Head in the clouds

10.000 m up in the sky since 9 hours. After 8 hours of only water and clouds view, the ocean encountering land is a magical scene. Like I woke up especially to see that.
The land is dry, no vegetation, only sand and stones. We passed Venezuela and Colombia and are now heading slowly towards Peru where the vegetation is starting to show up in the high tops. Me? Overwhelmed! Others around me? Snoring like bears. I suppose they don´t care, the pilot doesn´t care, only about the air around his plane, but I care. Who knows what life is down there under me, what amazing beautiful things are happening. I would be so happy to try one, at least one.
Rare conglomerats of white spots appear from time to time in the scene. The cities are quite rare in this corner of the continent it seems. The water is invading the scene again and clouds are back. The sky above us is getting crowded and grey; looks like autumn. Well what do you know, it is autumn in this part of the globe.
Land again, this time all green, different types of green even. I might say it looks familiar now, European somehow. You know, I just realised that every continent has a different view from the clouds, and these views give me unique feelings everytime.

I remember first time I got into a plane, it was my flight to India. When I started flying over the huge dunes of sand I started to panic. I was passing over Iran or Afghanistan and I couldn´t stop my mind from thinking how would it be if we were to end up there for any reason. In the desert, maybe miles away from civilization, in a country that from TV does not seem very friendly or welcoming (not that I would know that for real) I was scared, my hands turned cold and I could not wait to change the view. When the plane started flying over India my muscles relaxed. I could see green fields and houses and that made me feel good again. Till I landed in Delhi that is :)))) The flight to Dubai was less scary, cause I´ve been there before, over the golden sands. But the flight to Brazil was one to remember, cause most of the time we flew over Africa. I was watching the map and hoping that we would need to land anywhere on the way. The scene was all green, thin lines of water appeared from time to time, I was closing my eyes and imagining that I am down there somewhere, in the jungle, with wildlife all around me, with monkeys and tigers and beautiful birds singing. Of course it was a nice dream, cause none of the animals were about to chew me, on the contrary, they were receiving me in their environment.
But getting back to reality, 2 hours and a half till Lima. Let´s sleep it away!

* This article was written on 17th of May at 15.30 Peru time, 23.30 Romania time.

Pierduti in zilele noastre

Nu am putut sa nu sesizez cat de repede au trecut lunile din acest an. Parca acum nu demult petreceam revelionul printre pitzipongi, acum nu demult am implinit 25 de ani, parca acum cateva zile ne pacalea primavara cu o ultima ninsoare si pac, tocmai trece Pastele.
Printre constatari: nu am facut si nu mi s-a facut nici o pacaleala de 1 aprilie anul asta. Prea ocupati, seriosi, ingandurati, nemultumiti sa fim noi oare? Primavara nu s-a simtit pe strada mea. Pe a voastra s-a simtit? Din ninsoare am sarit in 25 de grade...dar parca primavara imi scotea gecuta din dulap si puloverul cu blanita. Se pare ca se vor invechi pana la toamna, in speranta ca mai exista toamna. 1 mai si postul Pastelui s-au batut cap in cap anu' asta. Ce facem, bagam un mic sau pacatuim si ne dam dezlegare la carne si bere pentru o zi? Eu m-am abtinut o saptamana de la tot felul de mancaruri si produse animale, dar sa nu beau o bere de 1 mai ar fi fost chiar strigator la cer. Acum ori sunt eu dusa cu pluta ori suntem toti, dar eu nu am simtit Pastele asa ca in copilarie. Poate ca am citit prea mult, poate ca documentarele din ultimii ani mi-au impuiat capul cu tot felul de informatii care ma abat de la calea "cea dreapta", sau poate ca imi deschid ochii.
Insa cu un lucru m-am lamurit, ca asa cum musulmanii isi respecta traditia cu sfintenie si hindusii se bucura de multitudinea de zeitati prin sarbatori care mai de care mai colorate, noi apartinem unei culturi care piere daca nu o urmam, asa ca Pastele va fi intotdeauna oua colorate si mers la biserica si cantat "Hristos a inviat" orice ganduri as avea sau ce carti am citit. Fiindca daca traditia piere, ne ducem si noi cu ea.


