I do love the amount of beach volleyball nets, soccer goalposts, drag queens doing dreadlocks for people, and such an array of skin colours, white to black and everything in between. I feel safe enough here, but wary. Walking around with as little as possible is really great and there's lots to look at.
Tonight we watched someone park their car in a seemingly-impossible spot between 2 other cars. He did like 25 manoeuvres, crunching into the car in front and behind more than once. But..in the end, he did it! I was told that most people leave their parking brakes off in their cars for that very reason. I would have never believed it until I saw it with my own eyes.
The food here is fabulous. Yesterday we had lunch and a churrascaria. You have a plate. You get salad, rice, and heaps of other food and then sit down and there is an onslaught of MEAT brought to the table on giant skewers. You get tiny tongs, and hold a bit of meat when they slice it with a huge knife (think machete) onto your place. so much meat and so delicious. We have also eaten at a weigh-your-plate place. You help yourself to whatever, then they weigh your plate, and you pay per 100g. Lunch today for both of us, plus 2 Cokes, was less than $16. Love it.
Traffic is absolute chaos. There are lines painted on the road...but i have no idea why. No-one follows in their lanes, they change without indicating, and they tend to drive wherever they like. I have had my eyes closed on more than one car ride!
Sugarloaf Mountain.....cable car....again, heaps of tourists but fantastic views. Halfway up the mountain you change cable cars and there are restaurants and even a disco on that level. People were partying hard in there at only 2pm!
People here are fairly friendly but not a lot of English spoken, so be warned! learn a bit of Portugese before you visit. They are getting ready for the Olympics and the World Cup, I have no idea how people will get around then, they are just crazy about football (soccer) here.
