Rainy Rio

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Gratuitous rainforest mammal. (Good name for a band)

My mission in Rio was simple: escape winter. The plan was formed after enduring the piercing, freezing wind of Nurnberg in October. As the chill followed me to Berlin and Prag, I booked the first leg of my mileage run as a summer week on Copacabana beach. I was also looking forward to:

  • Sunny beaches
  • Cristo Redentor and Pao de Azucar hill
  • Pao de Queijo
  • Brazilian Portuguese

Sunny Beaches

I had visions of myself becoming lean and bronzed, erasing my ghostly beer belly. (Though I would probably clear out the beach for the first afternoon.) Between relaxing walks in the sand, I would visit the majestic Cristo Redentor sculpture Pao de Azucar hill. From these iconic vantage points, I would take gorgeous photos of the translucent turquoise ocean and the green offshore islands dramatically lit with soft morning light or striking ruby sunsets.

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It’s Copacabana beach, after all.

And then the clouds engulfed everything.

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