Settlement

Second day at Rio is a day of searching for new apartment and transportation for next stop of the trip. It's basically a working day. Lots of walks. My travel partner Martin is good at map and direction. Besides, the beach town is not that big. We had no problems reaching anywhere by feet. We finally settled at an apartment one block away from the beach. Still expensive but not bad deal. We also booked flight to Curitina on Jan 2nd. We moved in our beach apartment that afternoon with a corner of ocean view ( the high rise building in front blocks most of the view). There's AC in the apartment! (I've never been so desperate for AC!) We finally got chance to walk down to the beach and enjoyed the ocean breeze late that afternoon after the overwhelming settlement process! The beach is huge! It runs a long coast line along densely populated residential areas. It has a long broad strand where snack shops spread all over and people with differnt looks stroll around. Further more, there were dozens of restaurants and bars lining overlooking the ocean. You feel the engergy right away! Next to Copacabana is Ipanema beach, another beach destination which is more pristine and upscale. I had my first Caipirinhas ( a very common cocktail with lime, sugarlane and rum) on the beach!