Copacabana

10 things I bet you didn’t know about Rio de Janeiro:

1. David Beckham bought a house right in the the middle of Vidigal Favela for $500,000USD. Best views in town. We knocked on his door – not home.
2. There are 60 pet stores around Leblon, Ipanema and Copa. They like dogs. That is like having 60 pet stores in Bondi (instead we have 60 cafes)
3. Rio De Janeiro means River of January as it was first visited by Europeans in 1 January 1502. Odd thing is that it’s a bay and not a river mouth. Opa!
4. In 1994 Rod Stewart played at a concert on Copacabana Beach to a record 4.5 million people. Biggest concert crowd to this day. To put it into perspective – Woodstock was only 400,000 hippies. Each NYE attracts around 2.5 million to the 4km of beach. Wild!
5. Rio was the capital of Brazil from 1763 until 1960. It’s capital is Brasilia now.
6. The giant statue of Christo gets hit by lightning many times a year! If you look closely there is a network of steel rods imbedded into the stone to help ground Jesus. A few years ago lighting struck a piece off Jesus. Boom!
7. Located right in the middle of Rio de Janeiro is Tijuca Forest which is the largest urban rainforest in the world. It’s unbelievable.
8. Rio is the first South American city to host an Olympics
9. The Brazilian wax job originated on the beaches of Rio when the thong bikini came into fashion. A NYC waxing salon named it ‘A Brazilian’.
10. Carnivale is BIG business for Rio. 800,000 people visit during the huge festival and it brings in 950 million Real (300 million AUD)

:: uge