Pure Vacation Bliss

Over breakfast, we struck up a conversation with some folks who had been to a beach party at Copacabana. They told us how they were just sitting together on the beach, enjoying the music, when a group of Brazilians suddenly knocked them over and held them down while they emptied their pockets and took their watches. Thankfully, nothing happened to them, but they were pretty shaken by the experience. We had originally planned to head further south today, but after a night out in Lapa, our heads were a bit sore, so we decided to stay an extra day. Instead, we made our way down to the beach to relax. The sun was shining from a clear sky, making it a perfect day for the beach. It seemed like a lot of other Brazilians had the same idea, as the beach was quite crowded. This also brought out a bunch of extra vendors, and I couldn’t resist picking up a pair of pink shorts for 16 reais. After a long, enjoyable day at the beach, we headed to a club called Melt in Leblon that evening, where a popular samba band was set to perform. The cover charge was 25 reais, which included 10 reais to spend on food or drinks. It turned out to be a nice spot where the upper class came to have a good time. There wasn’t a dance floor in the club, but that didn’t matter since everyone just stood up at their tables and started dancing samba.