Siii pana una alta afara e cald, natura e verde, rotile de la bicicleta sunt umflate, deci sa iesim la o plimbare, zic.

Opreste-te clipa, ca prea frumoasa esti

"Atat de real, de cosmar, morbid, dar minunat"
"Trebuie sa scriem niste lucrari despre cateva spectacole si nu pot sa scriu despre asta pentru ca intr-adevar nu exista cuvinte sa descriu ceea ce tocmai am vazut. Nu pot sa numesc asta teatru, nu pot sa o numesc opera. Este ceva uimitor. Spre asa nazuiesc in viata. Multumesc."
"Am 78 de ani si nu am vazut ceva asemanator nicaieri; si am fost la multe teatre si opera in viata mea. De necrezut. Spectaculos. As dori ca toti cunoscutii mei sa vada acest spectacol."


Nu am sa uit pelerina neagra care ii acoperea spatele, acum multi multi ani, parca era chiar el, diavolul. Am citit si piesa. A fost greu, fiind scrisa in versuri, imi cautam explicatii si invarteam cuvintele in minte pana iesea povestea. Dar am perceput-o pana la urma, sau cel putin asa consider.
Pe foarte scurt, este vorba despre omul pacatos care isi vinde sufletul diavolului inainte de sfarsitul calatoriei prin viata.

Scriu despre Faust, opera lui Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, simplu cunoscut ca Goethe.
Scriu pentru ca am avut bucuria, privilegiul... si nebunia sa ma urc intr-un tren si sa ma duc pana in Sibiu pentru a vedea o piesa de teatru. Sau? O capodopera culturala?
Adevarul e ca am auzit de multe ori lume povestind despre piesa Faust regizata de Silviu Purcărete, care se joaca numai la Sibiu si care TREBUIE vazuta, fiind o maiestrie in ale teatrului. Si ca tot omu' nu crezi pana nu vezi.
Va spuneam mai sus ca am avut bucuria si privilegiul...de a ma afla in data de 9 a lui martie la hala Balanta incepand cu ora 19.00, la piesa Faust a teatrului national Radu Stanca din Sibiu. A fost cea mai coplesitoare experienta teatrala de pana acum, care la propiu ne-a lasat FARA cuvinte. Parca orice am fi vorbit, dezbatut, povestit ar fi fost in zadar in urma experientei vizuale si auditive de care avusesem parte. Si sa nu credeti ca s-ar fi datorat textului! Decorul, costumele, scenografia, muzica ametitoare, efectele, machiajul si actorii...Ar fi inutil sa incep sa descriu ce se intampla in acel loc, dar nu pot sa nu va spun ca porcii invita publicul la petrecerea iadului unde dracii zboara pe deasupra capetelor, femeile pline de sange danseaza, altele scuipa foc altele...pfff...am inceput sa descriu. Dar partea cea mai interesanta e faptul ca oamenii se inghesuie sa vada mai bine, sa asiste la jocurile diabolice, iar eu, eu am fost in extaz. Cata bolnaviciune in oameni, sau care sa fie explicatia faptului ca nu am fost deloc oripilati ce ceea ce se petrecea in scena, scena din care faceam si noi parte la un moment dat. Tind sa cred ca tocmai aceasta latura cruda a facut ca experienta sa fie atat de inedita si culmea, sa te lase cu dorinta de a mai vedea piesa o data, si inca o data, si inca o data. Pentru mine e limpede ca intr-o luna sunt din nou la Sibiu sa mai vad Faustul lui Purcărete o data.
Fie ca esti om de teatru fie ca nu, cred ca e imposibil ca aceasta piesa in aceasta regie sa nu-ti treazeasca simtiri adanci. Eu va recomand o rupere din realitate, o fuga pana la Sibiu si o delectare culturala care merita tot efortul.
Si sa fie si mai convingatoare toata treaba, iata ultima parte dintr-o serie de 3 episoade despre succesul lui Faust la festivalul international de arta spectacolului de la Edinburgh. Daca sunteti curiosi exista si primele 2 episoade pe langa.

