The things you see at the beach
A few days ago I found myself strolling down the famous black and white tiled path that runs alongside the beach in Ipanema. I hadn’t been along that way in a while and I was reminded of what a great place it is for people watching.
The iconic black and white pathways of Ipanema
There’s so much to see during a sunny stroll by the beach, it’s hard to know where to start. But seeing as Brazil recently beat Cuba to take volleyball gold at the Pan American games, why not start with the sporty stuff?
Vôlei de Praia (Beach Volleyball), is hugely popular here – there are rows and rows of courts set-up along the beach and it’s great fun to watch people of all ages dive around on the sand. Players are in teams of two and they tend to wear next to nothing – depending on your proclivities and the age and sex of the players, this can either add to the spectacle or encourage you to move on swiftly…
Then there is futevolei – same courts, same ball (I think) but this time the players only use the parts of the body allowed in football – generally feet, chest, shoulders and head. The first time I saw this being played I realised why Brazil is the best footballing nation in the world. They are amazing!
And finally for today, the beach is a great place to watch people slacklining. People balance on 1-inch wide nylon webbing that is suspended between two palm trees. And they don’t just balance – they walk, they spin and some of them bounce, doing tricks and spinning in the air. As with futevolei, I know I’ll never have the skill to do this, but I’m content to watch in awe from the sidelines…
In Brazil's southern region one of the most popular sports to be played on the beach is called Bocha ( Bocce Ball). The sport is usually played by an older crowd (being polite here, actually it's an old fart sport). Anyway I have never really seen anything positive in Bocha but this post has given me a new outlook regarding the sport. This because after reading Tom's beach testimony I was overwhelmed with horrific memories of many people who should always be completely clothed and never execute sudden movements in public, due to lard issues, struting their stuff on the beach. Such individuals, who offend any sense of aesthetics and sport competence, are common to Rio's beach from what I observed during my few visits to the hellho– err city, yet do not seem to proliferate in equal amounts in other regions where Bocha activity is present. Well since Bocha requires more space than the average old timer activity, like Dominoes, and we want old people on the beach since they keep their clothes on and dissuade others from taking theirs off (broken windows theory here) then it goes without saying that this sport should be celebrated.
I am now a more tolerant and understanding person towards the Bocha crowd and their peculiar sense in fashion (thanks Tom) and will petition that all other activities be removed from beach premises so to open up new Bocce courts.
Although the people below may look like losers (victors included), are they really?
Have you hugged a Bocce player today? If not do so, then help spread the word.
http://www.ehow.com/how_3109_play-bocce-ball.html
Wow Gritty, that looks like one *wild* game man! Still, if your priority is to keep everyone covered up then I can see that it would be quite effective – I can't imagine they get many streakers!
Btw, beware of tomorrow's post if you aren't a fan of scantily clad beach goers – there is going to be a very high flesh factor and it's not all going to be pretty…
I was amused by how much they celebrated after winning the match. I know it was The World Cup, but c'mon, it is still Bocce Ball. LOL.
Regardless, this is as rowdy as they get and the players featured in the video, both Brazilian and Italian, are so much younger than the average beach Bocha player. My policy stands.
Note to self: keep vomit bag near computer when reading tomorrow's Eat Rio post.