When at Rio, do as the Rio do Janeirans do - go to the beach. But the real reason for going to the Copacabana Beach was that I had a few hours to spare before taking the flight back to Sao Paulo, and those few hours were not enough for going to the Cultural Centre de Banco Brazil to see the Salvadore Dali exhibition.
I was expecting bronzed, chiseled bodies, maybe a Gisele Bundchen or two, but I literally saw all shapes and sizes and a lot of them proudly demonstrating the law of gravity. Clearly I was imagining a perfect world that did not exist, and perhaps this gap between my own imagination and the reality was what produced the "so is this it?" moment.
The road in front of the Copacabana beach on a Sunday is turned into a pedestrianized walkway. There were people cycling, jogging and strolling. Most of the men were topless. Even though it was coming to the end of winter, the weather was more like early summer for those coming from Europe. The sky was azure blue.
As soon as I stepped onto the beach, I saw the beautiful Sugar Loaf in the background. There cannot be a lot of beaches in the world blessed with such a magnificent backdrop. Now, the hotel had offered umbrellas and deck chairs, but the thought of carrying them to the beach was a bit off putting. But barely 30 minutes into the exposure to the harsh sun rays, I realized what a life-saving item it was to have the protection of an umbrella. I was literally baked in the vast oven that was the space between the sand and the sky. In the event we hired an umbrella for $R10 and sat on the beach towels provided by the hotel.
A lot has been written about the different occupants on different sections of the beach. But hey, I was here on a short break, why pay any attention to the local tribal division? I noticed how few people were swimming. Most were parading themselves along the beach, sitting on deck chairs watching people or sunbathing. A few men were running with or without trainers on the sand. The sand is beautifully soft and clean.
There were plenty of vendors selling everything that one would need on the beach: bikinis, hats, ice creams, water, drinks, biscuits, sun cream, beach wraps, etc. There was even one selling kites, and were it not for the fierce sun, I would have wanted to fly one on the Copacabana Beach.
At least now I can claim that I was on Copacabana Beach but to what purpose I am not sure.
I was expecting bronzed, chiseled bodies, maybe a Gisele Bundchen or two, but I literally saw all shapes and sizes and a lot of them proudly demonstrating the law of gravity. Clearly I was imagining a perfect world that did not exist, and perhaps this gap between my own imagination and the reality was what produced the "so is this it?" moment.
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Pedestrianized walkway, Copacabana Beach |
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Copacabana Beach, Sugar Loaf Mountain in the background |
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More of the magnificent Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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Still more of the Sugar Loaf Mountain |
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Vendor selling beach wraps |
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Vendor selling bikinis |
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Another vendor selling bikinis |
At least now I can claim that I was on Copacabana Beach but to what purpose I am not sure.