Ce ne aduce 2013...

In primul rand imi aduce mie ideea in cap sa incep sa scriu pe blog in limba materna, asa ca fraticilor care nu intelegeti va rog mult folositi optiunea de translate :D Eu oricum va iubesc, stiti voi asta :)
In al doilea rand, pai 2013 ne aduce exact... ce vrem noi. Cum asa? Pai uite asa. Pentru ca asa merge treaba de fapt. Eh cred ca am mai vorbit noi despre asta, si am scris cate ceva si despre acel mega-film motivatio-inspirational cu secretul care de fapt sta in fiecare dintre noi, "The Secret". Unii l-au vazut, s-au folosit de el, altii fac ca lucrurile sa treaca pe langa ei neobservate. Ideea este ca nebunia asta chiar se intampla, trebuie doar incercata o data la modul serios, si vazut cum lucrul pe care intr-adevar ti-l doresti, ca e obiectiv pe anul 2013 sau ceva in general, se indeplineste, daca desigur crezi ca se poate intampla si nu uiti sa iti spui asta in fiecare zi sau chiar dimineata cand incepi ziua.
La mine de exemplu functioneaza astfel. Dimineata cand deschid ochii (daca ma trezesc pe partea dreapta) dau cu nasu' intr-o coala A4 pe care sunt insirate toate starile de spirit sau dorintele mele pentru anul in curs. De la "zambesc zilnic" pana la dorinta de a vizita Machu Picchu (care se va intampla in vreo 4 luni apropo), pe toate le spun cu voce tare sau chiar in gand de vreo 2-3 ori, apoi ma ridic din pat si am pornit la treaba. Daca ma trezesc pe partea stanga, realizez intr-un semi-somn ca nu am nimic in fata si fac repede o pirueta in pat pana dau de coala. Si zic ca merge treaba, asa am ajuns eu anul trecut sa imi indeplinesc 2 mari dorinte, incepand fiecare dimineata din 2011 cu gandul la ele. Si toate astea fara sa planuiesti modalitatea prin care s-ar realiza, ci pur si simplu gandindu-te la ele si lasand viata sa curga normal, fara sa fortezi lucrurile.
Desigur aceasta este modalitatea care functioneaza pentru mine, insa pana la urma controlul este la noi, si fiecare isi poate gasi un fel de a face lucrurile sa se intample, prin propria putere. Gandirea pozitiva si auto-controlul joaca un rol tare important, oricat de rau ar fi lucrul care ti s-a intamplat, oricat de mare ar fi problema, sau de grei nervii, exista o solutie, iar daca tu crezi asta o vei gasi rapid si ai sanse mari sa revii la starea normala, de impacare cu sinele sau cu ceilalti.
Dar revenind la ce ne aduce 2013, ca am inceput iar sa balivernez cu treburi psihologice si motivationale, am inteles ca numai lucruri scumpe in Romania: marirea pensiilor si reducerea salariilor bugetarilor cu venituri foarte mari, introducerea unei noi taxe de iesire din spital, masini second-hand mai scumpe si pretul la tigari mai mare, din ce in ce mai multe E-uri in paine si o usoara crestere a monedei Euro pana in vara. O noua apocalipsa? Sunt pregatita chiar si de-un potop :))) Nu continui fiindca lista e lunga rau si pe mine nu ma pasioneaza aceste aspecte.
Iar ca sa nu ne deprimam foarte tare de ce ne prezic astrele sau Pro Tv pentru noul an, mai citim Romania Pozitiva sa ne mai binespunem si sa realizam ca totusi sunt multe lucruri frumoase care se intampla, doar ca deh, stirile de la ora 5 sunt mai cool decat un site cu stiri de bine, nu?

Goodie moodie

The time has come for you to know that I am a very...wishful person :D When I see someone eating I cannot stop myself from having a "small bite", just for the taste. Therefore you can imagine my favorite food is and most probably always will be Indian food. Tasty, spicy, meaty and veggie in the same time, saucy and everything else that you might want, it's the BEST.

