Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
An Exhausting Day In Rio Spent Mainly on our Feet
Bom Dia from Rio de Janeiro!
Today we got so carried away in our enthusiasm to complete seeing as much as we could in this endlessly fascinating city that we were properly exhausted by the end of the day and could barely sit down.
So let’s begin. Here’s what we did. First of all, the day was actually sunny and deciding to make the most of it, we thought of going on foot through the area of Gloria, which is where we were based, and to Lapa, which is the adjoining neighborhood. Fueled with a breakfast of muesli with passion fruit yogurt, we were ready to get going.
Exploring Lapa:
Lapa was probably a very run-down neighborhood that has seen recent gentrification in the shape of the sprouting of clubs, pubs and bars that are lending the area a lively vibe especially after dark. We passed by very old structures that have not seen much refurbishment but gave us a good idea of what old Rio would have looked like. At the Church of Our Lady of Lapa, Llew got his first idea of how strongly the Portuguese influenced the design of church altars in their colonies from Goa to Brazil. The altars are in tiered steps with the main deity given pride of place though a huge statue at the top.
The Seladon Staircase:
This staircase has, quite unwittingly, become a big tourist attraction in Rio. It was initiated in 1999 through the efforts of a local artist called Jorge Seladon who decided to brighten up the steps leading from Lapa to Santa Teresa by imbedding ceramic tiles into them. The idea caught on and very soon people from all over the world began to donate tiles to add to the structure. About 2000 very colorful ceramic tiles today cover the steps on which tourists pose. I was quite fascinated by the lovely tiles especially those from Islamic countries which have bas-reliefs that make them exceptional. Llew and I also posed for pictures here. Apparently, Seladon considers this a work in progress. Every time he has finished one segment of it, he strips it off and starts again.
The Aqueduct of Lapa and Streetcar Ride to Santa Terasa:
Making a sharp left turn from the narrow lane that leads to the staircase, we were back on the main road and facing the towering structure known as the Aqueduct of Lapa. My notes told me that in the days before it became popular to relax at the beaches, Cariocas (natives of the city of Rio) built mansions in the hills of Santa Teresa. In order to make sure that water reached them, however, they needed to build an aqueduct—and build it they did! It is a lovely, impressive, two-tier structure with uniform arches that remind one very much of France’s Pont du Gard—except that there are three tiers there. Water pipes were laid on the structure and water did get up to the wealthy.
In addition to water, the rich residents needed to make sure they could also get up and down the hill—and so, at the same time that the Aqueduct was built, they also created a street car system with lovely old-fashioned stations—which are now one of the most antiquated attractions of the city for it offers visitors joy rides to the top and back.
The last time I was in Rio, I was unable to ride it as it was temporarily closed for refurbishment (in time for the 2016 Olympics in Rio). This time round, it was available for the pleasure of visitors and Llew and I asked local policemen where we could board it. Using their directions, we arrived at the embarkation point, about a five minute walk away.
The ride cost us 20 reals each (about $5) and was a return fare. There was a street car leaving just as we got there—which made it easy for us to board it and go off and away. The streetcars themselves have not changed since the 19th century—they are built entirely of wood and are painted a bright yellow and brown. As they chug up the Aqueduct, they make a very picturesque sight below.
Llew and I enjoyed our ride up to the hills of Santa Teresa and back. As one left the spiffy modern glass and concrete jungle of the base, one saw more and more mansions—many in quite a dilapidated state although a lot of them have been renovated and are quite reminiscent of the mansions in the urban areas of Goa. We took a lot of pictures. As we climbed higher and higher into the hills, we were rewarded with stunning views of the city spread out beneath us.
Once we reached the top, however, we found nothing really there. We had thought of getting a coffee in a little cafe, if there was one. But we were disappointed and instead of waiting for a half hour for the next street car to come by, we simply jumped into the very same one and returned to base. This took us another half an hour...but the weather was holding out superbly and we had a chance to enjoy the heights of the city through a most novel form of transportation. It was one of the most interesting experiences we enjoyed in Rio.
