Brazil - the inside scoop - Part I

Accidents will happen

Isn't it remarkable the things you discover by accident?  I'd said in a previous blog about Monaco that

Texas passes for the USA GP 2013

my entire life changed in 2003 by accidentally turning right instead of left, and another accident that's had a profound impact on my life was going to Brazil - by accident.  It rather took me by surprise to note that my 1st time in Brazil was only 7-years ago at the 2013 Brazilian Grand Prix.  I have been so often now that it feels much longer ago I had initially traveled there.  The 2013 season had a back-to-back final two races, Austin on November 17th and Interlagos on November 24th, so as I was in "The Americas" and given one of my stated ambitions is to tick off all of the F1 events on the calendar (almost there now) and given I had guests in Austin it all seemed to make perfect sense to go to Interlagos and "tick it off".

I'd actually had rather a nice time in Texas, I arrived early and went to NASA in Houston (nerd), San Antonio to visit the Alamo and Riverwalk and ended in Austin for the GP.  The race weekend was a lot of fun with the guests we had there and when the F1 was all over I was to fly from Austin to Miami to Rio de Janeiro.  From memory it was with United Airlines and was a particularly uncomfortable 10-hour-overnight job to Brazil, but anyway, Tuesday the 19th of November I would land at early-o-clock into Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro 

I was probably slightly more familiar with Brazil than non-F1 fans, since I've been watching F1 has always featured both a Brazilian Grand Prix (initially in Jacerapagua now Interlagos) and loads of Brazilian drivers, some of whom aren't too shabby.  Emerson Fittipaldi (2 time champ), Nelson Piquet (3 time champ) and of course, the legendary Ayrton Senna da Silva.  I'd watched all of them, didn't care much for Piquet as he was a douchebag to Nigel but had a soft spot for Ayrton even though he was Mansell's main opposition.  I recall, quite vividly actually when he complained to FISA about pole being on the wrong side and that if they didn't change it he's simply not brake - then he did it.  I remember watching that at early-o-clock and being absolutely gobsmacked when he did exactly what he said he would do, and the confusion as to whether he would be allowed to keep the title or not.  Much like Schumacher who'd come onto the scene a few years later, cut from the same cloth of win-at-all-costs, and whilst I didn't and don't condone some of their actions, I understood that in the heat-of-battle errors in judgement were made.  Anyway, back to Brazil, I know slightly more about the place because of my F1 nerdibility, that being said and I have tried many times to quantify in my own mind the reasons, but Copacabana and Rio de Janeiro seemed....seemed to me like somewhere I'd never go it was somewhere 'out-of-reach'.  Maybe because of Ronnie Biggs, I can remember seeing Copacabana used on news footage whenever his

Ronnie in Rio 

name was mentioned and Rio seemed somewhere that I wouldn't ever visit.  Whilst I've been on longer flights and been to far less tourist-centric countries, there was a real incredulousness about my being in Brazil and there is still a part of me thinks like that.  It might be the same part that wonders aloud and often how on earth I ended up running my own F1 travel company, but nonetheless, being in Rio was really quite exciting to me.  I had, sadly, bought into the 'danger' hype that surrounds Brazil and in my mind I was expecting the place to be a cross between a Dundee housing estate in the 80's and the Wild West....(some might say those are one and the same).  You know, full of bandits and criminals just waiting for an unsuspecting gringo to cross their path so they can mug/rape/murder/kidnap/all of the above you.  What I have come to find during my dozens of visits is that Rio is very much like my own wee city, there are places it is wise not to venture late at night and there are other areas which are fine, I've found this to be the case no matter where I've been in the world, yet somehow Rio, very unfairly, has this rep about being a no-go-zone.

Her name was Lola.....

Avenue Atlantica and Copacabana from the rooftop of hotel

Anyhoos, I'd now landed in Rio, collected my case and jumped in a taxi to my hotel which was to be on Copacabana beach, namely The Miramar.  The cab ride from GIG airport to the beachfront is interesting, Favela's line the motorway and there is very little by way of 'sights' from the back seat of a yellow cab charging lane-to-lane on the highway route.  However, give it 45 minutes or so until you arrive to Copacabana via the crazy roads and tunnels and you are greeted with the most spectacular jaw-dropping natural beauty you'll see in any country.  Avenue Atlantica is the main road that runs parallel with Copacabana beach and when the taxi driver turned onto this road, and again I cannot really quantify this, but it seemed quite familiar.  The arc of the white sandy beach and the bluest of blue Atlantic Ocean lapping and an eclectic mix of buildings, some almost art-deco and some truly hideous late 60's slabs of grey concrete.  But the beach is just beautiful, nothing really I can liken it to because, somewhat ironically, I hate the beach.  All that bloody sand gets everywhere, like who wants to wake up in the morning with sand in their nether regions and all over the bed?  I am also not really one for lying about in the sun....so maybe going to a place iconic for beaches was a mistake?

