Rio de Janeiro, Copacabana, Cariocas, Ipanema are words that smell like vacation, dream beaches, sun and beautiful people.
Well, it's without considering that there ARE seasons in Brazil and I chose (without knowing it in fact...) to arrive in Rio during the winter! The temperature was around 20degC, the beaches almost empty, beautiful people hidden and I even saw a few girls with hairy legs... Where is my postcard of Rio?

But I came at the right time to see the Wold Cup fever! Just for that it was worth it. We all know that football is almost a religion in Brazil but to that extend I would never imagine. When the world cup started the city started to dress in yellow and green, painting its pavement, decorating its wall with the national team, hanging flags everywhere and a huge screen was installed on Copacabana beach.

For the first match, Brazil vs North Korea (not much suspense really), people were febrile, crazy, all dressed in yellow and green, sheering in the streets even before the match started, most offices and universities were closed for the afternoon or the entire day, at 1pm all the shop were closing. The match started at 3:30pm and the silence came over the city, the whole Brazil held his breath until the first goal.
By the way, do you know the meaning of the Brazilian flag? I'm sure you don't and many brazilians neither...So let's increase a bit your general knowledge!.. :)
The brazilian flag was officially adopted on Nov. 19th 1889, four days after the Republic was proclaimed.
The green color represents the Brazilian fields. The yellow losang represents Brazilian gold - and, by extension, the wealthiness of the country. The blue represents the sky of Rio de Janeiro on the night of Nov. 15th 1889; each star represents one of the Brazilian States. The white strip contains the inscription "Ordem e Progresso", meaning "Order and Progress". The phrase is attributed to the French positivist philosopher Augusto Comte, who had admirers in Brazil and whose motto was: "L’amour pour principe et l’ordre pour base; le progrès pour but" ("Love as a principle and order as the basis; progress as the goal").. 
Interesting isn't it?...


Also I had the chance to meet Wilson, my couchsurfing host and now a good friend. He was my private guide for 2 weeks in Rio and drove me around his beautiful city going from favelas to Lapa the happening night district. We didn't manage to see the mythic statue of "Christ the Redeemer" though, few days before, torrential rain had washed out the mountain and most accesses to it were blocked by rocks. When we asked when it would be open, we got  answered: "not before 6 months", time in Brazil to remove a few rocks from the road....