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Rio de Janeiro

Sao Paulo

Ouro Preto 

More photos of our trip coming up shortly...

Cidade Maravilhosa

The charms of Rio crept up on us. They lay in soaking in the atmospheric neighbourhoods and beaches. Even without the sun, Ipanema and Copacabana weave their golden ways. Flanked by the imposing faces and lush slopes of Rio's numerous hills, including the stunning Pao de Acucar extending into the sea, they form an almost unbeatable one-two. We spent our third morning succumbing to the Praias. Combined with a happy half-hour spent browsing around a bustling street market full of fresh fruit and vegetables - one of our favourite things - purchasing ingredients for dinner, and wolfing down a mango and an acerola suco it made for a near-perfect morning. We even found a cozy little nook to laze about at, between the two beaches, on a rocky outcrop overlooking surfers and the city.

The beach-Rio of movie and imagination isn't the only one that will suck you in though. Our afternoon was spent wandering about Centro - gazing at the Biblioteca Municipal and Theatro Municipal both beautiful colonial-era buildings - and Santa Teresa. Taking a bondinho (streetcar) to Santa Teresa is part of the experience as you rattle along and pass by graffiti, art galleries, hip restaurants and decaying old mansions. We browsed through some stores and an art gallery before taking in a jazz performance at a restaurant called Marco while enjoying a local beer - Antarctica - and another suco. Eventually, before it got too dark, the bondinho rattled us back to Centro and the metro sped us back to the hostel, where we served ourselves up some quick and simple (but delicious) dinner with the fresh vegetables from the morning.

I suppose it was only fitting that our Rio jaunt ended with us being transported to the bus station listening to Samba de Carnaval and, as MF Tree described, an unfortunate adventure at the boarding area.

P.S. My beard, it grows!

Novice blues and a (slightly) false start

After the first day we sat about planning the next two. We came up with a detailed plan allowing us to explore the city relatively thoroughly (well, at least as thorough as possible in two days during day-light hours only- we are warned against wandering about Rio at night looking like tourists!)

Of course, as is our wont, the plan was derailed first thing in the morning when the after effects of 3 straight days of packing, moving and stressing about the trip led to us waking up only at 10 am. Of course, I had no small part of the blame since I set the alarm to 7 and then forgot to turn it on. Sigh.

After breakfast and some careful calculations we decided to hop onto a city tour which would take us on a quick round of a few of the places we wanted to visit at what seemed like a reasonable price. Bad choice and we´ve learned to know better. The tour was a little bit rushed and not to our tastes. We much prefer walking about, taking our time and soaking it in. What better way, no? What we did get in the bargain though, was an easy way to Corcovado, atop which is the now iconic statue of Cristo Redentor. I must admit, we were not prepared for the gorgeous city-scape that awaited us. Rio´s setting is fairytale-esque, amidst sheer cliffs covered with tropical forests while on the other side is the ocean and scattered islands.



The economic chasm though is apparent between the well-heeled cariocas (beautiful, wealthy, young Rio de Janeirians) and the large population that lives in poverty in the favelas. Again (this time, sadly) a reminder of Indian cities. Hopefully though, Lula´s policies could be making things better. There is now much more support for the economically underprivileged - like free school education, reservations in universities, scholarships and lunch money. There were visibly apparent signs as children trooped back with school-bags.

We also drove through the pretty and boho neighbourhood of Santa Teresa. If we lived in Rio, this is where we´d like to be! Art galleries, great food and music all with a little bit of an edge. Faded colonial houses mingled with expensively maintained and restored ones. Ivy dripping down their sides and wooden or brightly coloured window panes in white-walled homes. We immediately decided to revisit the area the next day.

The trip ended with a visit to the kooky and slightly off-kilter Escadaria de Selaron. A staircase in Lapa covered with brightly coloured tiles from all over the world. The staircase is a project in seemingly eternal progress under the aegis of a Chilean artist living in Rio. If the international nature of the project was in doubt - remember, U2 shot a single-cover over there!

First Day in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

Rio is great, reminds me of several cities in India rolled into one. Especially the graffiti, colour palettes, and the closely packed old colonial buildings still in use as regular offices and houses. We're staying at a hostel in touristy and expensive Ipanema; tiny, clean, friendly, ruled by a gregarious Alex. Spent the afternoon at Ipanema beach, and caught a football game at night between Fluminense (from Rio de Janeiro) and Santos (from Sao Paulo). I am not originally a football fan, but the energy in the stadium was electric, replete with humongous flags, synchronised cheering for the home team, chalk, balloons, and loud cursing. It's great to be staying in a hostel. There are plenty of intrepid travelers from all over the world.
Things learned today: How to Pronounce Rio de Janeiro, How Little Portuguese We Know, The Off-Side Rule, Hand Gestures and Facial Expressions Can Get You Quite Far, Rio Taxi Drivers Have No Patience With Rush Hour Traffic Especially When a Football Game Awaits.
Word most used today: Obrigada!