Rio Pao de Acucar

This morning, we took one last bike ride before we had to return our bikes. We rode the opposite direction along Copacabana all the way to Morro do Leme. We drank some delicious coconut water, which I wish I could drink every day, and watched the waves crash. We also watched some school kids play beach volleyball and thought about how amazing it would be to live here. It's just so gorgeous everywhere you look! The incredible thing to think about is that there are favelas (slums) that hug the mountains and hills all over, even on Copacabana. Of course, it doesn't really diminish the difficulties of poverty, but if I had to be poor, what a blessing to be poor in such an amazing place. We rode back near our hotel so Ryan could go body surfing. Once he got a feel for how the waves broke, he was really good at it. It was so funny to see him with arched back sticking his torso out of the water. I don't know how he does it so well. I've never seen anyone catch waves likes he does. We took showers and checked out the latest time possible. We left our bags at the hotel, grabbed some lunch, walked around, and then caught a bus to Pão de Açucar. We rode the tram to the first stop and spent too much time watching the super cute micos (small monkeys) and eating ice cream and fruta do conde. When we finally arrived at the top, the photographing began. I'd wanted to get to scene with various lighting, but especially sunset and evening. Because it was overcast, the sunset wasn't spectacular and because I forgot my tripod, it was tricky. I used chairs, railings and the floor to get the best pix I could under the circumstances. Ryan was patient and didn't rush me, which was great. By the time we were went back to the lower stop, hardly anyone was there so we goofed around taking some self-timed shots and just talking while taking in the view. It was a great way to end our stay. We got a taxi to take us back to the hotel and then to the bus station, which was in the oppsite direction. We negotiated a flat fee, which ended up being great because traffic was horrible. It was the beginning of a big holiday weekend so everyone was trying to leave town. We had a good chat with the cab driver, and Ryan ended up giving him a pretty fat tip. The backpacker in me was not happy with that, but it was fun to see the cabbies surprised face and gratitude. The bus station was more crowded than I'd ever seen it. Bus travel in Brazil is huge! It made me happy that we didn't have the kids with us. After another long night on the bus we arrived in Franca where we missed our connection to Cassia by five minutes. We got some snacks, Ryan read his iPod, and I brushed on all the soccer teams in this year's Copa do Mundo.