Lapa, Cidade do Samba e Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião

So last night we (Anthonette, Russell, Ambar and I) ended up going to Lapa to party. Well, lol, we actually didn't start off by going to Lapa. We actually took a cab from the hostel to what used to be Bunker 94 (this club I actually went to when I was in Rio the first time that was a lot of fun; they played hip hop--English and Portuguese--and samba) in Copacabana, because we were going to meet up with other people from our hostel that were supposed to be going there too. What a surprise when we got there and the cabbie motioned over a bouncer in front of the place next door and he told us it had closed down (as you can see, the people we were supposed to meet there didn't do much research before we went and I took it for granted that it was still up and running)! So we ended up paying him, getting out of the cab and catching a bus back up (because Copacabana and Lapa are in two different directions) to Lapa. We got there at about 1ish and the streets were packed: there were literally people in every crevice of the streets in spite of the drizzle and the semi-cold weather (about 65ish) dancing to pulsating samba, hip hop and Brasilian funk (I'll get to that in a minute ;) beats. It was so cool. I haven't seen anything like that since last time I was in DR).

We made our way through the massive crowds and towards this club that looked decent called Carlito's. Before going in, Anthonette bought a beef kebab (which looked awesome) from a row of vendors and I ended up giving in and getting a chicken one too. I was beyond delicious ;). Ambar got a cheese one but said it was too salty. Afterwards we headed inside. It was only 5 reais to get in and it was funny because as we made our way upstairs, they started playing "Fergalicious," lol. They played English music (some Flo Rida and some Diddy) for a while but that eventually gave way to Brasilian funk. How do I go about explaining Brasilian funk...in my opinion, Brasilian funk is Brasil's answer to reggaeton as it exists and permeates the rest of Latin America. There's a lot of booty shaking and getting down low to the floor. Although, I do feel like Brasilian funk requires more rhythm and the beats to me are a lot hotter. I'd actually like to buy a mixed CD of some before I leave Rio.

The place wasn't too packed when we got there, but it started getting tight around 2. There was a group of guys next to us dancing and kind of getting all up on each other. Some of their moves were ill, but some of them were kind of wack (no lookers at all in that group, though). We actually thought they were gay at first (who knows, they still could've been) but then some of us asked us to dance. I obliged for like a song but then I pulled out cuz it was getting kind of raunchy up in there. There were a few non-Cariocas who were visibly having trouble catching the rhythm of the Brasilian funk the DJ was playing, and some of the chicks that were dancing with guys from that group literally reminded me of that scene in "Dirty Dancing" where Baby first meets Johnny (if you haven't seen it, watch it! It's awesome ;), and he pulls her out to dance and she's all awkward and rigid. It was kind of funny ;) lol. We ended up taking a cab and getting home at around 4. I went straight to bed.

Because we got home so late, we ended up getting a late start to the day. I woke up at around 11 and hopped in the shower but we didn't end up leaving the actual hostel til about 2. Russell, Ambar and I ended up taking a cab to Centro to go to Cidade do Samba, which is basically a commerative Carnaval museum that displays some floats, costumes, etc. from past Carnavals. It was amazing and we took some excellent pictures. The detail and brilliant colors that the floats have are definite indications that they involved some long and painstaking work. Some of them were gigantic and looked ridiculously real! I think my favorite one was this one of a native woman with a headpiece holding a small baby. It was done in white and from far away it literally looked like it was made of white marble or stone: the eyes were hallowed out and there were spaces of shadow that looked like they had been down with a chisel. It was absolutely gorgeous. We actually took some pictures standing on top (there were stairs up the middle) of one of the floats. It was so amazing. It made me want to come to Rio even more for Carnaval ;).

Afterwards we stopped at Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião and took some pictures. From the outside, the church is definitely an eyesore and not much to look at: it's cone-shaped and made of . Inside, though, it's much nicer. There are huge stained glass windows that stretch from top to bottom and if you stare straight up at the ceiling, there is a skylight in the shape of a cross and surrounded by multi-colored stained glass. It was actually quite nice. I didn't take too many pictures there, though, because it was dark inside and they weren't coming out that clear.

After that we walked home (the church is actually right on the outskirts of of Lapa, which was super convenient for us) and since Russell and Ambar were on the hunt for feijoada completa (it's Brasil's national dish; I won't even bother trying to explain, so here click on this: feijoada), we stopped to look at the menus of a few places to see if they had it (Saturday is supposed to be the "national day" for Brasilians to eat feijoada; since it takes quite a few hours to make and it's so filling, most people make/eat it at home with their families and just chill at home). We ended up stopping at a hole-in-the-wall place in Lapa called "Bar do Adalto," and even though they didn't have feijoada (the guy said they'll have it tomorrow), we ended up eating there anyway. The food was decent (not the best I've had in Rio, but definitely better than Paz e Amor) and cheap (6 reais each).

On the way home I finally got a "churro recheado com chocolate" from a street vendor (a churro filled with chocolate; you can get one filled with chocolate or dulce de leche and they fill it right there for you on the spot). I say finally because I've been eyeing them since we first got to Catete ;). It was ridiculously good. I think I'll add it to my list of Rio addictions right along with Acai smoothies, Guarana Zero and Pao de queijo ;).

Tonight should be a pretty lax night. No going out or anything cuz: a.) it's cold (66 degrees) and b.) we're going to a soccer match tomorrow. So it's time to rest up and get pumped for tomorrow!

Ate logo!