Carnaval 2009!

Carnaval officially started on Saturday (2/21) and we are just trying to keep up but it is a lot of fun. Thousands of people are everywhere all hours of the day and night. Each neighborhood has a "bloco" or two - a street parade with percussion and music and people just kind of join in and dance, drink, sing and MORE. Basically, if you want to find the fun you just follow the crowds.

This sand castle creation in Cobacabana was getting everyone in the mood.

This is from the "Banda de Ipanema" parade - one of the most popular - lots of people wear all sorts of costumes - some more glamorous than others :)

One of the floats from a street parade - they sing the same samba song over and over and people of all ages join in.



See one of the parades in the clip below.