A Walking Tour of Downtown Rio:
Four years ago, when I had visited Rio on my own, I had carried notes from Lonely Planet. And, of course, after I visit a country, I blog about it in detail. Llew was unable to find Lonely Planet in the library and photocopied notes from Fodor. I used my blog notes, however, to supplement the notes he had carried and based on my memories of my last exploration, I led him on a tour of the downtown area.
Visiting the Metropolitan Cathedral:
The Metropolitan Cathedral is unmistakeable as its modernist conical shape is easily distinguishable all over the downtown area. We found our way there on foot and made a quick prayerful visit. The Cathedral is huge and is able to seat 5,000 members of a congregation with standing room for 20,000. It is distinguished for its four stained glass windows in primary colors: red, blue, green and yellow, that are also in Modernist design. The Cathedra or chair of the Cardinal is very prominent in the front. A lot of tourists make this a stop as the city sightseeing buses stop here on a regular basis.
The Glorious Sculpture of Cinelandia Square:
I absolutely love the grand sculpture of Cinelandia Square that features King Dom Pedro II of Portugal surrounded by depictions of the Amazon Indians that are related to the four rivers of the world: the Parauna, The San Francisco, The Amazon and one other The Indians are so realistically depicted, complete with native costume and head dresses that I was tempted to photograph them from every angle.
Cinelandia Square gets its name from the fact that the area was once the stronghold of the entertainment industry and showed every manner of theatrical show and film in it vicinity. There are still some theaters to be found in this area such as the Teatre Joao Cetano. The area is also usually quite filled with dodgy, homeless characters—which does not make it very pleasant to hang out there.
A Disappointing Lunch:
En route to Cinelandia Square, we passed a restaurant that had a big sign outside it in Portuguese advertising Brazil’s National dish, Feijoada, which is a pork and black bean stew that takes many hours to prepare. As such, it is usually served in very select places only at the weekend. We misunderstood the sign and thought that we could eat feijoada there—I was keen for Llew to taste it as I had eaten some of it, four years ago.
As it turned out, the dish was only served on Friday and Saturday and we were unable to partake of it. However, being hungry by that point, we decided to stay there and ended up having a most disappointing meal of skewered and grilled kale and bean balls and shrimp. We also ordered a salad but this too was nothing to write home about. My Caprinha was very good, however, and I have to say that I ordered one wherever I had the chance to do so. Llew stuck to Argentinean Malbec.
After our very disappointing lunch, we decided to continue our walking tour. Sadly, by this point, it had started to drizzle and we dodged the rain as we continued with our walking tour. We found Avenida Passos which is filled with antiquated churches (many of which were closed) and rather run-down old buildings for we were in the heart of Old Rio that has not seen much improvement in years.
The Real Gabinete Library:
This place, however, is one of the show-stoppers of the city and I was very keen that Llew, who is an avid bibliophile, should see it. We found it tucked away on a street that is named after Portugal’s most famous writer, Luis de Camoes, who wrote the country’s national epic, O Lusidas. Built in the 1500s, this grand building, gorgeous on the outside and decorated with life-size sculptures of some contemporary worthies, is simply spectacular within. You enter through what looks like a palace and find yourself in a large Gothic-inspired space, like a Medieval hall, which contains about 150,000 leather-bound books in several tiers that surround wrought-iron floors and shelves. The interior ornamentation is so beautiful that it is hard to take your eyes off the many delights that the space offers. We were also thrilled to see a first edition of Camoes’ great work in a glass vitrine as well as newer translations of the same work in many different languages. Llew was just besides himself with happiness and was thoroughly pleased about what he could see.
When we had taken our fill of this incredible space, we paused to take some more pictures of the exterior and then we continued with our walk that led us to the neighboring church of St. Francis.
