One of the first places that I visited outside my hometown was Rio de Janerio in Brazil. Travelling to faraway lands was like a distant dream for me as I had just started with my first job at a very low pay. In the first month of the job I had got so frustrated that I wanted to run away somewhere for a month long holiday (my friends told me it is normal and happens with every person on his first job). But I didn’t have money and leaves to go away for a month, so I settled with a weekend trip to Rio de Janerio, Brazil.
This Latin American City had always allured me as I had read a lot about its stunning beaches, the lively nightlife and Rio de Janerio Carnival. Though my visit to this city was on a regular weekend and not the carnival time, it was packed with fun and frolic. I got to see what Brazil was all about and the city truly lived up to the hype surrounding it. Of course, a weekend is not sufficient to see each and everything that this city has to offer, but I tried to cover as much as possible for as little as possible. I landed at Rio de Janerio at midnight and managed to find a hotel in Ipanema. Early on Saturday morning, I took a bus ride to visit the Corcovado and witnessed a picturesque view of the entire city from above. I was lucky that it was a sunny morning as a cloudy or rainy morning would have completely spoiled my chances of getting this stunning view. Then, I spent an hour at the next door International Museum of Naïve Art of Brazil. On my return to Ipanema, I had lunch at a kilo restaurant where the amount paid for the food depends on its weight. I chose the light weight foods like lettuce from the buffet to make sure that my meal was filly yet cheap. Then I visited the Paco Imperial, one of the oldest buildings in Rio de Janerio and then National Historic Museum. Being a history buff, this museum surprised me with its collection especially the numismatic collection, which is the largest in Brazil. Almost the entire next day was spent on the lovely beach at Rio de Janerio. Though it was a bit cloudy, the beach was crowded a bit mostly with the locals and there were few tourists like me. I found that beach is the best place to observe the locals and their lives here. Later I went to Copacabana, visited the fort here, rented a bike to explore around, had lunch at a beach side café and ended my day and trip to this city with the sunset.
