Friday Night Wine Fight: travel

This week the girls take aim at Travel Roulette...

So as the name implies this week we are going on an adventure like 3 hobbits from the shire.

We went to a random city generator website, hit shuffle, and delegated randomly.

But first, what were we drinking?

Bianca was drinking Elephant in the room Merlot

Available from Dan Murphy's

Sarah was drinking Somersby Cider

Available from Dan Murphy's

Amy was drinking Feet on the ground merlot

Available from Naked wines

Bianca opened up with her city Rio De Janeiro.

Golden beaches and lush mountains, samba-fueled nightlife, and spectacular football matches: welcome to the Cidade Maravilhosa

First some history:

Portuguese rulers were the first ones to rule Rio when they landed on the soil of Guanabara Bay on the 1st January 1502. The bay forms the opening of a river, hence the name ‘Rio de Janeiro’ which means ‘River of January’. The French wanted to make the best of Rio's strategic position in the Brazilian region and tried to achieve a foothold in the city but were debarred from the city after two years of intense war. To protect from further invasions, the city was moved to a safer position on a hill, which was later named ‘Castle Hill’.

Rio developed economically as it continued to cultivate sugarcane, its traditional crop. Subsequently, gold and diamonds were found in the Minas Gerais area. After this discovery, many other European countries tried to capture Rio and gain a foothold, and in 1763, the capital of the region was shifted from Salvador to Rio de Janeiro.

However, this economic prominence did not last long. As Rio entered the 19th century, sugar cane production faced stiff competition from other South American countries, and the gold and diamond reserves also dwindled, leading Rio on the path of an economic crisis. To prevent this situation, it started exporting coffee and the Portuguese royal family resettled in Rio. Rio expanded economically during its thirteen-year ruly, and the city started spreading out to its edges, as new buildings started cropping up with modernized infrastructure. When the Portuguese left, Brazil finally achieved its independence.

When Brazil achieved independence in 1889, Rio was named the capital. With years passing by, Rio has changed, in terms of infrastructure and financially. Central Zone was demolished to expand the city. The land was being reclaimed to build the Central Business District. Hills were being wiped out and were used to fill the marsh areas. The city was divided into three zones. North zone became an industrial area along with being the residence of the working sector while the South Zone was limited for the wealthy people.

After World War II, Rio shifted from an agricultural economy to an industrial economy. Bridges were built between important cities, skyscrapers were constructed, and free-ways were developed. The population of the city increased in gigantic proportions, and this turned out to be a curse. Even if labor needed the industries to develop, laborers were in excess, and the number of poor and unskilled people increased. This situation exists even today and puts intense pressure on Rio’s resources. Rio is one of the most populated cities in the world.

In the 1960s the capital of Brazil was moved from Rio to Brasilia and later to Sao Paolo, to reduce the economic and financial pressure on Rio. Political power was moved to the interior of the country. Today along with its different ethnic groups, Rio is making its presence felt in the industrial, service, and tourism sectors. Major multinational companies have their headquarters in Rio, and the city influences the Brazilian economy, as a whole.

So with that awesome history out the way what are some fun things I found to do in Rio?

Beaches:

Rio's beaches have long seduced visitors. Copacabana Beach became a symbol of Rio during the 1940s when international starlets would jet in for the weekend. Hogging the spotlight these days is Ipanema Beach, its fame and beauty unabated. For Cariocas (residents of Rio), the beach is Rio's backyard – a playground that's free and open to all, offering endless enjoyment in the form of football, volleyball, surfing, snacking, drinking, or simply relaxing amid the passing parade of people.

Music:

Music is Rio's lifeblood, and the city's soundtrack comprises rock, old-school bossa nova, hip-hop, funk, and Brazil's many regional styles. Above all, there's samba, a rapid-fire style of music with African influences and an infectious beat that is synonymous with Rio. You can hear it all over town, but the soul of samba resides in Lapa, the red-light district that's home to dozens of live-music halls and an enormous weekend street party that draws revelers from all walks of life. Samba is also the integral sound during Carnaval, and the danceable backing music to street parties and all-night parades.

Speaking of Carnaval, Rio knows how to party. Whether you call it joie de vivre, Lebensfreude or lust for life, cariocas have it in spades. Carnaval, and the buildup to it, is the most obvious manifestation of this celebratory spirit. But Rio has many other occasions for revelry: celebrations after a big soccer match; weekend samba parties around town; baile funk parties in the favelas (slums, informal communities); and boat parties on the bay – not to mention major fests such as Réveillon (New Year's Eve) and the Festas Juninas.

And to finish off because a segment about Rio would not be complete without it. Let me talk about Cristo Redentor or English better known as Christ the Redeemer statue.

Standing atop Corcovado (which means ‘hunchback’), Cristo Redentor gazes out over Rio, a placid expression on his well-crafted face. The mountain rises straight up from the city to 710m, and at night the brightly lit 38m-high open-armed statue – all 1145 tons of him – is visible from nearly every part of the city. It was constructed between 1922 and 1931.

Corcovado lies within the Parque Nacional da Tijuca. The most popular way to reach the statue is to take the red narrow-gauge train that departs every 30 minutes, and takes approximately 20 minutes to reach the top.

Originally, Vincentian priest Pedro Maria Boss first suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado in the mid-1850s to honor Princess Isabel, regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor Pedro II, but the project was not approved. In 1889, the country became a republic, and due to the separation of church and state, the proposed statute was dismissed.

The Catholic Circle of Rio made a second proposal for a landmark statue on the mountain in 1920. The group organized an event called Semana do Monumento ("Monument Week") to attract donations and collect signatures to support the building of the statue. The organization was motivated by what they perceived as 'Godlessness' in society. The donations came mostly from Brazilian Catholics. The designs considered for the "Statue of the Christ" included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms, a symbol of peace, was chosen.

Amy drew Nashville, Tennesse USA at the roulette table. This is a city that Amy had not been to and was interested to find out what Nashville was all about. Fate smiled kindly on Amy that day as Nashville is a major music hub!

We all know Amy loves tunes. Whilst the most popular type of music in Nashville is Country music, the city is known for its wide variety of music and is home to many famous music museums and sites as well as a long list of celebrities. Amy is not a big fan of country music (actually she hates it) but has now added Nashville to her "must-see" list because it turns out that they have all the tunes there.

Nashville

Sarah's city was Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic. This is a city that has a long and deep history dating back to 1493 when the Spanish settled on the island. Santo Domingo then went on and became the oldest European city in the Americas in August 1498.

Santo Domingo has also gone through a location change after a hurricane hit, it has changed hands of power several times in history, and even a name change or two. However, even after all that it remains a city that in my opinion is a must-see, from the 3 eyes national park with its beautiful interconnecting caves,