There is no other perfect song for Carnival than Lionel Richie's "All Night Long." Because that is what the participants do. They dance All. Night. Long.
What happened to the days when we could go out to TJ's in Gainesville and wait until after 2 am when they let the under 21ers in? We would get there at 1:30 in the morning to get in line and dance until 5, go home to sleep a bit and be ready for lunch and another get together. Ahh the good old days. Now? I want my bed by 10 pm. No late nighters for me anymore. Heck last night I think we fell asleep at 9:30! We are so old. But, my hubby wanted to go to Carnival. We are in Sao Paulo. We did not do this the last time because the boys were really young, and we did not have a sitter. I probably could have found one, but I am neurotic. I would not have had fun because I would have been thinking about them the whole time. Now, I am still neurotic, but they know what to do in emergency situations. I think. Or at least I hope.
So Sao Paulo Carnival. Muito Bom! Wow it was fun! We did the camerote. Which means for an obscene amount of money, or slightly less than obscene, you get to go to a convention center where there is free food and drinks and alcohol. Yes, free buffet of all.
Who wouldn't love that bar! Then they bus you to the sambodromo where there is more free food and drink to watch the parade until 6 am. Then you go back to the convention center for breakfast and off home you go. Did I mention it started at 11 pm? Yes, after me bedtime.
So we got there around 8 or 9, can't remember. Ate like pigs and drank like fish. Wait, do fish drink? Maybe a better term is drink like a camel? I don't know. Then we got on the bus to go to the parade route. And ate and drank more. I can't even describe the people around us. Let's just say we think some were women but weren't sure. They were dressed better than me that's for sure. Better boobs too. So not fair. Anywho, we were having a great time with our buds, enjoying the parade. It is amazing what these samba schools can put together. I will add photos at the end for you to see. Just outstanding. We were right on street level at times, and others we went up top to get a birds-ish eye view. We ended up watching 4 out of 6 schools off and on. Each school was an hour long. These participants have to sing the samba school song and dance over and over for an hour. In these heavy costumes, some of them. I was very impressed.
I made it until 3 am. Then I fell asleep on a beanbag for about 20 minutes. The position cricked my neck and I must have done something to it because now I have a bulged disc in my cervical spine. Oops! But hey, that is my souvenir! We enjoyed it so much we are planning Rio Carnival next year. Anyone wanna join us?
We left around 4 am, got in a taxi and headed home. The poor taxi driver I think was up all the day before and that night. He was falling asleep while driving us home! Holy smokes that was scary. We, who were exhausted, were trying to keep this old guy awake for the 40 minute ride home. That I did not enjoy. But next year? Rio baby!!!
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