Carnaval Madness is Over

With Carnaval madness over for another year Rio has returned to to its normal laid back way of dealing with everyday life.

However it's a perfect time to reflect on what carnaval means to the people of Brazil. For some it's simply an excuse to buy some exotic new headgear:

For others the heady mix of sun and samba causes them to instantly fall in love;

While others are driven to within an inch of gender reassignment:

Roll on Carnaval 2012!!

Even More Carnaval

Well just a handfull of photos cannot really capture the intensity not to mention the volume of carnaval in Rio. You really need to hear it to feel it:

And here's some more......

Each school has its own song which they perform as they parade through the sambadrome. In this case the chorus you can here is:

"Sou Carioca e Soa Clemente
Irreverente, minha paixao
Meu Rio, sua beleza
inspira o mar azul
Canta, Zona Sul"

The song celebrates the fact that they are Cariocas (Rio de Janeirians) from the Sao Clemente samba school. They are irreverent and passionate and inspired buy the beauty of Rio and blue sea.

Enjoy!