And of course one of the things I miss most since I am home is the delicious Asian/Oriental/Indian foods from all the places I've been to. Besides that the worst thing is that in Romania you cannot find these famous tasty restaurants, bakeries or sweet shops that you find in the world.

Here are just a few of the places I've been to in the last 1 year and half and I badly miss:

*Baskin Robbins. Probably the BEST ICE CREAM in the world :))  In case you haven't tasted this ice cream ever in your life, well you should not pass life on Earth and not try it. It is one of the best things I ever tasted...and I DON't really like sweets. Once a week Baskin ice cream was on the to do list, and pfff they had so many and good flavors. My personal recommendations: Jamoca Almond Fudge and Praline's n Cream, for sure the best ice creams in the world :))))

* TGI Friday's is simply delicious. I don't know how it is in other countries but in Dubai the staff is so cheerful and happy happy joy joy that you would go there everyday. Smiling faces, good service, not to mention a variety of foods and deserts and good atmosphere that make you want to go back. It happened to us one winter evening, after coming back from a one day cruise in Oman, we stopped for a late dinner at TGI Friday's and guess what, somehow the staff came to know that it was my friend's birthday. In the next moments all silence and a small ice cream & pastry with a candle came in the picture, with the staff singing and dancing happy birthday or something. It was so nice and cute that I was clapping and laughing like an IDIOT...for real... Here's a proof.

* Cinnabon is something unique. I know you can find it in Romania as well, if not something very similar, but not in my city unfortunately. Now this is the real cinnamon shit I tell you. Everything tastes so real and good that even salty people like me would want to eat it at least once in 2 days. Cinnabon rolls and many secondary similar products are just making you drool in front of the store, and man they smell sooooo gooood!!!!!

* I don't know who this Tim Hortons is but damn he has a food restaurant! Apparently this chain is only found in Canada, Central America and Oman and UAE, but it should definitely expand some more. It was the first place I tasted a broccoli soup and I started cooking it since then, it was that good, and many other bakery products that made my mouth  drool.

* North Carolina apparently invented Krispy Kreme, and oh God bless them cause they made an amazing discovery. Best donuts in the world I tell you, the best ones. In my first days in Dubai I met Ahmed and Roxana, and in our first day out I well remember that Ahmed had a pack with 6 nice looking donuts with some black and white chocky on top, inviting me to try one cause it's the best one and their favorite. I was to shy to take one, so I think I just took a bite and it tasted damn good. That was just the beginning. My relation with Krispy Kreme became stronger every time I was passing next to the store in the Mall and stopping to have 2 donuts instead of lunch, or as a desert. Since then we became close, and thought nobody knew, I was eating those donuts quite often, more often than my sweetie roommate :D

So in the end, if you pass by one of these stores in some big city in the world, don't hesitate to stop and have a bite. 

And most important of them all: God bless America!

Good old friend..

Annd I am back ladies and gentleman, nice to still see you here after so long. I just had some rough times and now I am back, in a new year, with new ideas and new plans ahead. Short term ones, not to spoil life surprises of course.
Nowadays, still winter, my favorite season of them all, cold weather and white pictures everywhere, just the way I like it. And since I missed to write the Christmas and New Year stories, still I'm gonna tell a kind of Christmas story, about an old friend that's by my side since I was a kid. In winter or summer, whether I am gone or back home, he is still here, waiting for me and brightening my mornings since many many years. Presenting... my very own Christmas tree :)


Just to let you know, he lives in front of my house, in fact, he was planted here by my grandparents or parents, I don't even remember. He is around 20 years old, a little smaller than me at age, but more than 7 times taller :)) Yeah, you are right, that's me in the picture with the tree. It's clear that we grew little bit more than I was imagining when I was that small. He had a lot of space when he was young and little, in fact he's still young, just that he grew so much that the space is not enough for him now. But he is taking it very well and apparently loves us and got used to us that much...that he keeps growing. My dogs love him to, they can hide under his branches and chill in the hot summer days. He makes winter and season holidays more beautiful and all my mornings happy, cause I wake up with him in front of my window.
And as friend was telling me these holidays, in fact we don't decorate Christmas trees, they decorate us.

