To be fair his English was difficult to understand but I knew what he was getting at with regards to the safety for tourists in Vidigal.
#The 1975 somebody else m4a driver#
It was nice not having to cue for hours on end and after finally setting foot on the halo turf of Rio and kissing the floor of the holy ground beneath me for the very first time I jumped into nearest cab and gave them the address of the hostel and I got given a surprised look by the driver from him to take me there. Getting through at Rio Airport at customs was probably the easiest I have had so far.
This hostel had all that and so much more and here’s a couple of photos as to why it had to be here that I stay and finish up on. Somewhere I can feel I had made it to the end of a journey, an achievement and somewhere I can finally say to myself that I had reached it over the finish line. I wanted a view and hostel like nothing else I have had so far because I wanted this last stop to be that little bit extra special.
Yes it’s incredibly steep but I am sure there are ways around this! Opening my curtains up to that everyday and just seeing hopeful sun and certified sea and beach from a long distance, make no mistake about it, I am going to be staying at this place without any hesitation whatsoever. The hostel I went to stay at was called ‘Varandas do Vidigal’ and the views from the balcony looked incredible online. The cheapest I could find was infact within the favelas in Vidigal itself of all the places based in Rio. It is known for various druglord cartel activity who have all lived there over the years but me being me I wanted somewhere with an awesome view of ‘CopaCabana, LeBlon and Ipanema beach’, sea and an attractive venue. I also wanted to make sure that even after guidance that I shouldn’t but still went and did it anyway that I was going to be staying near all the favelas in the well known village of ‘Vidigal’. I was told I should certainly visit the ‘Pao de Acucar’ (SugarLoaf ) as well as ‘Parque Lage’ and ‘Jardim Botanico’ which will all be perfect venues for amazing photos. Something or somebody is certainly looking after me, just a spiritual gut feeling I have and have had the whole way through this trip.
#The 1975 somebody else m4a full#
Yes this is Brazil, yes there are issues in some areas of Rio just like there is anywhere else in the world so of course if the time has come for me to meet thy doom I know full well that I did it in style in one of the most spiritual countries on God’s green earth! Brazil does have it’s fair share of problems with the government issues leading up to the crime rate increasing slightly higher then usual, especially here in Rio but hey I’ve survived everything else so far in some pretty intimidating areas so let’s just hope being as I’m in Area Code 021 that my lucky number itself keeps on cropping up here also the same way it has been the whole way round! I seriously have lost count how much it’s appeared everywhere during this trip. Anything else I come across here that I’m not aware of will also be a privilege. Now after doing my research on the plane I knew my main objectives were to definitely see ‘Cristo’ as well as walk up those famous ‘Lapa’ stairs and of course the ‘Maracana’ stadium to watch a game. The lifestyle, the favelas, the sites, the football, the beaches, the weather, the churrasco/coxinhas and of course the fresh coconut juice and who could forget the classic Brazilian cocktail, Caipirinhas! I hadn’t arrived during Carnival season sadly but this beautiful City is forever lively all year round. The place I had been looking forward to going to my whole trip. The journey is almost over, but not quite yet…! In little under a week I will be flying home back to Essex and I have to reluctantly wake up from what has been a beautiful dream the whole way through. I made the flight with plenty of time to spare and it was only then that I realised and it sank in that this is going to be my last stop of my whole trip through Las Americas/South America. I guess that’s the risk you take with AirBnB, you either love it or you hate it. After leaving São Paulo and particularly Adriana’s apartment on a Monday morning was difficult enough as it is I hadn’t been made to feel so at home throughout my whole trip.