BRASIL - DAY 5

Another stunning day. Today an unofficial holiday in Brasil as it is soocer day here - Brasil vs Portugal..Hilton suggested the other day that I should check out the a soccer match on the big screen at at Cocobana beach. So that is what we did. Myself and a Canadian took the bus down to the beach and after some confusion on the bus driver,s side, finally arrived at the beach, only to find that the big screen is another 1,5 km walk away.So we walked, alas, when we got there, the fun park was full. When I say full that means 20 000 Brazilian fans packed in a space about  the size of a rugby field, including the food and drink stalls.
We watched the game at a kiosk on the side, but decided to stay after the game to check the fun park out.( we found out later that there was another screen at the back of this screen )
Disappointing game as a result of the draw- Rio would have exploded.You could see the disappointment on their faces as they finally came streaming out of the park. At that time, another 1000 or so had gathered at the entrance. We joined them and after another half an hour, they let us in. Below some idea of the fun park.

The kiosk where we watched the game and some pictures of Cocobana beach.

That night, after a six different pasta meal at the hostel, a group of six of us headed downtown to the street party in Lapa. I thought this was only because of the game but was told that this happens every Friday.Hundreds of people gather outside bars, restaurants and kiosks and yeah, it is fiesta time!A local showed me a kiosk where I could buy three cans of beer for R20.00 at a time - a big deal in Rio when everything is double the price of what we pay in South Africa. We partied and danced until 4 am the next morning and the consequence of that was a chilled out day at the pool the next day.