Day 12: At the Copa, Copacabana

It's finally our last day... quite sad. To prolong the goodbye, we spent the entire day on the beach of Copacabana. And we have absolutely zero regrets about it. We got coconut water, more caipirinhas, and delicious sauteed shrimp for lunch, and we even got serenaded multiple times by the men going up and down the beach with their instruments (note: this was not unique to us). It was a glorious 5 hours outdoors in the sand and sun, so glorious that we found it hard to leave. But leave we must :(

Of course we had to take more beach pictures. What else would you expect at this point? :)

We also were impressed at all the things these guys could carry up and down the beach. They must be in fantastic shape.

Flags! Of all the countries we'd been to (and then some)

And one of the lovely serenades. Complete with a foot tickle from some man... I was not amused and couldn't think of anything to say except, "That escalated quickly" because really... how do you respond to that? Perhaps "No me tocas!" (Don't touch me!)?

Delicious, delicious sauteed shrimp on the beach, and batatas fritas! And our legit coconut waters, they put the bottled/can stuff to shame. 

Since not much more of note happened today, we decided to dole out superlatives to the places we visited so that each of you, if you ever go to one of these destinations, will know what to expect! You're welcome in advance.

• Best mountains: Santiago! You can't compete with that view of the Andes
• Best coffee: Buenos Aires! Special mention being able to get coffee at a Harry Potter themed cafe
• Best place to meet up with a friend abroad: Buenos Aires! Meeting up and hanging out with Ryan was a game changer. The best person to know if you're abroad!
• Best beaches: Rio! I mean.... yeah.
• Most likely to rain: Buenos Aires! We didn't have a single dry day...
• Most likely to be sunny: Rio! Probably goes hand in hand with the beaches thing?
• Best food: Santiago! This one definitely goes to BocaNariz, although Rio had some yummy food as well
• Best waterfalls: Iguazu! You're kidding yourself if you think anywhere else in the world has more majestic waterfalls.
• Craziest hike: Rio! This one goes out to all the people who have done the hike up Corcovado, whether it was the jungle trail or through the favela.
• Best bookstore: Buenos Aires! You can't complete with El Ateneo, it's a freaking theatre! A theatre!
• Best service: Rio de Janiero! Fogo de Chau had some great service ;)
• Best wildlife encounter: Iguazu! We saw monkeys, coaties, and a TOUCAN
• Best empanada: Buenos Aires! Light and fluffy and delicious (although all other entries were quite yummy as well)
• Best towel: Santiago! Our hotel hooked us up with some seriously huge towels. It was awesome.
• Best Sky Club lounge: Rio! They have pao de queijo. Enough said.

If there are any other categories you'd like awarded... feel free to reach out and request a winner!