After Carnival -

We arrived back in Friburgo yesterday at noon,  cool / whet / foggy  but nearly silent.  Of course, after spending 5 days in Rio during Carnival week, anyplace would seem silent.   

Ipanema is usually pretty quiet at night.  We get an occasional party going on, sometimes a group yelling and cheering their favorite soccer team until the wee hours, and for the past year we’ve had a new born baby downstairs – crying most days and nights, but generally Ipanema shuts down for the night around 10.  The busses quiet down, the cars thin out, and people from the neighborhood walk sedately to dinner and back.

This year for carnival there were three (seemed like more) ‘blocos’ just in our neighborhood.  A bloco is the closest to ‘old ‘ carnival as you will get.  They consist of a band – well really I’ve not seen a band as we think of them – but more of a drum core, and people from the neighborhood and anyone else who wants to act crazy – create some chaos – confusion – be loud – dress in costumes – and slop beer all over the street, can join the group.  They take place during the day and are a lot of fun.

Just to show you a little contrast – the first photo is on a regular night -  and the next three are from this past Monday evening - 

  

The blocos happen during the morning and the afternoon, I don’t know where these young people were from..... this corner is around on the other side of the block from us, and we could hear them until 2 or 3 in the morning.  

a few more photos – on the side streets, on the beach, vendors, drummers, and spectators.