So, I get to the hotel and am checked in promptly even though it is early in the morning.  Went for a

One of my favourite places in the world 

wee disco-nap, unpacked then headed to the pool on floor 16 of the hotel.  The rooftop of The Miramar is a spectacular little haven with an infinity pool, restaurant, bar and loungers.  Again, I'm not a particular sun-worshiper (hence my perma-peely-wally-skin-tone) but found myself at ease on the lounger of the hotel. I had taken a couple of books, my noise-cancelling headphones (normally reserved for screeching bairns on planes) and as usual in spite of me having more factor 30 than Superdrug, I'd forgotten my sun tan lotion.  I left my stuff on the lounger, went to get some factor 30 at the pharmacy on the corner and then back to this little haven of Rio.  I instantly felt comfortable, again I'm not normally one for sitting about in the sun, but I think a combination of "man, I am in Rio!", and "what am I doing in Rio?" and "Wow, this is RIO" was all dawning on me, but few places I have been to felt so instantly "right" as this did.  You know when you travel there are places that grow on you, places you don't care much for and once-in-a-while there are places that just jump out at you?  I've had the 'jump-out' thing in Sydney on my 1st visit, New York on my 1st visit, of course I had it on my 1st

visit to Monaco.  For me, Rio de Janeiro fell into this category of somewhere I had been excited to go to, did not disappoint from 1st impressions and felt right from day 1.  It is an an almost child-on-Christmas-day-excitement combined with a curious feeling of wellness and complete familiarity, don't know, maybe it is just me who gets this but having traveled rather a bit, the four places I've specified are the only 4 I got this feeling for, and Singapore too which didn't instantly hit me like this but grew on me with each visit.  All of the aforementioned places I've been I had seen on T'internet, I mean, who hasn't seen The Opera House, NYC Skyline, the Monaco hairpin and Christ the Redeemer?  Of course, seeing these iconic places in the flesh is far more visceral than looking at them on a screen, or back from the black-and-white-non-internet-days, seeing them on a postcard.  (Not that my mum & dad knew anyone who'd been to any of the places mentioned!)

Nirvana 

Back to my contented-excited-bewildered sun lounger, I would sup a couple of cocktails then went for the local "caipirinha".  Little known fact outside of Brazil, they have their own "whisky", a distilled alcohol named cachaca made from fermented sugar cane.  I've since gone onto find that much like whisky, you get good stuff and not so good stuff.  A capipirinha consists of few ingredients, just cachaca, sugar, fresh limes (mushed) and ice.  One of those 'easy-to-drink' cocktails which sneaks up on you, chilling on the lounger in 30 degrees or so scoofing several was fine and dandy until it was time to go for the loo and my legs wanted to go in a different direction to the rest of me.  I recall staggering to the loo smirking to myself "man, I'm pished".....so when I got back I did the only logical thing to sober myself up and cannon-balled into the infinity pool.  Scattered bairns everywhere.....ahhh....caiphirinas.  Oh, turns out you can also get caipirinhas whilst in the pool, the rest of my day was sorted as I was getting baked by the sun and smashed with the cachaca on this random rooftop in Rio de Janeiro.  I genuinely considered, and still do to this day, life does not get any better than this and the rooftop of the Miramar remains one of my favourite places to be.

As the evening drew in I headed back to the room, freshened up and with a caipirinha filled bravado thought; "I''m going oot".  I was aware of the danger because it is reported so much but went down a

Am I pished or is that made oot of sand??

wandering along Copacabana.  Had a couple of beers and a bite to eat, had another couple of beers and staggered back to the hotel late-ish.  And guess what happened?  Nothing.  I had beer and food and walked home....end of story.  I have repeated this exercise now countless times, well, if I was to count I'd say well over 150 times and guess what - same result....nothing happened except a drunk peely-wally-Scotsman got more drunk until his home-radar pinged and he went up the road.....and not a single soul raped/mugged/kidnapped/murdered or even sexually assaulted him.  (Not for the lack of trying on the last one btw)  So, you can believe the bullshit you hear or take it from someone who isn't known for being the most compos-mentis with too much beer, the 2 million plus people who visit Rio annually mainly come home with zero bad experiences.  Of course, much like Rome, Barcelona or any tourist-driven-city, there are douchebags waiting to take advantage of the tourist, but Rio is no worse than many places I've been and in fact, probably safer than several cities I've been to.

Misguided 

During my many overseas Adventures, I have discovered two great ways to see the historical sights of cities I visit.  I don't normally have loads of time as I am normally only there for a few days pre/post Grand Prix.  One way (and I heartily recommend this to everyone) is to go on a guided Segway tour; what a hoot these things are and you actually traverse miles of the city in a short space of time.  The other option is to get a guide to take you around.  Rio had no Segways so I booked a tour with a charming fellow by the name of Madison.  He would take me around the world famous sights of Rio and explained, in detail, each of the attractions.

