I don’t think I’ve ever seen a crowd so jubilant. One extremely pregnant woman has decorated her bare belly with big yellow petals to make it look like a sunflower. A man has shaved his dense back hair into the shape of a cross. Finally, we turn a corner and the scene opens up, revealing the Atlantic Ocean and Christ the Redeemer in the distance. I feel euphoric. So often in life I wonder if I’m missing out on something better. But right now, I feel that would be impossible.
Meeting people in the crowds of street parties (Photo: Pravina Rudra)
I am desperate to try and recreate it, but not hopeful. I figure it’s a confluence of serendipity – good weather and people – that make a holiday successful. And because I am travelling solo this second time too, I know I will have little control over who I end up meeting and spending time with.
Rio’s skyline is a juxtaposition of favelas dug into mountainsides with rainforests, islands and city lights. Imagine the biggest party in the world – Rio Carnival attracted more than 8m participants this year – set against that backdrop. On my first visit, I’d been amazed by the scale of joyful street parties or “blocos” under sunny skies. This year, the carnival expanded by more than 30 blocos, to 482.
Rio’s skyline is a juxtaposition of favelas dug into mountainsides with rainforests and islands
I’ve decided to take the risk. Flights were expensive, and even when booked in advance, accommodation in the city can cost five times as much as standard rates during carnival. But I knew this was a bucket list trip. and having hit 30 I was also conscious that, say, the prospect of a family could make this sort of trip more difficult.
A truck of nuns
This time, I am staying at the Fairmont hotel overlooking Copacabana beach. From my balcony, I watch kids playing football, vendors shuffling up and down the sand selling the iconic green-and-yellow Brazil bikini and handicrafts. I am also close enough to a station to make use of the metro on which passengers include samba dancers in bejewelled corsets and men carting supplies of decorations around the city, as strangers sing together.
The streets of Santa Teresa
Here, the Carmelitas bloc party is themed on an urban myth of a nun escaping from Santa Teresa convent, and the crowds trying to disguise her. A truck with women dressed in pink habits on its roof weaves through the winding streets as men in “sexy nun” outfits dance around it. Above us float giant jellyfish-shaped, decorative lanterns.
I also have the headspace to notice different things this time. An old couple pours water from the top window of their apartment to cool the crowd below – the daytime heat reaching 40C.
There’s a saying that “a kiss is the Brazilian handshake” and I frequently see it in action (people warn me that at Carnival, eight seconds of eye contact means you have to kiss the person).
A float travels down the Sambadrome
One Brazilian friend and his mates invite me to spend the day with them and although they can’t speak English, some of the women communicate critical advice – such as where to find the bathroom at street parties – via hand signals.
Football and fearlessness
When I descend in the hotel lift to go to a street party wearing a tasselled hula skirt, a well-dressed middle-aged Brazilian woman tells me I look great. “I feel kind of self-conscious, I wouldn’t wear this out in London” I tell her. “No, here it’s normal during Carnival” she tells me. “When I go out, I wear the same.”
To cool off between parties, I bathe in the Atlantic that laps glitzy Ipanema beach, as Brazilian actress Fernanda Torres did in the Oscar-award winning film I’m Still Here.
A football game at the legendary Maracana stadium (Photo: Pravina Rudra)Carnival exudes a universal feeling of fearlessness to be warm towards one another, and to demonstrate a love for life.
On the shopping street of Rua Uruguaiana, I barter for football shirts and paisley dresses and window-shop the glitzy Carnival gear.
Returning to a favourite holiday has been a wise choice. I’ve deepened my connection with Rio’s culture, I understand its people better. And like anything you spend more time with: you can go from liking a place to falling a little in love.
How to get there
Rio de Janeiro is served by British Airways from Heathrow. Connecting flights are available on TAP Air Portugal via Lisbon, Lufthansa via Frankfurt, KLM via Amsterdam, Iberia via Madrid and ITA Airways via Rome.
Where to stay
The writer was a guest of Fairmont Rio de Janeiro Copacabana, where doubles start at $408 (£304). More information
visitbrasil.com/en
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