Brazil: Spring Break 2011 (Rio de Janeiro)

Back in March 2011, Peter and I went to Brazil for Spring Break with a bunch of other HBS kiddos.

It was the first time visiting South America for both of us, so we were pretty excited to see what Brazil had to offer and also to be able to check this continent off our list too haha.

After a nightmarish experience with US Airways and arriving in Brazil one day later than anticipated, we were just happy to have escaped the miserable cold winter of Boston (which literally lasted like 6 months in Winter 2011 I think).

After the amazing HBS trip we had in South Africa back in January, I would have to say this trip was definitely a "fail." Why? Well, part of it was our fault for not researching more, but when we signed up, we figured the organizers (HBS kids from Brazil) would have it all covered and ensure that we got in all the historical/cultural sights as well as eat all the yummiest local foods etc. Instead, it felt more like a Spring Break in Cancun during undergrad years, lots of time spent on beaches, sitting around drinking, party at someone's pool house and worst of all, the hotels were super subpar (sheets/pillow cases with odd stains and bugs--I seriously contemplated buying new sheets and blankets there if I could have) AND on top of all this, I cannot say we had an "authentic Brazilian" meal there that we had not had already in the U.S.!! Like the Brazilian Churrascaria places, one of our best meals in Brazil was near the end of the trip when Peter and I went off on our own to Fogo de Chao!!! I kid you not, and to think I could go to Fogo de Chao anytime I want in L.A. or in any of the other U.S. cities they're located in haha...

What was our favorite part of the trip? Hmm...probably drinking fresh fruit juices from the outdoor stands in the streets. I was worried I'd get super sick if the fruit was dirty or from unsanitary hands, but I actually was okay and got to enjoy tons of different fruit juice mixes.

The other problem Peter and I ran into was that we had been repeatedly warned about crime in Brazil and how it was really unsafe to go anywhere alone (even just the two of us), even in the daytime when a few of us went off on our own to tour Rio (during the pool party day at someone's house) we still felt worried about safety.

Anyhoo--Here are pics from our Rio de Janeiro stay:

Oh Katrina! We love you too!! hehe

On our way to the Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf Mountain) via cable cars--lets hope these things get their routine maintenance checks!!

Me--LA Dodgers Cap, Missoni-esque caftan/tunic (found this in LA at some random boutique, I don't do "similar" design copies but hadnt had any luck finding Missoni ones that weren't too long for me), Okabashi sandals and just a cotton Ron Herman Tinkerbell soft tote :)

Night View of Rio from Sugar Loaf Mountain!

Yes, we ate Japanese food in Rio!! Didn't know where to go for authentic Brazilian cuisine (that was safe to get to on our own etc)...

Surprisingly, it wasn't the worst Japanese food I've had and we didn't get sick or anything, BUT we did drop $200+ usd on dinner, totally unexpected spending on food in Brazil!!

We fit right in...right? (Adrian, Monica, Olga, Maliha, Me...and some random people walking by)

Inside the National Library--this was right before we were told we couldn't snap pics inside haha (with Monica, Olga and Maliha)

That day, Monica killed so many trees cos she kept stepping into wet muddy pools of water and splashing herself in the back of the leg (it was indeed a very odd thing since no one else seemed to have this problem hahaha) and needed endless tissues to wipe it off every few hundred feet... =)

We are not lost ;) (Olga and Adrian)

Meanwhile, we figured we'd help, by taking more photos (not something tourists would do) with Maliha and Monica :)

Peter wandering off on his own...

PZ--Zanerobe Purple tee, Penguin Plaid Shorts, Salvatore Ferragamo Brown Patent Strap Sneakers

And then there were 5...jk Peter's taking the pic =)

(Olga, Me, Monica, Adrian and Maliha)

Here's Adrian modeling for an ad for SKOL beer haha

We actually found some awesome photo ops for group shots, this one almost makes me feel like it's a promo pic for "Real World MTV..." or something haha

It was funny cos when we came past this area, all of us had the same idea for a photo op, so while Peter went off in search of someone to take our group pic (who would actually take the pic and not run off with his camera or something LOL)...we all got into position =)

This sand castle totally reminded me of Waikiki for some reason...

After much walking and exploring, we were famished and thankfully found ourselves at the Copacabana Palace Hotel Brunch Buffet! As soon as we all walked into the lobby of the hotel, we were like "hmm, why didn't we stay here instead?" haha...

As you can see, us girls wasted no time getting to the buffet table!

Me--Seneca Rising White-Blue romper with stud detailing (from my pals at Helianthus NY--love all their casual cute pieces, great price points too!!)

I would say though that the fruits and cold dishes were much better than the hot items at the buffet, but we weren't complaining =)

Well, what I meant to say is that at the Copacabana Palace Hotel's buffet, we discovered THE MOST AMAZING mango!!! I think I actually stumbled upon it cos I thought it was sweet potato/yams in this other dish, turned out to be mango and was oh-so-sweet!! I let Peter try a bit and he basically made a mad dash to the mango plate and soon everyone else on our table caught on and became as addicted as we were.

Here's Peter quite pleeased with how he stuffed his plate with mango LOL

PZ--Zanerobe Purple tee, Harvard vintage distressed cap

One of my favorite shots, Peter's expression (as Monica reaches over to take some mango) is priceless!!!

And if our table already hadn't caused enough of a scene, running around and making multiple trips to devor the mango plate each time they replenished it, I went and asked them to just slice up as much mango as they could for us at our table...and I think we basically cleaned out the mango stash at the Copacabana Palace Hotel that day...hey, it was like a $100 usd buffet (in BRAZIL nevertheless!!) so we felt we had to eat our moneys worth...in MANGO!!!

Tram ride up to see the Christ the Redeemer :) (Katrina and Carl)

View from up top :)

Peter and I trying to replicate the pose :)

And ofcourse after all that "sightseeing" we were famished and guess what we found at the little cafe stand? MANGO!! (not quite as delicious as the one from the Copacabana Palace Hotel, but still very very sweet and yummy!!)

Tram ride back down with Rafael and Rica getting into the groove of things (there were some musicians on board keeping us entertained haha)

3 Comments

Thanks guys! Yes, we made it to South America and back all in one piece haha.

The picture taking skills belong to my boyfriend, Petah.

The camera is a Nikon D7000 I believe and in auto mode with no flash LOL...we're actually super newbies, so we have a great camera but we're still learning hehe

Posted by: Cory Style | January 20, 2012 at 10:34 PM