Samba school....

Salghiero with the Batteria on the balcony.

Ofcourse no visit to Rio would be complete without seeing the Samba.  In March all the Samba schools, which come from each favella, compete during Carneval.  Its not just the dancing, its the music and drumming (the Batteria) as well. And its taken incredibly seriously.  They practice religously every week. So on Saturday evening we set off for Salghiero samba school - which is held outside of the favella so is relatively safe to visit.  Yet again we were the only gringo faces there which caused some mild amusement, but everyone was really friendly and seemed pleased we were showing such an interest.  Catherine caused a bit of a stir with the local lads - white skin and red hair is very unusual there and she attracted a lot of attention.  Which just made her scowl (but secretly Im sure she loved it!)  As Martin and Edward loved it when the dancers came out in their skimpy costumes - Im surprised they didnt trip over their tongues !  They were very beautiful girls, wearing lovely costumes (tiny bits of string really) and any red blooded male would relished it.  The noise was incredible - we all left with our ears ringing for several hours. 

 

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