Hello hello!  How is your week going so far?  We just landed after a whirlwind week at the Rio 2016 Olympics.  It was crazy but so so fun.  And, of course, since the Brazilians love to party, the entire atmosphere felt like one gigantic holiday.

Normally when we go to Rio we like to stay at the Sheraton, but it was completely booked over a year in advance so we decided to check out apartments on Airbnb.  There were a number asking for a ridiculous commitment of a whole month stay for $20,000 but we managed to find a great place right on Copacabana Beach.  Talk about being in the middle of the party!

The first event we attended was gymnastics and I was so excited because it is hands down my favorite Olympic sport.  And we were even luckier because we had great seats on Level 1 and the USA was competing!  This was completely by chance since various teams were competing throughout the day and there is no way to pick and choose who you want to see.  So we got super lucky!

Above is Madison Kocian on the Uneven Bars.

The little guy helped cheer them on!

Our next event was swimming and while we only got to see the preliminaries, we did get a Michael Phelps showing!  At every event we went to, the Brazilians were the overwhelming majority and they cheered patriotically for their players, but they also loved to cheer for the favorites.  The crowd literally went wild when Phelps came out to swim!

That is Michael Phelps at the top of the photo with the blue cap in lane 5!

Back to gymnastics on day 3 but this time for the Women’s Team Finals.  I was so so SO excited to get to see this.  Our seats were a bit higher up but with a better angle so I could watch each of the ladies compete. 

It was so exciting and also a bit nerve wracking.  Luckily I brought my numbers-obsessed husband with me who informed me at the start of the last rotation that the US had to score a 7 on the floor to win the whole thing.  Well, thanks for ruining that suspense!!  

But seriously, it was amazing to watch them.  All the gymnasts are so talented and it was both exciting and emotional to listen to the USA National Anthem as the girls were given their gold medals!

 While most of our events were indoors, we lucked out on day 4 with an outdoor match.  Unfortunately the weather had other plans and we sat for three hours outside while the rain poured down on us.  To make matters worse, it is actually still winter in Rio so it was quite chilly!  But I was excited to go to my first ever rugby match.

The Hubs is a huge fan of rugby coming from Australia and so he was so pumped.  I was happy that we were playing Sevens, which basically means there are seven players on the field for each team at one time and the match is only 20 minutes long!  Phew.  We watched the USA (beat Brazil!) and our favorite, Australia (heartbreaking loss).

Luckily day 5 dawned bright and sunny again, just in time for another indoor event!  Our final gymnastics event and while I’m sure the Hubs would have loved to have watched the women compete again, we had conflicting tickets so he headed off to the Velodrome for indoor cycling (not spinning, they actually ride around a track) while I took the little man as my date.

This was actually one of the more interesting competitions because it was much closer than the team finals.  The Women’s All-Round Finals really brings out the best in gymnastics so the USA didn’t have a lead 100% of the time.  We also witnessed Jade (pronounced jah-jay) from Brazil begin her floor routine only to become injured in the middle of her routine and have to stop and withdraw from the competition.  You could definitely feel the crowd’s pain.

I felt proud to be cheering on Simone Biles and Aly Raisman from the USA.  They both competed so well and definitely earned their positions of 1 and 2!  It is amazing to watch these petite ladies absolutely kill it during their routines.  Petite girl power!

We finally took a break from the continuous competition to spend some time at the beach.  Copacabana is party city.  There is music, people, vendors and all kinds of crazy.  It is honestly the busiest beach experience I’ve ever had.  I wouldn’t rate it high for relaxation but it was definitely fun.  Plus there are these little luncheonettes that sit right on the beach so you can enjoy a caipirinha under the palm trees.

Our last day of competition was track and field and it was jam packed.  There is so much going on with the preliminaries, the finals, the triple jump and the high jump PLUS the victory ceremonies from the day before.

We cheered for the US and Australia and were excited to see some good performances from both teams.  But the best event of the night was the Men’s 100M final where we watched Usain Bolt barely have to try to beat everyone and make history!  It was so crazy!

Finally, I feel like I would be remiss without addressing the fact that Rio is not all fun and games.  Many of you probably heard the issue with Ryan Lochte being robbed at gunpoint.  Unfortunately, that is not unusual in Brazil, especially Rio, which attracts a great deal of tourists.  I can say that Ryan was lucky not to have been hurt and people rarely are provided they cooperate.  He took a huge risk with his life by refusing to get down when told.  I am sure that all the athletes were briefed on safety protocols and since this is not an uncommon crime, I would assume they told them to just surrender anything on you and don’t put up a fight.  That is exactly what you should do in this situation as the people who get hurt generally are the ones that don’t just hand over their possessions.  I think this is a good lesson for us, especially coming from a country where the police must have probable cause and robbers are normally caught, when you leave the USA remember that you are now on their turf and their rules apply.  Unfortunately, in many circumstances that means are giving up some of the bravado we might normally display.

Readers, what is your favorite Olympic sport?  Where would you travel to see the Olympic Games?