Well, as soon as you starting to feel quite comfortable at home, you are about to take off to the party unknown. Even though my first stop will be in Rio with my family, somehow it feels uncomfortable to be away for so long....didn’t know why to think this way, but simply tried to remember the moments when I so not felt like doing something and it turned out to be the most wonderful thing to do. Ok now here I am in travellers mode again, wanting to enjoy the beauty of being alone with no need to talk. But the most you want it, the less you get it....so already on my way to the airport a South American guy started talking to me admiring my bag and wanting to know where I am going. At the airport waiting in line, we were all wondering about the so not forward moving cue in front of us, so the guy behind me talked to me....he even didn’t want to stop that in the plane to Rome he sat a row in front of me and wanted to change seat with someone to sit beside me. He was eager to do so because his next destination was the Seychelles, which was not mine. Coincidentally the guy he wanted to change seats with me had similar iternaty as me, to Rio and same date back to Munich :)! He was gay and visiting his Brazilian boyfriend in Rio. So we got to talk to eachother and spent also the stopover in Rome together. 

Arriving at the airport I met the gay guy again and his boyfriend at the exit of the terminal, a very nice Brazilian young guy. As I searched for the Taxi driver that should bring me to my aunts place in Copacabana, we stood together outside and waited since I couldn’t immediately find him. Well in the end I did and we ended up sharing the taxi because it was quite expensive with 100 Reais. But it was the driver, that my aunt had sent so I didn’t want to cancel. We dropped off the two guys in Lapa and I drove to Copacabana.
After breakfast we quickly made our way to the beach while my cousin had plans with her friends, but should pick me up in the evening for drinks in Ipanema.

At the beach after clouds came the sun, so we had Caipirinha and some snacks, me falling asleep shortly after. Well sleeping in the sun was not that good idea for the first day of pale skin....sunburn on my chest was the result!
On the way back home we approached some travel agencies because I didn’t have any option yet for my next destination Cuiaba, the starting point of Pantanal adventure. Being home and having a manicure/pedicure in between - which turned out as failure - we had some dinner and the only thing I could think of was my bed....even though I had slept well in the plane, traveling and sun makes you really tired. So off to bed...

Having a really good 10 hours of sleep, my aunt and I went for a jogging at the beach. Only 3k, but moving a bit was such a good thing to start the day :).

In the evening my aunt suggested to go to a rather safe favela close to Leme, called Chapeu Mangueira. A very famous restaurant/bar is just at the start of the favela up the hill. Of course we wanted to dress normal, take only the most important, keeping the passport at home and carrying only a copy, even considering leaving the mobile phone at home...but really it’s all about keeping an eye on yourself and your belongings and you‘re fine. At least I wasn’t scared to go, my aunt was a little careful. But her being a local, I somehow at least listen to her.
At the area of Leme next to Capocabana we grabbed some Moto Taxi, 4 Reais each, to take us up the hill. Walking would have been bit exhausting. I was the first to put the helmet on and get on the bike....just as the guy new what our destination was, we were off and gone. The others still getting their helmets fixed, I shortly had a feeling of „ok now what...“ because looking behind they hadn’t a chance to catch up the speed of my driver! He asked my where I was from and also my name. Well he maybe had a reason to go fast ;).

Walking back down wasn’t too bad because it was not far and we were together, so not a problem at all. Back home we had a short Caipirinha and fell to bed.

Next morning my cousin had already stayed at a friends place to leave early for Florianópolis....bit chaotic morning, I first got some coffee and fruits from the supermarket for breakfast and was told that my aunt had to do some bank things in the city. So what was I supposed to do...
The feeling I had in this moment was quite interesting and a part of my self-reflection. I felt somehow lost and lonesome, not having anyone to explore things together or someone who gave me a reason to get out here. I started to look for reasons to my feeling. The first thought was to blame my aunt, that she didn’t have time for me, although I was visiting once in 4 years, but what could she do, her daily life had to go on with or without me and she couldn’t just leave responsibilities behind. Walking by a hostel the day before, I wished for having stayed here to get to know people, but also that was not the solution and would not make my situation and feeling better. I was the only one responsible for myself. Instead of wondering and blaming, I had the power to change it and not waist my time with self-pitying. Finding that out after fighting against that feeling, this was it: I started to be active and change something about it! According to my interests, for example photography, I googled around to find a guided photo tour, when I figured out the website www.rentalocalfriend.com and arranged a meeting with this friend in Flamengo the next day, but still what about today.

I heard from my uncle that there was a cycling track all the way to the centre and my cousins bike was ready to use, so then I was!

It took me about 30-40 minutes to Gloria, locked the bike at the Gloria metro station at an official bike parking where others were already locked and walked the 5 minute walk to the Escalaria Selaron. Up and downwards I discovered different tiles from all over the world, asking other tourists every now and then to take a picture, and went back after half an hour. The bike was luckily still there, you never know, and I took the ride back.

