The iconic Sugar Loaf is the best spot in Rio for the thrill of the cable-car ride, for the small hikes on top of the Urca mountain, for the views over Rio and for the sunsets. Lucky us, we got it all!

Rio de Janeiro is most famous for its picture-perfect beaches, mostly Copacabana and Ipanema.

We attended the Parade of the Champions, featuring the best samba schools in Rio, who had the whole night to show off. We took the subway to the stadium, with — it seemed — half of Rio. A lot of performers were already wearing their customs in the subway, and I got a hug from two ¨golden guys¨ who put glitters all over me.

The bus station was okay, but as we took the hostel street, we stepped in the water, knee-deep. We managed to get back to the hostel (barefeet) where we learned Paraty floods quite often.

Now, as I said before, I do not speak Portuguese. Cachoeira sounded like cascada in Spanish, so I was pretty sure we were going to see waterfalls. I didn’t give much thought to the Tobogã part of the story.