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.
It’s Copacabana beach, after all.
And then the clouds engulfed everything.