We’ve been back from Rio de Janeiro since Wednesday, after a fun night sleeping in a dirty restaurant booth at the airport, followed by a 9 1/2 hour flight. Good times. (This bad attitude is exactly why I could never be a backpacker… or go camping.) Can’t complain too much, though, because our airfare from Mexico to Brazil was free! (Best. Deal. Ever.)
Now that we’re settled back into Cancun, I can go ahead and start showing photos of our belated honeymoon!
In Rio de Janeiro, we stayed in the Copacabana neighborhood right on the beach. Most hotels were fairly expensive despite not being very exciting-looking, and even a private room at a hostel would have run us upward of $80 US a night several blocks from the beach, and most were booked up. We were very lucky to find out about Gringo Management, who has many apartments for rent in the Copacabana and Ipanema areas for very cheap. Our apartment was on the 12th floor of an apartment building just half a block from the beach, for only $75 US a night! It looked recently redone, plus it had ocean views, Wi-Fi, cable TV, a kitchenette and a small but nice bathroom. We were pretty impressed with it. (Didn’t take any pictures of it, though… oops!)
The view from our window
Our first day in Rio, we spent the whole afternoon walking up and down the boardwalk. It’s a very long boardwalk and it took quite a few hours! The beach and boardwalk were packed that day because apparently it’s a holiday in Brazil. The main road (Avenida Atlantica) had been closed to traffic to allow for more pedestrians. It was a pretty awesome way to start our vacation! After a long walk, we fell asleep on the beach. (Hey, we were tired!)
We didn’t take any photos our first day because we wanted to just take it all in, but here are some photos of the Copacabana neighborhood from other days:
Overall we really enjoyed staying in Copacabana, especially on the busier holidays and weekend. The mountain views from the beach were amazing, especially after years in the flat, flat terrain of the Yucatan Peninsula. (**This was the first time Jorge had ever seen mountains.**) There were also tons of cool little bars along the boardwalk, where I ordered mostly caipirinhas and pizza!
In a few days I’ll blog about our morning at Christ the Redeemer! Stay tuned…
Gringation's Blog 
It looks great .. sun and white sand .. that’s what I love. I have always heard there is mucho crime there. Were you at any time worried being a tourist? Can’t wait to see more pics!
Good question! We had heard that there’s the occasional mugging, so we were pretty careful. We left our wedding rings in Cancun and we always made sure to split up our $$ when we went out. I’d read that you shouldn’t show off flashy or expensive things… which wasn’t hard, because we don’t really have any haha
We walked A LOT every day, especially after dark, and never once felt unsafe. There were always lots of people around, and we stayed in popular tourist areas. No problems here!
Thanks for the pics. No hay mas? No sacates de la comida o mercados? Como es la gente?
Yay! I have been (im)patiently waiting for the honeymoon recaps to begin! You’re looking mighty tan 😉
I am so glad you made it home, safe and sound!!
Rio looks lovely, can;t wait to see more photos 🙂
Beautiful! You look so cute in your little dress. Honeymooners!
Those mountains off the beach are surreal!! I’m jealous. I hope to one day go to an exotic place like this. It looks like a great start to your honeymoon, and I can’t wait to see more!
Rio continua linda (like they say). Glad you liked it.
Happy you’re back home!
I can’t wait to hear about the rest of your trip – everything looks so pretty so far (including the happy couple!)
Absolutely gorgeous- I can’t believe Jorge has never seen mountains before! I guess that’s the place to be if you’re going to see them, though 🙂
I love those pics! I just keep singing the song as I’m reading your posts. Now it is stuck in my head. Her name was Lola…
$80 for a hostel? You’re kidding? Prices like that and I think Rio will have to wait. By the way, in general, did the city feel safe? They always mention that there’s a lot of crime there.
Falling asleep on the beach? Not too shabby. 😉
And you look gorgeous, hun.