20 Years; 20 Places: No.9 Rio

20 Players and 20 Places to celebrate my 20 years of writing this Blog. No order, no ranking, just those that left everlasting memories.

Next up on my 20 Places was one for the bucket list. No. 9 is Rio.

Attending an Olympic Games was a bucket list aspiration. Rio 2016 also paired nicely with my big 4 0, and with some masterful planning we secured tickets for seven different events of the XXXI Games and stayed in this iconic city for 10 days.

One of those events was beach volleyball, and I remember clearly my unconvinced-other-half with her face etched with ‘really?’ questioning my pretext when I bought the tickets.

Yet, it was easily our favourite day as we lucked out by seeing Brazil’s men against Spain’s men (World v European champions) at the dreamy and stunning setting on Copacabana Beach.

It was a tremendous game and a very, very partisan 10,000 crowd made the day such a memorable experience. The atmosphere was a cross between a hyped up NBA play-off game with added DJ help and dance routines and a high energy Botafogo home match.

As for Rio we saw a real city, with real life problems, and although they took a broom to it for the Games, they were never going to be able to clear it up, and nor should they have done.

The favelas, the poverty, the graffiti, the crime, the traffic, this is all part of Rio’s fabric. Every bit as much as the samba, the partying, the music, the partisan support of their football teams, the beaches, carnival, the mountains and the smiling and fun filled Cariocas. 

What we saw in 2016 was a vast, over populous city. Scruffy and under invested in but there was also so much beauty to witness, and not just the incredible landmarks of Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain, but also in its free spiritedness. That is my everlasting memory of Rio.

Rio. Bucket list family holiday 2016.