“I was pretty scared when I had to run and jumped off the platform,” Arren said, “but the view from the top was really beautiful and the experienced trainer made me very comfortable.”
After having so much fun on our first days in Rio, we started Sunday with different activities. Sunday would be highlighted by a trip to the market, Ipanema beach, Metropolitan Cathedral, Cinelandia, and football match at the Maracana Stadium.
In the morning, our group was split into two: Emily, Arren, and Brandi went to do hand gliding, and the rest of us enjoyed Copacabana beach. "I was pretty scared when I had to run and jumped off the platform," Arren said, "but the view from the top was really beautiful and the experienced trainer made me very comfortable." The group certainly enjoyed their once in a lifetime opportunity to hand glide in Rio. They started off in a hill and landed in the beach. All three off them surely scared their moms, but they came back safely with an unforgetable memory. The rest of us enjoyed swimming in the wave at Copacabana beach.
At 11 a.m., all of us had to check out of the hotel to go to Ipanema beach. At the beach, some of us enjoyed the beach, and some of us spend some time in the market to buy gifts for family and friends at home. Timmy had some interesting bargaining experience, as he had a 30 reals discount for some t-shirts but couldn't get any for a statue.
After spending around 1.5 hours at Ipanema beach, we headed to Metropolitan Cathedral and Cinelandia for a quick picture and then went to Maracana Stadium to see Flamengo played against Sport Recife. The home team jersey color is Red and Black, and we are pretty sure it is not a coincidence, ha! When we lined up to buy the tickets; we saw how proud these Brazilians with their football club. When we arrived at the stadium, we could feel the atmosphere of football spirit.
Maracana Stadium is one of the most famous stadiums in Brazil and hosted the opening and final games of the 2014 FIFA World Cup. All of us were very excited to see the game. Even though the game featured Flamengo, which is a big team, against Sport Recife, which is a small game, it was a very competitive game. Sport Recife were up 1 - 0 at the end of first half via a penalty kick. Early in the second half, they increased their lead 2 - 0 with a beautiful goal. The home team did not give up, as they scored a goal to narrow the lead and one more goal close to the end of the game. We were very pleased having a chance to see football in the legendary stadium in the football country. That was a great wrap up for our weekend in Rio de Janeiro. After the game, we headed to airport and say Tradução to Rio which means "see you again."