I'm a traveler not a tourist

So many month since I have not moved my figure to another country, since I did not spent hours breathing another culture's air. 4 month since I am home and I'm happy about it...but sad also. Sad because I feel the world is not mine anymore, it belongs to those who's turn came to make the bold step and discover it.
In the meanwhile, going back to the places I've been, the people I met, I realized that I am one of the lucky ones, cause I went there and enjoyed  the journey as a traveler, not a tourist.
Just to define the meanings, absolutely from my point of view, the traveler gets involved in the journey, while the tourist sees it somehow from outside. The traveler takes a bus and doesn't hire a car, goes by train or bike not by plane. The traveler eats the traditional food from the food stall on the sidewalk not from the restaurant, he learns a few words and impresses the locals, dresses like them and sings their songs, while the tourist prefers pasta and jeans wherever he goes. The traveler, by default, travels a lot inside the journey to discover more and more places, does not lay on the beach and plays golf all day. He looks at the inhabitants as if they are his brothers and sisters, not locals. He walks in nature and gets impressed by every living piece, even though he saw it before. The travelers feels the journey and makes friends with it, the tourist does it for a change. The traveler is there to learn, learn about himself, life, people; to get inspired, to relax and discover himself among the million others. The tourist is looking for a vacation to get out of his routine, to have fun, drink a lot and smoke a joint (not that it's bad and the traveler would not do that but in different circumstances and different implications :)
Me? I'm a traveler for sure, even though I ate french fries in Rio and McDonalds in Singapore, that was a lack of money :P But from all these places, from all their magic, their culture, I became what I am. They are guilty for me having these thoughts, they are responsible for my daily activities, for my reactions to the life around me, they are responsible for me dressing so colorful or wearing such a long hair. They make me smile and cry sometimes, them, the cultures, their traditions and religions. They make me want to walk a lot and spend time with old people. They make me have strong feelings and love my friends so much but not show them.
You? I suggest to you beautiful reader, be a traveler not a tourist, and your life will pay up.

Impressed by Budapest

Just to let you know, I am home, for good, moved 2 months ago (I know I am a huge bastard for not writing since sooo long), relaxed and very much happy with my choice. Dubai? We divorced, things were not going well between us, so to stop ruining our lives, especially Dubai mine, therefore I decided to split up and he didn't had anything to say about it. Emirates? We're still good friends, but not working together anymore, at least for now :P
Current location: Timisoara, Romania (a.k.a. HOME); weather: autumn, 25 degrees; feeling: damn good; in a relationship with my true love: theatre, adaptation status: complete, current job at NESsT Romania.
And because at very beginning of a job you get a training, just to have a rough idea what the hell is going on in that new place, my very short 3 days training happened in Budapest, Hungary, the place where my foundation started activating a few years ago. You can imagine that after 1 year and some months of Emirates, and quite some travelling and so much of heat I am tired like hell, and sick of travelling, but since there was no choice, hop in the train, route: Timisoara - Budapest. After 4,5 hours of train ride I finally made it to my destination to get out of the big train station to find...a huge construction area. Did I end up in the right place? Is there another station where I was supposed to get off? Apparently not, just this is how the historical Hungarian capital welcomes you since a few months, with a pile of wholes and metal junk in front of the station, extending the metro line... First impression...obviously not so pleasant, until I got in the metro and reached my boulevard. That is where the view changed completely, I discovered a beautiful city, with old well preserved buildings all around, with bicycle tracks all the ways, with trees and noisy cars moving around, with fancy girls and boys walking relaxed on the large streets, with tones of places to visit and such a short time. 2 evenings I had in my pocket, and after 2 long days of learning and listening to different kinds of stories about what I'm supposed to do, I felt a big joy when the sun started to go down, knowing that my short journey will start.

First stop: Margarit Island, a small but good looking island in the middle of Danube river, connected on Margarit Bridge. The place is perfect for a warm evening walk but the thing that I enjoyed most was the "dancing" fountain (not as big as in Dubai of course), a small round fountain that was dancing on classical music. I laid there on the warm grass, looking at the water dancing and inviting me to dance too. But I just stood there and dreamed away. Mirifique! The boulevards you cross till you reach Margarit Island are absolutely beautiful and the view from the bridge is incomparable, sitting there between Bupa and Pesta and thinking of all the history and stories that happened maybe in that exact spot where you are sitting...

