Mayhem with Food
Just a quick hello as I'm told the wifi tomorrow night isn't particularly great...
I decided to go to the Botanical Gardens today. It was a public holiday - Children's Day, I believe. And just as we would see kid's parties at Maccas - the Brazilians seem to do the same sort of thing, but in the Botanical Garden. There were grandmothers arriving with bags of individually wrapped little gifts and hats and balloons. I even saw a mum walking around with a half cut birthday cake! It was mayhem with food.
In fact, I have been meaning to list the many an unrelated thing I've seen here in Rio de Janeiro:
A young man walking 6 dogs of all sizes and somehow not falling over.
Our airport driver continually wiping his hands on a little rag on his lap (it took some courage to look and see what he was doing exactly! - I was in the front passenger seat).
A man being arrested - lying face down and hands cuffed behind his back in the central square (I was in the cafe bathroom, when I returned all the cafe staff had gone off to look; I could have walked away and not paid for my coffee - but I'm too honest!)
Hardly any homeless people - no, wait I've probably just got used to it. Now I think about it they sleep in the shade of monuments, and are probably thus not as obtrusive as in Santiago...
The best grafitti under the freeway between Praça XV and the port where there was also a little market selling clothes and jewellery
I'm pretty sure I saw a wild Toucan (are they smallish?) in the Botanical Gardens!
No roses, no orchids and very few flowers indeed. Which was sad. Isn't it spring? Well, I've included a picture of some bird of paradise I saw:
The gardens themselves were still quite lovely with huge avenues of palm trees and fountains as we seemingly hung under the close gaze of the Christ the Redeemer statue (which I will see tomorrow with my tour group).
Tomorrow morning I am going on a tour of the Favellas (Shanty towns) which are being removed for the World Cup and Olympics, so I am told. I don't know where they will put so many people. but if China could rehouse all those people with the Yangtze flooding, then I suppose it can be done. A couple of other members of the tour are also going on this optional trip.
I will write more about the group on the next blog. Until then. Aveline. xxx
