Brazil, the World Cup, the Time of My Life

We're baaaack! Kind of. You know how hard it is to snap back to reality after being on vacation for an extended period of time, my heart's still there. On top of that, I've had some health scares, so that has made the transition that much for difficult. In saying that, please keep me in your prayers. Now, on to the good stuff....

Brazil was AMAZING. Not only is this place absolutely gorgeous, but I am convinced that the World Cup is something everyone should attend in their lifetime. The spirit is something that cannot be described. People come from all around the world to cheer for their country. Everyone is happy, laughing, sporting their colors. Chants breaks out on the subway, in the busses, on the airplanes. I loved it.

Because this was such a long trip, I'm going to break it down in to multiple posts with lots of pictures. The first one beginning in Rio....

Rio has got to be one of the most charming cities I have ever seen. Seif and I arrived the day of the USA vs. Portugal game, so we decided to head to Copacabana to attend FIFA Fan Fest. This is where they have a big screen tv outside for everyone to gather together and watch the games. While there, we met a bunch of other Americans who quickly became new friends of ours. This was one of the things I loved most about the World Cup, all of the new friends we made while there. Again, amazing. We painted our faces, gathered a large group of people and cheered our hearts out that night. We even got on CNN!

USA! At Copacabana with some of our new friends.

CNN! I'm totally not gang signing. Victory!

Such amazing memories.

The next day, Seif and I hiked Morro da Urca at the famous Sugarloaf Mountain. We played with monkeys along the way and were greeted with spectacular views of the city, including Christ the Redeemer. This hike is so incredibly beautiful and the pictures don't do it justice. We then finished up our day with a visit to the beach, coconuts and delicious tapioca.

Too much humidity = blurry pictures:(

View from the top.

Spectacular.

Monkeys run along the fences at this beach.

Cristo Redentor

The next day we boarded a flight to Recife to attend the USA vs. Germany game. We came back to Rio for another 3 days at the end of our Brazilian adventure, but I'll write about that later;) We used airbnb for our travels and stayed with Brazilians for our entire trip. The experience was absolutely wonderful. While in Rio, we stayed with Natalie and Glayton who were not only kind, hospitable and fun, but also took us out for a late night Samba session at the beach. I highly recommend using airbnb if you are looking for something a little bit more than the tourist experience. I loved getting to know the locals and some of my best memories from this trip are those made with the people we stayed with.

My next post will be about Recife, which includes floods, craziness, and the USA vs. Germany game. Stay tuned!