Second stop: Budapest city hall. The reason why I went to see this place is because of it's beautiful architecture. I'm not really the kind of a person to go in a city and visit the buildings (except if it's Gaudi or Hundertwasser of course), and even here, in Budapest, well I was not that much impressed by this city hall, no matter how many centuries old it is, or how many times it was renovated and still standing. But you might see it different, so it's worth of a visit :)

Third stop: Buda Hill. Now that I liked. Starting with the fact that I had to cross Chain bridge to get there, which is by the way a great construction, so big and imposing, continuing with the way up to the hill, which you can choose to make in a cable or walking (the second options was more relaxing) and ending with the view on top of the hill and the greatness of Buda Castle, all worth a visit. Imagine the castle was first completed in 1265 and it hosted a great number of Hungarian kings. Pure history, pure beauty!



I must admit though that I started missing travelling, as I got to the conclusion that it't quite tiring to travel, but when you stop...it's quite boring...
And I'm damn curious where will my next vacation will be :)

Ready for Rio - part 2

It took some time, but what the hell, the important thing is that I'm back and ready to continue the story about Rio :)
Now a little bit of history and facts to point some interesting things out, the translation of the name, Rio de Janeiro, means River of January, simply because the first discovery of the place made by the Europeans was on 1st January 1502, being under Portuguese domination  for more than 50 years, with the current nickname of Cidade Maravilhosa = the marvelous city. Besides that the spectacular city is the home of a world heritage site named "Rio de Janeiro. Carioca landscapes between the mountain and the sea" given by UNESCO on 1st Jul this year and owns the world's largest football stadium Maracana Stadium. And of course let us not forget the most representative place to visit and the most popular picture online when typing Rio, Christ the Redeemer statue on top of Corcovado hill. But before talking about Jesus, I'm just gonna tell you that there aren't so many things to visit in Rio like maybe in other capitals or crazy touristic cities in the world, and if you've been to the top of one hill, you've been to all. What we saw in Rio was first of all Copacabana, which I imagined to be a damn expensive place where we would only be having a night walk or a tan, but guess what, it's not like that. It's a normal seaside neighborhood with lots of hotels and restaurants and small shops and big shops and street food and Mc Donalds and local residences and palm trees and a long highway and 2 hills at each end and naked people (meaning in bathing suits :P ) jogging and biking and walking their dogs looking extremely HOT :))) So we easily and on the spot booked 2 beds at El Misti hostel and spend our vacation in the most fancy area in Rio ;)

At one side of the long beach we discovered Leme hill, as I said seen one seen them all, so we went on the top where an old but well kept Brazilian fortress used to protect the city from invaders and shoot the hell our of them with huge tanks :D The view was amazing, the fortress not that much of a fuss :P

Another spot on the list was (as in every tropical city) the Botanical Garden, located somewhere at the bottom of a high hill, with long walk ways in the humid jungle, with foggy views, with the entire cactus family laying around showing off in front of the visitors, with cute monkeys in the trees eating the wild fruits and staring at the people passing by. The place is perfect for an afternoon walk and it had a small entry fee, as in you don't need to be rich to see the botanical yard of the city :))

And since we talked about the bottom of the hill, the top was the most beautiful place in Rio de Janeiro. And of course we are talking now about Corcovado Hill, it's mind-blowing views and the huge statue that watches over the city since more than 60 years :) To reach up there, we had to take a small cute red train from the bottom of the hill, where the line was 1,5 hours long, the ride costing 20 euros. Totally worth it! A few facts about Christ the Redeemer statue, it is considered the 7th wonder of the world (woooww), being 39,6 meters tall with a 9,5 meters pedestal, weight of about 635 tones, considered Rio's icon monument and a symbol of Brazilian Christianity. Personal impressions regardless of the facts? Considering that is was my biggest dream since little, the fact that I stood under that monument was an inspiration that dreams indeed do come true and should not be overlooked because of different situations that make life sometimes damn hard to live. I stared at the statue for about half an hour, and another 20 minutes at the views over the city, and after that I was ready to go home and nothing else mattered :X

