Today was my first full day staying at Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
I woke up very early this morning and saw the sunrise out at sea. It was beautiful, but unfortunately, the photo I took through my hotel window did not do it justice. I went back to bed but couldn't sleep and went for breakfast in the hotel buffet at around 7 am. The buffet wasn't particularly good, and indeed, it was not as good as the pictures on the website made it look. I had some breakfast anyway and sat reading my Kindle.
As I was reading my Kindle, Gail entered the buffet, and we sat and talked for a while. Gail was going for a walk around Copacabana Beach, but my leg was still aching, so I said I would meet her on the beach this afternoon.
After breakfast, I had a walk around the area the hotel was in. I walked back a couple of roads, but most of the shops were not yet open, so I went back to the hotel. I put my swim shorts on, collected a beach towel and my Kindle and walked across the road to Copacabana Beach. The beach was quite empty, and I chose to lie down in a spot on the beach, quite close to the surf, where it broke on the sand. I love the noise of breaking waves on the beach as it seems to override the noise that my tinnitus continually makes. I find it very relaxing.
I decided to video the waves crashing on the beach. I would then be able to separate the audio from the film tracks on my computer. I would be able to loop the audio and hopefully build a longer track that would help control the tinnitus when I get home. This idea seemed to be a good one and started well, but I had not been filming long when people started to walk along the beach for their morning exercise before it got too hot. At one point, a man and a lady walking in opposite directions met and stopped directly in front of me while I videoed the waves. I didn't mind too much as she was gorgeous. I think she stopped where she did on purpose because as she turned my way, she even gave me a cheeky smile and waved.
As the beach filled up, I continued to read my Kindle, and it wasn't long before I realised that the sun was stronger than it appeared because I could feel myself burning. I put a shirt on to stop myself from burning further and carried on reading. I had wanted to go swimming, but red flags were flying, and the entire length of the beach, there were warnings to people not to go in the water. I didn't know why they were flying, but I saw them and felt it was safer to take notice of them.
After I left the beach, I took a shower at the hotel, and this evening, I met Gail to go and have something to eat. We went to the restaurant a short walk from the hotel. Once again, I had a steak that wasn't very good. I had always heard that Brazilian steaks were terrific, but apart from the one I had at Tijuipe Waterfall I hadn't had a good one. Gail went back to the hotel when she had finished eating, and I had another beer and sat watching the world go past before going back to the hotel and going back to my room.