My photo from 2013 of the iconic statue 

Visit one, early in the morning was the icon which defines all of Brazil: Christ the Redeemer atop Corcovado Mountain.  Again, we've all seen the images of this on any and every TV show about Brazil but to be up-close with the breathtaking views was nothing short of spectacular.  A term which is bandied about willy-nilly "spectacular", but at the top of Corcovado, with Christ looking over the city and the 360 degree views is the very definition of the word.  It is an assault on your eyes and I was actually silent for most of my visit letting my eyes drink in this rich mixture of sea, sand, mountains and favelas all spread among the lush green of this remarkable place.  I'd felt rather at home on top of the Miramar Hotel the previous day, and now I was just in awe of such natural beauty.

Sugar Loaf cable cars 

We stayed there for some time and I managed to avoid buying the souvenir stuff which laces the top of the mountain, and we headed for lunch then to Sugar Loaf Mountain.  He had asked if I wanted to see other stuff but to be honest, I was nursing a raging hangover (cheap cachaca) so only wanted these two.  We'd get to the all glass cable cars and off we went.  Little known fact is that there are two mountains at Sugar Loaf, and a two stage cable car journey.  Stage 1 takes you from ground level to Urca mountain where you disembark and wander around looking at the views, the thieving monkeys (actual monkeys) and restaurants / bars and also, much to my excitement, a helicopter pad with sight-seeing helicopters taking off and landing.  Went to speak to the dudes running the show and was told to come back in half an hour or so, went up Sugar Loaf and again took in the scenery (looking back at Christ) and was again taken with the natural beauty of Rio.  To my mind, there are few places in the world which have such jaw-dropping and spectacular natural beauty.  I am sure many would argue for other places being more beautiful but, to me there is nowhere in the world offers that breathtaking scenery....and I still think the same now after countless returns to Brazil. Once we'd seen the sights from Sugar Loaf it was time for my (relatively cheap) helicopter ride over the beaches (Copacabana & Ipanema) as well as a buzz around Christ.  It remains as vivid a memory today 7-years-later, again I was fairly silent for most of the tour with occasional outbursts of "WOW!"

Back to Madison who whisked me back to the Miramar and I'd now well and truly burst my Rio cherry.  I'd done more in my 3-day stop off than I had imagined.  I went out for dinner that night somewhere along Copacabana, had a few more drinks and staggered back to my hotel at whatever-o-clock, managed once again to avoid any unsavory happenings.  Almost as soon as I'd arrived it was time to go and for only the 2nd time in my life, I was more disappointed to be leaving as I was excited to be going to a Formula One race.  In March of 2009, Dave had taken me around the sights of Sydney and we'd had a whale of a time, I felt exactly the same leaving Rio as I did in 09 - if it wasn't for the amount of money I'd spent on the F1 tickets, I would not have bothered going to the race, I'd have much rather stayed in Rio.  That being said, I knew (not thought, knew) that I would be back, no idea of when but more than likely at the 2014 Grand Prix.  But, the next time I would certainly spend more time in Rio...definitely.

I asked the cab driver to stop as I left the hotel at stupid-early-o-clock for my flight out to capture this sunrise 

So, what's the message?

All my own photos too (except Ronnie & F1)

Obrigado and Saudé.

There are 2 other parts coming to this blog, one for F1 and one for Carnival which some will take as a must.  I have been to Rio de Janeiro a number of times and made some great friends out there, it is beautiful, it is safe, the food and drinks are wonderful and what makes Rio Rio is that when you are there you feel liberated, you feel a freedom you simply do not get anywhere else.  A lot of this is because of the people who live there, big-hearted friendly people.  You come to learn that the Favela's are not as dangerous as they'd have you believe, they are inhabited in the main by the chamber-maids who freshen your room each day, the guy serving you the caipirinha or from the waiter bringing you a humongous steak.  Sure, they are not for 'outsiders' in much the same way you'd not take a tour bus to a housing estate in Scotland and expect to come out the other end unscathed.  I've learned that Carioca people live for the beach, Sunday's on Copacabana & Ipanema is crazy with almost every inch of that beautiful white sand inhabited by families all enjoying their sun on their Sunday.  The people of Rio live for Samba, and I mean they LIVE for it, more of that later.  When the footy is on they all go nuts when Flamengo play and when they win, the city parties into the wee small hours.  It is, for me, easily the most wonderful place and 99% the people aren't there to make your stay dangerous, they are there to show you what they are rightly proud of, their beautiful, friendly and fun city surrounded by the most scenic beauty you'll get anywhere.  I've since been to several places in South America; Asuncion & Cuidad del Este in Paraguay, Buenos Aries in Argentina, Sao Paulo & Foz in Brazil and none of them come close to the vibe you get in Rio, it is truly unique.  Some of you might think this nothing more than an elaborate sales pitch now that I am running a tour company offering tours to Rio for Carnival and New Year, so here's my honest message:  Forget what I do for a living and book with another agency if you must, however, book a holiday to Rio de Janeiro you simply have to do at some point in your life, if you've ever had half an inkling of wanting to go to Rio de Janeiro, do yourself a big favour and make it so and I have no doubt, none, that you'll come back and be as enthusiastic as me about the place, the people and that stunning beauty.