Off to Colonial Rio:
It was time then to leave the busy downtown area behind us with its crowds and its shoppers and make our way to the more stately part of the city that was characterized by three outstanding buildings: The Paco Imperial or Royal Palace, the Praca XV November Square and the Monastery of St, Bento (Monasterio de Sao Bento).
It was a very long walk through some of the busiest parts of commercial Rio filled with grand old solid buildings that reminded me very much of the Fort area in Bombay and get to the square that is known as Praca XV November. It is characterized by a vast space that has an equestrian sculpture of Dom Pedro in the center on a lofty pedestal. The square is surrounded by colonial buildings with wrought-iron balconies that reminded me very much of some parts of Panjim in Goa that have the exact same Portuguese aesthetic. We took a few pictures in this space and took a look at the Arc of Telles—another old colonial structure that leads the visitor into a very old part of the city with a very atmospheric vibe. We did not go through the arch, however as we were already pretty tired and wanted to conserve our energy to see the Monasterio which is a masterpiece of Baroque religious design.
The Paco Imperial (Imperial Palace):
The Imperial Palace was only a short block away and we found it very easily by making a sharp left turn on Ave Rio Branco. This gorgeous building that is maintained in perfect condition, was once the seat of colonial Brazil. When Dom Pedro moved his courtly base from Lisbon to Rio (following the invasion of Portugal by Napoleon), this building became the seat of governance. It is characterized by lovely large classical sculptures. However, we were unable to get inside as the place seemed to be mobbed by hundreds of people who appeared to have tickets to enter the building for a particular event. It was very impressive from the outside, though, and we were glad we had a chance to see it.
Visiting the Monasterio de Sao Bento:
It is often said that if one has the time to see just one church in Rio, it should be this one. Having visited it earlier on a Sunday, when the Gregorian chant was a part of the Mass, I was clear that I wanted Llew to see this place. During the week, it is open to visitors, although it does not have the drama of incense or Gregorian music that makes it so atmospheric.
We had a very hard time finding the place (as we had a really small and very irritating map to help us out) and ended up taking a cab to get to the monastery. I did remember that it was at the top of a winding hill and both Llew and I had walked for several miles already and were starting to feel fatigued. I had no energy left to go out in search of this place and was very grateful when the cabbie dropped up the crest of the hill. There we found ourselves looking at a rather plain church that was flanked by twin bell towers in colonial design.
Just past the entrance, however, the visitor gets the shock of his life for the place becomes a super ornate space that has a main altar and several side chapels made of barley twist pillar altars and wooden carved facades that are then entirely gilded in pure gold. The effect is so arresting that you simply cannot stop taking pictures. As I have seen all these spots before, I knew what to expect, but I could see that Llew just stopped in his tracks as he encountered these amazing spaces. He too ended up taking a bunch of pictures before we left the space and made our way downhill on foot.
The Church of Our Lady of Candelaria (And an Unexpected Concert):
Although this entire area is dotted with churches (and after a while one blends into the other and one cannot remember what one is actually seeing), the Church of Our Lady of Candelaria stands out for its lovely colonial facade and deeply Baroque interior. One finds it if one walks south along Ave Rio Branco and in a sheltered square, the beautiful church beckons.
By this time, we were really deeply tired and Llew was also ‘churched out’—but I suggested he enter this church as it was so different from the ones we had seen all day. And boy oh boy, was he thrilled he entered it.
The Church of our Lady of Candelaria was built originally by a couple in gratitude for favors received but not much remains of the original church. This one is almost entirely built in the 18th century and reminded us very much of grand-domed European churches such as St Paul’s Cathedral in London. It has lovely detailed plantings on the inside of the dome and the walls.
But the unexpected surprise was that there was the rehearsal of a full orchestral concert going on when we visited and we had the chance to actually listen to at least three items on the repertoire for the evening’s performance—one of which was the title song from Andrew Lloyd-Weber’s The Phantom of the Opera. You can just imagine how thrilled we were to catch this rehearsal and to listen to a composition that we know well done in a brilliant duet that really made our evening. I mean, how cool is that?
