So after disappointment I am determined that I will not miss anything again... at 9 I am up and ready to head to the city and Cinelandia (no its not a cinema complex) this is where I get to see the biggest street parade in carnival 2 million people hit the streets to join a parade and dance along, eat, drink and party. Cordão do Bola Preta!
Sadly, in this I'm alone.... No one wants to go, too tired or many other excuses, I personally didnt come to Rio Carnival to sleep so I put fear of kidnappings and muggin aside, get my cheap crappy camera and phone (brought specifically for the purpose of being stolen!) and head down to the party. It's supposed to start at 9.30am, so in my mind should be kicking off as soon as I get off the metro. Let's go...
So I arrive, get off the metro which is pretty busy and work my way to street level. When I get to the top there are plenty of people but no music, no floats... Hmmm I am sure I didn't get this wrong. Anyway, I have a bit of a walk around to see if I can spot anything, hear anything? I do this for a while... Then, maybe it's just late... You know, a bit like "Fiji Time", it will start when they get round to it...
Then some music starts, a lone drummer and slowly a crowd tether around him and they start to dance and move along then it stops! Basically my mind is becoming a bit confused, maybe I have misunderstood something about carnival and basically it's just a bunch of people milling about and drinking in the street.. Then randomly drumming and walking a few feet? What's all the fuss about? So after waiting a good hour and half I finally find out the parade start point has been changed and I am now at the end of it rather than the beginning. Also, they are still in warm up mode at the other end of the street... But should be with me soon. Ok, I was worried for a bit but now know I can stand fast and wait.
Good as that sounds, a snow white skinned, blonde girl standing on a street corner in Rio is not quite so inconspicuous... Luckily for me a local who speaks English spots me, and their group take care of me as the parade starts to draw near... I also get a bit of a Portuguese lesson thrown in! At the same time friends are texting to check I've not been attacked and left for dead in the streets. The locals are funny, very protective and always saying put your camera away now, put the phone down, I feel like a child with over protective parents. The irony of it all is the Rubem, one of the group put his wallet in his pocket and it was stolen. So preoccupied in protecting me, he was robbed!
The atmosphere in the street is amazing, as it gets completely packed. Everyone in costume, dressed up, running around and having fun. Lots of kids loving spraying foam on everyone, it's people of all shapes, sizes, ages, the streets are packed... There is a group of bat men and women who start climbing up the trees, onto near buildings running around dance with everyone cheering them on. In the distance I can finally see a float and hear some music, brilliant it won't be long now...
An hour and half later the first float is in front of me, it is soooooo slow! Not surprising when they have to try and avoid running over everyone around them. It's crazy you can't move for people and the trucks can barely move forward. The music is fab, really fun and everyone is singing along and dancing. The whole thing takes about 1.5 hrs to pass me. So basically I got here at 9.30am and left around 3pm!! I was really surprised though with 2m people in the city how easy it was for me to get back to Copacabana on the metro... Simples!!!
Well time to do it all again tonight, Banda do Ipanema.. So this is a bit smaller, Bola Preta has 5 floats this has 1, its by the beach and a big draw for the local transvestite and gay community but same thing, lots of people costumes, dancing in the street. It's great fun to watch and join in. So far, I'm starting to really like carnival and the people in Rio have been nothing but helpful, protective and friendly. What more could you want?
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