After the soul healing half day trip, the perfect place to relax and put your thoughts back together was an evening walk on Flamengo beach, a combination of parks with lots of sporty people, and a long beautiful beach, where the chilly ocean and breeze ended up a perfect day.
And telling you the story as me and my beloved friend lived, I wish you dear reader and wild traveler a lovely vacation, lots of inspiration and don't forget...dreams always come true :)

Ready for Rio - part 1

For those who maybe don't know, the craziest part when you work for an airline are the air prices, which end up with a discount of even 90% for staff, with the condition that you have to pay full airport taxes. Well, this was not our case, cause our ticket was free, so we only payed about 50 euro Brazilian airport taxes. Now the even craziest part in this is that you are on a standby, and the oldest you are in the company the highest priority you have, so if there are any seats available in the flight you get in, if the flight is fully booked, you wait in line for the next one :) This was our case cause the flight to our destination was booked and we were waiting at the staff check-in counter along with other few employees, with our names listed on a big board and a yellow light showing that we were on standby. We stared at that board for about 10 minutes continuously, the normal check-in for the flight was already closed and we were still yellow. Again when the board refreshed, my friend was green, confirmed for the flight. That is when my breath stopped and I only heard "Oh my God, I hope you get confirmed as well". The next page of the board had my name on it, with a green light next to it. I got my seat confirmed...destination...Rio de Janeiro.
Did I tell you that I wanted to see this place since I was little, as in it was my biggest dream to see the statue of Christ on the top of the hill? I didn't? Well, now you know :)
We had a long flight, about 14 hours, no stops, with the longest day in my life, cause the time difference between UAE and Brazil is about 7 hours; therefore we started our journey at about 07.00 local time in Dubai and we reached Rio at about 14.00 local time Brazil.

Weather in Rio: aprox. 27 degrees, season: winter, atmosphere: perfect for us to visit :))
Yes, in Brazil it was winter, at least this part of the country, but the weather was just great, a little bit of sun, a little bit of clouds, thank god no rain in this vacation, the ocean really cold, and anyhow waves were to huge to take a bath, but you can surely do other stuff than just laying at the beach all day. We ended up in Copacabana homeless, we did not book any room, just went from a hostel to another until we found 2 beds available, and that happened quite fast I must say, cause by evening we were ready to explore the surroundings.
Copacabana is a long beautiful beach and neighborhood, one of the safe areas in Rio, full of tourists, luxury apartments, budget accommodation, cheap and expensive shops and restaurant, perfect for any traveler. So yeah, we booked 2 beds in El Misti hostel and started our vacation.

The first impression: happy people. So many young and old aged people walking, jogging, biking, playing volleyball on the beach and boulevard in Copacabana. Second impression: expensive. Comparing to other destinations and even with Dubai, the prices in Rio are damn high for the conditions offered. The city is not really developed, even though some areas are getting improved, many people are poor, favellas in every neighborhood. Overall impression: beautiful. An amazing combination of Atlantic ocean with high hills which I like to call mountains :))

A few facts about the city in general: almost all of the buildings everywhere in the city are protected by tall metal fences, even in the touristic areas, all the buildings were jailed :D; people are walking their cute little (sometimes huge) dogs everywhere, we saw more than 20 breeds of dogs in just 5 days; people actually use public phone, which I thought were completely replaced nowadays by mobiles phone, but not in Rio; there are quite a few poor people coming from favelas (click on the word to understand the meaning if needed :) in the touristic side of the city, whom are quite friendly and not at all dangerous as everyone warned before getting there; if you stick to day walks (even night walk but in large group) and populated areas in the city you might leave Rio alive :)), we did not face any dangerous people or places, we in fact had a great vacation with no incidents.

Bottom line is that we enjoyed our time there a lot, and about the places we've visited in Rio, well, stay tuned, soon to be told, the story of Christ the Redeemer on top of Corcovado Hill...