Listening to the concert gave us the chance to rest our feet a bit until we were told that we had to leave as the orchestra were getting ready for the evening’s performance. Overall, though, it was another one of our fun experiences in Rio.
Off to Ipanema Beach:
With the weather still holding out, somewhat, we decided to take the metro and go to Ipanema Beach—which was one of the highlights on our agenda that we had to cover. It was already 4.00 pm and we were able to find the metro stop at Carioca which would permit us to ride to Gen. Osiris Metro station which was a good jumping off point for Ipanema Beach.
Outside Carioca Metro station, I had the chance to show Llew the two churches that are the oldest in Rio and which I had seen on my last visit. But Llew had enough of churches by this point and was ready to give it a rest. He was also very tired and was able to muster only enough energy (as I did) to make the Metro ride to Ipanema Beach as we did not want to leave Rio without seeing this famous beach.
As almost every one knows, Ipanema is associated with the famous song ‘The Girl from Ipanema” that was composed by Vincinius Morales who has a major street at the beach named after hm.The story states that he used to see this gorgeous women walking towards the beach each morning and was absolutely struck by her beauty, Knowing that she was way beyond his league, all he could do was compose a song that extolled her beauty—the song that became one of the classics of our time.
Alas, by the time we arrived at Ipanema, the light was starting to fade as it is winter in the souther hemisphere and it does get dark rather early. We made a quick bee-line towards the shore and admired again the wonderful wavy patterns made with black and white Belgian block on all the beach front promenades of Rio—so that it has become a signature look for the city. Unfortunately, as in Copacabana, so too on Ipanema, there was no one on the sands and we had the beach to ourselves. However, the wind was rather strong and not wishing to linger too long, we crossed and made our way to the interior promenade where Llew wished to buy the famous Hawaianana rubber slippers as gifts ( I had bought a whole load of these myself the last time I was here and given them away as gifts). He was very happy to come upon a store right away from where he found exactly what he was seeking. With our buys in the bag, we went in search of a Starbucks as it was still much too early to settle down for dinner (although we did decide that our last dinner in Brazil would be at Ipanema).
We found the Starbucks soon enough—it was the same place where I had met my friend Anna-Teresa the last time I was here. This time she had not responded to my email message and so we did not have the opportunity to meet her. Llew and I ordered coffee but there is no decaf in Brazil (just as there is no decaf in Bombay). Neither of us ordered anything other than a chocolate cruffin (a cross between a croissant and a muffin). Llew and I both accessed our email through the WiFi at the coffee shop from where I also found suggestions for a restaurant for dinner. One of the suggestions was for a place called Joana Pizza and since a small meal was what we were after we decided to go there.
Dinner at Joanna Pizzeria:
We ended up ordering a pepperoni pizza at Jonna Pizzeria as they had a promotion deal on their classic pizzas. I also ordered a caprinha which I thought would be my last one in Brazil. Llew ordered a red Malbec and we also ordered a Caesar Salad. We really did enjoy our meal and I was able to take some of it packed off home as it was a tad too much for me. (I would be very grateful for it, the next morning at breakfast).
There was not much time to lose, once our dinner was done, as we were really pooped. The vibrant night life of Ipanema was beginning to come into its own but we were simply too exhausted to enjoy it. We found the metro station right away and, in no time at all, we were on our way back home, where we reached in about half an hour after what had been a really eventful day.
Rosanna was home when we arrived. We spent the next half hour chatting with her before she called it a night and we followed suit. With almost all of Rio’s highlights covered in three days, we were free to spent the next day—the day of our departure—taking it very easy as we prepared to depart.
I know that this has been a very long post and you are probably fatigued just reading it. Just imagine how tired we were when we went to bed at night.
Until tomorrow...
