Sarah and I spent the last two days exploring Ipanema - both the beach and the surrounding neighborhood. Yesterday we had perfect weather so we relaxed for most of the day on the beach. Today it was more overcast so we walked around the neighborhood. Rio is definitely more pricey than other destinations on our trip so far but it's also one of the nicest places we've been to!
Ipanema beach is huge. Fortunately our host at Casa Cool Beans (yes, that's the name of our hotel) was able to point us in the right direction - crowds of like-minded people tend to congregate at different points along the beach (i.e., the locals section, the surfer section, the gay section, the Playboy section, etc.) We ended up in pretty neutral territory.
Even though it's technically winter down here, it still got up to the 80s yesterday and we had a great beach day. Hopefully we get some more of this kind of weather while we're here!
The view form our beach chairs - not a bad Tuesday!
Ipanema beach.
One other point on the beach. We were expecting the typical bathing suit here to be more "aggressively" cut, if you will, than what we're used to in the US but we were surprised just how conservative our suits were in comparison! It was a rarity to see a bikini that wasn't paired with a thong bottom and almost all the men had speedos or a short-shorts equivalent. We've definitely stood out as Americans many times on the trip so far but never as American prudes!
After a long day in the sun we were ready for a hearty dinner. Buffets are relatively popular down here so we figured we'd check one out. Fazendola turned out to be great - I was expecting something like the low-quality buffets we tolerated in college but this was much better than that (there was even a freshly prepared Japanese station with really good sushi). Worth trying if you want something different.
Today we woke up to overcast skies - no beach for us today. We wanted to start the day with a walk around the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon which is not far from our hotel. Even though it was a cloudy day, it was still a great way to see some of the surrounding area.
Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon.
Looking back at Ipanema.
It's 4 and a half miles all the way around so we were hungry for lunch when we got back to Ipanema. We went to Nectar on the recommendation of our host and it did not disappoint - really big, hearty sandwiches at a good price. There was a lot of confusion with my allergy cards (I think our server thought I was giving her a business card because she just pocketed it and walked away!) but my meal did come pesto-free so I can't complain!
We had a bit of a siesta in the afternoon then walked over to Academia de Cachaca to learn more about / sample some cachaca. Sarah and I agree that it's similar (and superior to) rum. After the tasting we headed to Via Sete for some delicious burgers - we'd definitely recommend this place if you're looking for a casual meal in Ipanema. We still have four days here and there's a high chance we'll be back!