game. At that point we hopped in a cab, came back to Copacabana and went to a cafe for more caiparinhas and the rest of the game. And that is how the Carioca's spend Sundays!