Our time in Rio was fantastic. We were able to see a soccer game at Maracana stadium. The game was a match between two rival Rio teams: Flamengo versus Vasco de Gama.
Outside the stadium before the game, everyone is tail-gating, eating and singing all sorts of football(soccer) songs. Each team has their own songs, and when one person starts singing one of the songs, before you know it, thousands of people are joining in on the song.
Inside, the stadium fits about 100,000 people, although our guidebook says that they once packed 200,000 people in to witness Pele’s final game. The field is surrounded by a deep moat with barriers on both sides of the moat and a bridge for players to cross the moat and walk out onto the field. I’m guessing this is to protect the players, coaches and refs from disgruntled fans. Before the players take the field, each side the of stadium is singing(screaming?) their teams songs. We were sitting in the Vasco section of the stadium. It seems like Vasco has probably 10 different songs, because I didn’t think any of them were being repeated.
The game itself was very exciting. Professional soccer barely exists in the US, and the games are not very exciting. Soccer is the most popular sport in Brazil, and for a good reason. They have won the World Cup five times already. The skill level and speed of the game was very fun to watch. The game ended up being a tie between the two teams: 2-2.
Another highlight of our last few days in Rio was going to a Samba club on Saturday night. We learned a few basic samba steps and tried to fit in on the dance floor, but I’m sure we stuck out very easily.
On Monday we took a bus to Foz do Iguacu (or Iguazu Falls), which is about 20 hours by bus on the border of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. We spent Wednesday exploring the Brazilian side of the falls. Iguazu falls is the largest waterfall I have ever seen. While the falls are only about 70 meters in height, it’s the width of the falls that is most amazing. The falls seem to keep going and going. At certain points, we literally we surrounded by falls on all sides. This place is crawling with tourists. It reminds me of Yosemite Valley. There is a paved flat path that runs alongside the river, and at each lookout point there are always people snapping the identical picture. This took away from the experience a bit, but the falls were still worth seeing.
On Thursday we explored the Argentinian side of the falls. Again the views were amazing, and we had a sunnier day on this day. Here are more pictures from the Argentinian side.
On Friday left Brazil, crossed into Argentina, and took another 20 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires. The buses in Argentina are even better than the ones in Brazil. The seats are extra wide, so that there are only three seats per row. During the ride we were served dinner and breakfast, as well as champagne. To sleep, the seats recline almost until they are flat. Movies are shown on board; mostly American movies with Spanish subtitles.
After we arrived and settled on Saturday we explored Buenos Aires a bit. We are staying right next to the Congress building, which is modeled after the US Congress building. Another landmark, the Obelisco, resembles a famous landmark in Washington DC. As with many of the cities we have seen thus far on the trip, this city has a strong European influence which is evident in the buildings and streets. Here is a great picture of the Obelisco, with two more famous American corporate landmarks on each side. Take a closer look.
The Argentinean economy crashed in 2001, making this country extremely affordable. A few years ago, one US dollar would exchange for one Argentinean peso. Now, one US dollar exchanges for three pesos. Things here are incredibly cheap….one hour of internet at an internet cafe costs about 30 US cents. A steak dinner at a restaurant costs just a few US dollars. We are taking advantage of the cheap prices by enrolling in Spanish classes this coming week. We plan on staying here for another week.