Quite exhausted but happy that I had simply made it on my own, the next event was already waiting for me....a grill party with my aunts family, they call it Churrasco. We drove to a part of the city in Nordeste, close to the famous Maracana stadium. Almost an hour drive through the busy streets we reached a little village with simple but well kept houses.
We spent the evening with lots of beers, Caipirinha and of course food! We spoke a mixture of Spanish and English, somehow it worked and we had fun.

Next morning without any plans I simply wrote my newly friends the gay couple what their plans were and surprisingly was invited to join them with their rental car to head towards the mountains close to Baja, West of Rio. Perfect timing to be picked up at 11 am to return at 5 pm because Abel had to start working then and before meeting my rent-a-local-friend Lucas I could go to the market Sao Cristovao with my aunt. They picked me up and already fun started in the car both of them picking on each other, just like couples do....every now and then telling me from each of them „see, that‘s how he always does“....what a fun ride! After passing South Americas largest Favela Rocinha we arrived at Park Tijuca and first hiked a bit up the hill to watch the paragliders take off.

My aunt left for shopping her dress for New Years Eve and so did I go out shopping Flip Flops because I had broke my only pair the day before. At a place called Quick Galetos they grill all kinds of meet besides chicken (galeto) and comes with different side dishes....I chose Farofa with eggs, a Maniok powder quite tasty, but you need to try first because it’s not everyone’s taste. I walked down the Barata Ribero to the shopping area. But after two stores including the Flip Flops buy I felt so tired and went back to have a little nap before meeting this guy named Lucas in Flamengo.
We met at 8 pm at a restaurant in Flamengo „Lago Machado“, where a Uber took me two for only 15 Reais (4€).
I truly believe that you select and meet people that are within your mind-set and so it happened to me again. We went to this restaurant/hostel and sat down for a bottle of beer to share. Actually I totally forgot about ordering food because our talk was so inspiring. Himself was also a mixture of American and Spanish, raised in Belem (North of Brazil) and told me a little about his view of the city, its people and partly crime. Also we spoke about our society and the weird way of rating everything we do or selecting everything by checking the ratings.

Next day should be very quiet, New Years evening was in countdown. We slept long, had breakfast and besides me catching the atmosphere in the street by walking up and down streets there was nothing special to do. I had bought some white flowers to follow the superstition that it brings luck to throw them into the ocean. The I tried to get information on metro tickets to possibly join Lucas and his friends later at night, but not that easy as it sounds! They restrict the amount and time of transit in and out of Copacabana and special tickets need to be bought in advance. These were today only available at a metro station six stops away. Too much effort for an eventual move in the middle of the night, so I left it up to destiny if the circumstances allowed it at night. So I headed back home for rest....which was short, family and friends of my aunt Darcylene had set up a small place on the beach where we could join for some drinks, so we did around 4 o’clock.

What a perfect countdown to get in the celebration mood....anyway we had to be back home to get ready finally. 9 o‘clock we had to be at Darcylene‘s friends in Leme, a neighborhood next to Copacabana in 10 minutes walking distance. Luckily I had told Oliver and Abel, I would meet them at 11 o’clock at a hotel close to the stage....my aunts friends again didn’t speak any English except one person that asked my small talk questions and that was it. I had suggested my aunt to meet her after fireworks at a certain place...not a good idea for her, she didn’t want to meet a certain time and wanted to be free. I somehow felt bad leaving her after such a short time, but I also wanted to spend the New Years Eve with fun party people that I could laugh with instead of older people and families. At least I told my aunt how I felt, but it was ok for her and so I left for to meet the guys.

Since my night ended around 5 am, the sleep was short and not the best!
The whole day was as lazy as possible....only little hanging out at the beach with beautiful sunshine, unfortunately with little headache, and some food in the evening made me fall to sleep quite early and quick!

Even the day after started lazy, but had definitely more energy than the day before. I arranged some breakfast to welcome my cousin Vanessa back from Florianopolis, but she didn’t arrive before noon. So I went a little shopping in the streets parallel to Rua Barata Ribeiro between Plaza and Marriot hotel, returned to not miss her arrival. We had lunch together and talked a lot. She had a little cold and of course was tired, so I let her sleep...
I spontaneously grabbed by beach things and went for 2 hours to the beach, to read a book and to finish it...the most inspiring book read since a long time and it couldn’t have been a better timing than to finish it just before traveling by myself. It is about a guy that lived a stressful life always having the feeling to escape and free the mind. Suddenly on a road trip he gets lost and ends up in a cafe, that makes you ask questions about the own existence and how to find the answers to the purpose of life. When reading the final pages, I was left with feeling to be so much smaller in this world with my problems yet seeming so important, but loosing their importance by simply focusing on little things that make you happy and taking more time for them! Now I could take these questions with me for ne next 10 days and take time every now and then to think about them...

Every few minutes someone came along our standing position and offered meat. Shortly after my aunt and cousin joined us too. Then also Lucas came over with a friend, so everyone was together....what a nice feeling and at the same time surprised how this week developed feeling so welcome compared to the beginning! 

With this warm hearted feeling I could leave Rio for my next adventure even though it wasn’t that easy I must admit...
Thanks to each and everyone who enriched my week in Rio!!