Brazil: Carnival - Rio De Janeiro 2012

In the beginning of 2012 I ticked off a major item on my bucket list - I went to the Carnival in Rio De Janeiro. Ever since watching Rio in 2011 (yes I know, I find travel inspiration in children's movies), the Carnival was on my radar and when some of our friends, who Hamish had known since before moving to London, suggested a two week holiday back to their home country of Brazil, I was in!

We spent four days smack bang in the middle of the Carnival and Rio was literally alive and buzzing with tourists and locals alike. We stayed in Ipanema, which is right next to Copacabana and  I would definitely recommend this location. The beaches were in easy walking distance and the area was full of bars and shops and restaurants.  During the day, the beaches were so busy you could hardly see the sand and at night all those bronzed and sweaty bodies seemed to migrate to the streets of Rio, still dressed in their swim wear, for the street parades of the Carnival. The entire party takes place in the streets - the restaurants and bars are mostly shut and street vendors sell everything from Havaianas to vodka beverages and different street foods.  We could view the parades from the balcony of our apartment and there were certainly some views I won't be forgetting any time soon.

Sorry about the terrible photo quality - these were pre my decent camera days. 

Left to right: Group shot, Ipanema banner, drinks in Brazil - coffee comes in a glass??, dogs like to dress up for Carnival too.

We were lucky enough to be travelling with Brazilian locals and they were our personal (amazing) tour guides and Carnival experts and  even managed to organise some tickets to the Samba Parade in the Sambodromo which is where the "official" Carnival parade that is shown on television takes place. These tickets are apparently hard to come by and you need to get in super early if you want to enjoy that amazing experience.  The parades take place over a few different nights and are a massive Samba Competition between all the different Samba Groups, many of which come from the local favelas. The Samba Parade starts after sunset and goes on throughout the night, ending just before sunrise, so be sure to make sure you are well rested. Having it during the night hours means that the lights and colours are all the more spectacular.

Aside from all the festival shenanigans we also managed to squeeze in some of the famous tourist attractions such as an amazing walk along the beach from Copacabana to Ipanema, getting the train up to the Corcovado (Christ the redeemer statue) and visiting the cafe where the famous song "Girl from Ipanema" was written.  Overall I loved our four days in Rio and would love to return again when the Carnival is not taking place, as I imagine the city will be a completely different (and less exhausting) experience when it isn't one big massive party.

A pint of beer in Brazil costs approximately GBP 1.50 *

* Correct at time of publishing

Easter Fun: Bunny Bait Recipe

Since succumbing to peer pressure and finally joining the Pinterest bandwagon a few weeks ago, I have constantly been seeing Pins of "Bunny Bait". I had never heard of Bunny Bait before, but as it was very clear from all the pictures,  the principle ingredient was popcorn -  this was enough for me, I really didn't need to know more than that to know I just had to make bunny bait.  Added to the popcorn are variations of deee-licious junk food toppers. Since most of the recipes I could find were all US based, I had to be a bit creative and made up my own. I decided to make these to take into work and up to the family Easter gathering next weekend so I wanted them to look presentable, which can be difficult when dealing with popcorn and pretzels.  I ordered some cellophane bags online and made some card labels to seal the bags. I think they turned out pretty well for my first go.

For the labelled cellophane bags, you will need: 

Clear cellophane bags
Blue and Yellow stock card
2 Sheets of Easter themed scrapbook paper (I used pastel blue, and yellow polka dot paper)
Glue
Ruler
Pencil
Scissors

To make the labels I printed off a white piece of paper, with "Bunny Bait" in a large font with even spacing to make it easier to cut out.  You then need to measure your stock card to the cellophane bag and cut out a square/rectangle that will fold in half into the label size you would like.  This is followed by measuring the size of the scrapbook paper you want on your label and cutting that out. Once you have all three, you simply stick them together, stock card first, followed by scrapbook paper, followed by the printed labels and voila, you are good to go!

Bunny Bait Ingredients:

1 Bag Salted Popcorn
1 Cup Mini Eggs (I used Cadburys)
1 Cup Pretzel Sticks broken into smaller bits
1/2 to 1 Cup Candy Melts
3 Pieces White Chocolate
Rainbow Sprinkles

Method:

1. Empty popcorn into a bowl ( I am totally advocating being lazy here and promoting bought ready-popped popcorn to make things quicker).

2. Pour pretzels and mini eggs onto popcorn - do not mix.

3. Melt candy melts and white chocolate as per instructions on packaging.

4. Drizzle  1/2 melted mixture onto popcorn, pretzels and mini eggs and mix. Once mixed, drizzle remaining mixture and mix again - be sure to try and keep some of the mini eggs from falling to the bottom to keep it all even.

5. Sprinkle some rainbow sprinkles over the top and give it all a good shake.

6. Let the final product sit for a few minutes (5-10) so the chocolate and candy melts can harden and then spoon into cellophane bags and seal with the card labels you made earlier.

The bag on the left was filled when the mixture hadn't cooled properly, the one on the right was done correctly and is therefore much neater and the bag is not nearly as messy. 

One word of caution, Bunny Bait is addictive, consumption in moderation is near-impossible. Good luck.