Flying Down To Rio (Arporador, in Particular)

Arporador is Rio's surfer beach. You can see why in this picture.

Flying down to Rio for only the second time ever. The first time was in 1997. I had to plan that trip with someone that we used to call "a travel agent." It was my last vacation before the internet permanently changed vacation planning forever. I didn't feel bad that there were many things I wanted to see in Rio that I did not see that first trip. I just assumed that I would be back. It took 25 years, but I'm back.

This trip will start and end with three nights in Rio. That's just the way the internet airline pricing decided it should be. So the first three nights I picked a hotel in Ipanema. 

The Arena Hotel Ipanema. Only it's not quite in Ipanema. It's in Arporador (translation: Harpooner), a small stretch of beach between Ipanema and Copacabana (where I will be staying for the second set of three nights). But while the hotel is not in Ipanema proper, it is right next door to Parque Garota de Ipanema. Garota de Ipanema? You know her better by her English language name: The Girl From Ipanema.

It's Monday. Everything in Rio is closed on Mondays. Except the beach. The beach is open.

Making things even more closed than totally closed, Brazil is playing its group-stage World Cup futebol game today Switzerland. When there is a Brazil game happening in a world cup, the country comes to a standstill.

But the game is not until 1:00pm, so I have the morning to explore Arporador.

Lots of "surf school" tents on this beach. Lots of people carrying surfboards. There was a steady stream of people walking past the window of my hotel breakfast carrying their boards to or from the beach.  Mostly men but some women, or, as Astrud would say, mostly garotos but some garotas.

And lifeguards, or salva-vidas. Here are some lifeguards in their natural habitat.

The lifeguard tower. This is Posto Sete, the lifeguard tower right in the heart and soul of surfer-saturated Arporador.

Here is the fitness station for Praia do Arporador, Arporador Beach: 

The beaches of Rio are full of fitness stations. You've got to get that body in shape if you are going to hit the beach wearing as little as do the cariocas.

This is looking down the beach toward Ipanema. 

But the focus today is Arporador, a rocky outcropping at the point separating Ipanema and Copacabana.

You can walk out onto the big rock.

You can see why this is surfer central:

There are plants growing on the rock.

Cacti!

I feel like I'm home in Las Vegas. Only at the beach. And here I am.

Looking like a pale old man who just escaped the wintertime in his northern homeland for some summer sun in the Southern Hemisphere.

In this picture, the mountain that is the high point to the right of the buildings, you will see one of the most famous landmarks in Rio de Janeiro.

Pão de Açúcar. Sugarloaf. Make sure you nasalize the vowel sound in "pão," which translates (when properly nasalized) to "bread. I will get closer to Sugarloaf on my scheduled Rio tour tomorrow.

More of the Arporador fitness station:

And this is inside Parque Garota de Ipanema, where I walked even though I am neither tall nor tanned.

And speaking of "The Girl From Ipanema," here is the composer of the international hit:

Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim. In statuary form. This angle makes it look like he's strolling the beach, guitar slung over his shoulder.

This is still Arporador, but in the distance is Ipanema.

Is the girl there?

This is an "any port in the storm" fitness section. It's not muscle beach, with its free weights, over by the big rock that is Arporador.

Still, dips are an excellent exercise for the triceps.

Meet Felipe.

It was time to scurry back to the hotel to watch the game. And take a nap after the long travel day yesterday. I decided to have a light supper at a hamburger joint named for me.

Bob's. Apparently I make a hamburger that tastes like a school cafeteria hamburger. Good thing I only need a light snack for supper. Here's a night-time themed Brazilian song to leave you with for the evening: the classic Lua de São Jorge.