Rhod and Anna's World Adventure

Today is a public holiday in Rio de Janeiro where everything shuts down and little work is done. The reason? Football! Every time Brazil play a World Cup game the country literally comes to a standstill. Come kick-off, the whole country is glued to the nearest TV.

Everyone is in yellow. The buildings have flags and streamers hanging from them. The staff in all the shops are wearing yellow uniforms. Even the taxis and the buses are yellow today! Ok the taxis and the buses are yellow everyday but I´m sure you get the general theme.

We started the day by purchasing 2 Brazil t-shirts for the obscene amount of 3 pounds. I managed to resist the thong with the Brazil flag emblazoned on the front. This had a 2nd purpose as we had just handed over all of our laundry to the laundrette that looked more interested in preparing and watching the football than it did about whose clothes were who? The new yellow T shirts could be the only item of clothing we have by the end of the day!

The current weather in Rio is a little bit rainy. I know we have it tough don´t we. But don´t worry about us we are soldiering on! We decided it might be best to watch the football in or just outside a bar where we could shelter from the rain if required. We weren´t disappointed and found an ideal venue just near the hostel. The next 90 mins consisted of screaming, cheering, shouting, singing, fireworks, ticker tape, an offside goal and obviously ended with a Brazil victory to celebrate!

We were advised that the real party would be in Leblon where the fans would take over the main cross roads and sing and dance and set off fireworks. Wow! You would think they had won the World Cup. We arrived near the cross roads to see a sea of yellow and green. Music was blaring, people were dancing and singing. People were walking around selling beer, food, shots of tequilla and everything you could imagine in the colour of Brazil It was quite strange to see such a huge celebration after the 2nd round game! I guess in England once the final whistle has gone we are too worried about what formation Sven will play for the next game and where the WAGS will be spotted. Perhaps we should relax and celebrate a little more.

The locals see winning their 6th World Cup as a forgone conclusion. So much so that you can already buy t-shirts with 6 stars on them to indicate the 6 wins! There was also a man selling plastic world cups in Leblon today so when the day comes on the 9th July you can all lift the World Cup together. Personally I´m not sure it is a done deal. But then again they didn´t have today´s game all their own way and still won 3-0. Whatever happens we will be back in Rio for the final. I´d like to see how they will top today´s celebrations.