Saturday April 9, 2011
Las Vegas, Nevada
COLD!
I'm in Vegas now for the NAB convention. I'm writing this at my company's booth as I'm waiting for some material to be delivered to me. This is the second from last blog about my trip to Brazil.
On the last Friday in Rio de Janeiro, we hired a guide to show us around Rio. Unfortunately, though, the guide we asked for had a personal problem so we had a new guide – Mathilda, an ex Varig flight attendant. She was very nice but new at being a tour guide so not the best we had given the price (300 USD for the day!). Anyhow, she picked us up at our hotel at 830am sharp and off we went to our full day tour of Rio
Our first stop was the Rodrigo de Freitas Lake. It's quite picturesque as it is surrounded by mountains. There is a jogging path and a cycling path and since it was early, we saw plenty of people getting their exercise. Private clubs dot around the lake along with super expensive apartments. Supposedly, it's one of Rio's most expensive places to live after Leblon.
Our next stop was the Tijuca Forest. Our first stop was near the entrance and was the symbol of Rio – Christ the Redeemer statue. It is the second largest Art Deco statue in the world! And it is known as one of the new seven wonders of the world as it took a superhuman effort to carry the soapstones and concrete used to make that statue. The statue is 130ft tall and was completed in 1931. It took a total of nine years to complete
Unfortunately, it was quite foggy so we did not get a good view of the city below and even Christ the Redeemer was hidden in fog most of the time. However, I did get a shot of it when there was a short break in the fog.
On the way to see Christ the Redeemer, a girl was playing with this strange looking bug.
After visiting Christ the Redeemer, it was time to explore the TIjuca Forest – the largest urban forest in the world. A tropical rain forest in the middle of Rio. It is a "man-made" rainforest. Well, it was always a rain forest but when the Portuguese came, they destroyed it to make way for coffee plants. But the coffee plantations created havoc to the water supply of Rio so in the late 19th century, the forest was "re-planted". Today it home to hundreds of local species and plants including some that are close to extinction. There are also some non native plants especially jackfruit. You see jackfruit everywhere because the monkeys love it and spread the seeds.
Many Cariocas (locals) come to Tijuca Forest for exercise and fresh air. While driving around the curvy damp road, we saw streams of water every 10ft or so. We also saw some offerings the native Indians left for the forest.
As the fog started lifting, we stopped for some photos of the view of the city from the forest.
You can see the world famous soccer stadium – Maracana in this photo. It's the largest soccer stadium in the world.
The Rio-Niteroi Bridge: The longest bridge in the Southern Hemisphere and the 6th longest bridge in the world.
View of the Jockey Club, a famous horse race track.
As we drove into the forest, the vegetation got lusher and the air damper. We saw some interesting plants and sights though
This plant is very unusual. The red leaves when exposed to sun looks white from afar! I thought they were white flowers when I first saw them from afar.
I'd like one of these plants for my house but given Socal is so dry, I will need to build a greenhouse.
The beautiful Cascatinha waterfall that is 30meters high.
We also stopped at the pink Mayrink Chapel which was built by one of the wealthy Portuguese settlers and is home to a beautiful painting by Candido Portinari – one of Brazil's most famous painters. Unfortunately I could not go in the chapel so could not take a photo so instead took a photo of the bell tower.
A map of Tijuca Forest done by the Portuguese colonists on of course, Portugues tiles.
After the serene and beautiful forest, it was time to explore historical Rio which is located in Centro (Central Rio)
Our first stop was the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, which is the seat of the archbishop of Rio. It's quite ugly to be honest from the outside. It's conical shape. Here's a photo of it reflected by the glass from a building across the street from the cathedral. The inside was OK but the stained glass was beautiful.
Then we walked around Centro where Mathilda took us to many of the historical building of Rio. It's easy to spot because of the colonial architecture. Much of it has been destroyed though, although a conservation effort is now taking place. It was quite crowded as it was Friday and for the first time we saw Cariocas walking around in suits.
Our plan was to have lunch at the famous Confeitaria Colombo, Rio's most famous and opulent cafe. It's quite grand. It was established in 1894 and rivals any of the grand cafes in Paris and Vienna. But it was SO CROWDED! So instead of lunch, we ordered a snack to go. I had a pumpkin empanada like thing and chicken and cheese croquette like thing. Both were OK. I have not been impressed with the food in Brazil (except for the pizza!) but I'm glad I tried it.
Super crowded Confeitaria Colombo
So instead Mathilda took us to a restaurant located in a cute alleyway in the old town section of Centro. This was my favorite part of the centro tour. The buildings were quite quaint and the alleyways were quite. There were many nice restaurants and club lining the alleyways.
We then headed back to the Cathedral (on the left below) where our car was parked and headed to our last tourist spot.
Our last tourist spot was the famous steps of Lapa – Escadaria Selaron. It all started in 1990 when an artist from Chile, Jorge Selaron decided to fix the depilitated steps in front of his house. His neighbors first laughed at him as he used tiles in colors representing Brazil. But he was obsessed and started using red tiles and painting many of the tiles himself. He is still alive and unfazed by the attention the steps have given him over the years. He consider's the steps never finished so continues to update and change the tiles.
Lapa is a very cool neighborhood. It used to be the brother district and in some sense still is as you see many "hotels' in the neighborhood. It is where struggling artists, prostitutes and struggling writers live. The samba night clubs are famous here. It is not a safe neighborhood but very colorful and full of character
Looking down at the steps, you see NO tiles!
Our last activity was shopping! Shopping for Havianas, the famous Brazilian flip flops. Mathilda took us to the most famous store which happens to be in Ipanema. And the prices were excellent. It was hardcore shopping though. It was so hot and everything was crammed in the store. Anyhow, got gifts for my sister and nephews and a pair for myself. But should have bought more cuz they are comfortable and half the price you will pay in the States.
It was a great way to spend our last full day together. And fortunately the weather cooperated for most of the day so we got to see alot. If visiting Rio, I recommend everyone take a one day private tour as you get alot done in one day and also learn alot.