Blame it on Rio

Rio de Janeiro, Brasil

I arrived to Rio full of excitement and was welcomed by 35°C heat (=95°F)…I guess my prayers for warm weather were answered.  I stayed in Ipanema, a really nice, upper-class neighborhood with lots of boutique shops, with arguably the best beach in the city of Rio de Janeiro.  Firt thing I did, of course, when I arrived, was walk the three blocks to the beach…my jaw dropped when I got there.  People had told me it was really pretty, but in the back of my mind, I was preparing myself for the fact that it might be dirty and that the water may not be that nice.  I was wrong.  Clean, bright, beautiful water, and a perfect backdrop…everything you see in the movies about Rio.

Of course, as I’m in Brazil, I didn’t waste anytime and immediately drank my first coconut water straight from the coconut on the Ipanema boardwalk of the beach.  I later headed to a fruit smoothie shop and got my first açai smoothie with granola.  It was uh-mazing!  They blended the granola in with the fruit, not like they do at café Brasil in Santa Cruz, and served it to me in a big paper cup with a spoon for 8 reais (approx. 4 bucks).

My second day, I did an organized tour through my hostel where we visited all the top tourist sites in one afternoon: Christ the redeemer, the Santa Teresa neighborhood, the Lapa steps, and the Pão de Azucar (Sugar loaf mountain). 

Our guide drove a brand new VW white bus.  Apparently they make them brand new here: everything stays the same on the inside, but there’s a new engine, and it’s a brand new car.  Our first stop was Christ the redeemer.  The guide drove us to the bas of the statue, and then a small tourist bus took us the rest of the way up.  It was a beautiful sunny day, and so there were a ton of people up there, but despite the crowd it was totally worth it.  The views were amazing, a little smoggy, but still very pretty, and the statue itself is incredible: huge, and imposing, made of a really pretty smoothly carved rock.

Next we drove through the Santa Teresa neighborhood, the oldest neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro with some of the oldest buildings and houses (check out the pics).  When Rio was first settled, Santa Teresa was the richest neighborhood in Rio.  As the city started to expand, and the wealthy started to seek out other neighborhoods, it became a haven for artists, as it currently is.  Santa Teresa is on a small tree-filled hill, with winding streets, and colonial architecture.  It was very pretty in the afternoon light.

After that, we headed to the Lapa steps.  For those who don’t know, this is stairway covered in tiles from all around the world made by an artist called Selarón.  Selarón, who has a reputation of being a bit of a crazy artist, is constantly remodeling and changing the steps: changing out plain tiles for ones being sent to him from around the world, and changing the words inscribed.  The steps have been featured in a U2 video, and the Pharell Williams and Snoop Dogg video for “Beautiful.”  If you look at the U2 video and then at the Snoop Dogg video, you’ll notice that the steps look different: an example of how he constantly changes them.  The artist, Selarón, actually lives on the stairway in one of the houses, and has a studio in which he displays some of his other art.  Our guide took us to the studio, and I bought a piece of his art.  The guide regretfully told us that the artist was taking his daily afternoon nap, so we wouldn’t be able to meet him.  So I went and walked up the rest of the steps.  On my way back down the guide called my name and brought my attention to a man dressed all in red sitting on the steps; it was Selarón, who had woken up from his nap.  I was ecstatic.  I sat down with him, and he signed the piece of artwork I had bought, and some of the post-cards as well.  Needless to say, it was an awesome experience.

Next, we headed to the sugar loaf mountain for sunset.  It was really windy up there, and my camera started running out of batteries.  I managed to take a few really nice pictures, but I feel like they don’t do it justice.  Overall, my first impressions of Rio de Janeiro were great ones.  It was a city that fully lived up to my expectations: Beautiful, warm, beachy, happy, good-looking, tan people.  Love it!

Interesting fact I learned on my tour: the origin of the name Rio de Janeiro.  When the Portuguese arrived in this area, they approached the opening of the Guanabara Bay.  The opening was so narrow, that they thought they had found a river, hence the word “Rio.”  They arrived here on the 20^th of January 1565, hence “de Janeiro.”

Ipanema beach at sunset, what is not to like?

Ipanema looking in the direction of Copacabana

Coco Gelado, hit the spot

"La Garota de Ipanema" cafe = the girl from Ipanema cafe

Acai!

Orchids grow naturally from the tree trunks in Rio

Christ the Redeemer, "Cristo Redentor"

He sits atop a mountain called Corcovado in the Tijuca Forrest.  This is his view

Botafogo beach and Pao de Azucar (sugar loaf mountain) in the distance

It was so crowded that day - I was lucky to get a clear picture of me without anyone walking in front.  Forgot to put my arms up though, like everyone else does to imitate the Christ!

On our way to Santa Teresa

Driving through Santa Teresa

Cobble stone street in Santa Teresa with the famous cathedral in the back ground (Catedral Metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro).  Apparently it lights up at night and changes colors

The Lapa Steps

Repping Canada...

....and SF!

Selaron working on a painting

signing my purchased art

Norma?! How did you get all the way to Brazil?!

Pao de Azucar (Sugar loaf mountain)

View from the top of the Pao de Azucar, Christ the redeemer is on the very top of the mountain to your left. Beautiful. No wonder Snoop and Pharrell filmed that video here.

Botafogo beach lit up with lights.

This is when my camera started to lose battery, but the picture is actually kind cool, even though its blurry.  Christ the redeemer all lit up with the moon above.