Rio's A-listers

Taking a step back… (the whirlwind that was carnival mixes the mind a little, not least the order of the photos!) So, before our second night of carnival we were bundled along the coastline to the most exclusive part of town, over looking the south end of Ipanema beach. The tower blocks here are not as high, and although they may be overlooked, they aren't overlooked by just anyone. 

We were invited to an exclusive BBQ on the roof terrace of Goncalo's sister Seline's and their parents' private flat. We entered through the car port at the bottom, with a polite, rather large, Brazilian with dark glasses to hold the door and summon the lift. The lift took us to floor 2 where we found another big, dark oak door with giant bronze knocker. Through the living area, adorned with African art and glinting sculpture, we went outside to the pool side terrace where a handful of floatily clad Brazilians and Americans were clustered around a table decorated with fruit, a selection of alcohol and an ice bucket of beer.

The roof terrace was unbelievable. Glass balcony around the front side, with sliding doors onto the main room of the house. A side room was kitted out with a brick BBQ, along with chef, and aforementioned bar. Four tables with beautiful white canvass sun umbrellas sat between the pool and the glass wall, overlooking Ipanema beach.

After a couple of beers to loosen the vocal chords we got down to the business of mingling (luckily Michael knew several of the Americans who were all in the racehorse sect) and Selina coaxed a few lucky ones out into a chink of stone where a DJ and a rather glamorous dancer were already flinging around a few moves. We were to learn the salsa ahead of the evenings festivities. Oh dear.

Of course, with flip-flops Jonny did not take so easily to the dance, and the crowd of bespectacled gentlemen the other side of the pool was not exactly encouraging, although, in true Brazilian style, everyone is admired and dance is part of the language.

The afternoon got hotter and meat appeared (I think some of which was a small animal's kidney). We met some interesting people, spoke with Selina who was cultivating a wild grass rooftop above the patio, and briefly met the big dogs - Goncalo's parents, who were sensibly sitting inside.

At about 6pm we took our leave and went for a couple of hours rest before continuing the party at the sambadrome. But it was certainly an afternoon not to be forgotten.