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Ipanama Strand
The distinctive mosaic sidewalks distinguish one beachfront neighborhood from another - this is IpanemaA Cidade Maravilhosa! (That means "The Marvelous City" in Portuguese). Even though it's been kind of gray and rainy during my visit to Rio de Janeiro, I think the city merits its nickname. I've had a blast walking all around Rio for the last few days with my own personal guide (Rodolpho) and learning my way around its numerous neighborhoods. It's a beautiful city, with verdant hills rising dramatically above the sea that break up the landscape and gorgeous beaches below that line the edge of the city. Rio lies around the Baia de Guanabara (a bay near the southern end of Brazil) and it also has a beautiful lagoon ("lagoa") that sits slightly to the south of the bay. The result of all the coastline and hills is a city that's broken into distinct neighborhoods, most of them with their own prime beachfront property, such as the famed Copacabana and Ipanema. I can't figure out which barrio I like the best, though I think we've spent the most time in Ipanema. The streets are lively without feeling too overwhelming, and everyone seems to be in a good mood here. (Rodolpho evens laments that "cariocas", as residents of Rio are called,
have too much fun and never do any work!) Too many holidays and beach breaks, I guess. But when the crash of waves call to you in your office, I can imagine it's hard to resist the lure of the ocean! The beaches are wide and sandy, with great waves, and tall palm trees line the wide streets along the beaches. The sidewalks in each neighborhood each have a distinctive mosaic design theme, and they're famous to the point of being protected by UNESCO. I've had fun assembling my own photo collage of all the different neighborhood streets!
Rodolpho lives in an area called Barra da Tijuca (pronounced "baha") that's about 20 km from the city center. It's sort of like a close suburb with lots of tall apartment buildings, and its beach is the longest in Rio. It is the fastest-growing and most "Americanized" neighborhood, mainly because there's no room left in the center city for much new construction. The malls and car dealerships around his building rival - no, surpass - those in the US, and the entire area is very affluent. His father's apartment where we're staying is really nice, and since Rodolpho has a car,
South America 335
Building in Cinelandia squqre I've been able to see almost every area of Rio, whether on foot or by car. It's a big place, and without the car we wouldn't have seen half as much! We've been through the neighborhoods of Barra, Sao Conrado, Gavea, Lago, Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Jardim Botanico, Old Town, Largo do Marchado, Larangeiras, and Cosme Velha, as well as the financial district in the city center. Parts of the city are very modern, but there are lots of beautiful churches and stately buildings and mansions left over from the colonial days when Rio was the seat of the Portuguese empire. Before it's independence in 1822 (?) Brazil was ruled by the Portuguese, and for a time it was the capital of Portugal itself when the royal family had to flee occupied Portugal. That didn't last for too long, but later on it gained independence when Pedro I (I think was his name) asked his father if he could rule Brazil as an independent country. Rather nice gift, I have to say, but the odd transfer of sovereignty spared Brazil the agony of revolution and allowed it to gain independence with no bloodshed. The monarchy ruled it for many years, and
Monument in Cinelandia
I can't remember what this commemorates later it fell under a line of military dictators in the latter part of the 20th century, but until 1960 Rio was the Brazilian capital. One of those military dictators (Vargas) then decided to move to capital to a more central location for geopolitical purposes, and that is how the city of Brasilia was born. Created entirely from scratch from an urban planner's design, Brasilia is now the capital of Brazil and a UNESCO World Heritage site. That's where we're going tomorrow, because Rodolpho's mother lives there.
Back to Rio, though. There are a host of museums and churches here to visit, but we didn't really do any of them! LOL. Instead, we walked a lot of the city on foot, toured the Biblioteca Nacional (National Library), the Museu das Belas Artes (Museum of Fine Arts), the Jardim Botanico, and visited the Morro do Corvocado, which is the mountain on top of which stands the Jesus Christo statue that's emblematic of Rio. It's a massive statue dozens of meters tall that is visible from all parts of the city, and it looks out upon the Bay with arms wide open in a gesture of welcome to all travelers. (According
to my knowledgable guide). From down below it looks tiny, but that's deceptive! I was stunned by how large it is when we took the tram up there today for the requisite sightseeing. That was fun to see (although a little overpriced at 36 Reis, or $18) and I'm glad we did it. We also went to the Jardim Botanica today, which is a beautiful royal garden dating back hundreds of years to the colonial era. It reminded me strongly of Longwood Gardens near my home, only more tropical. (Duh). The forests around Rio are all South Atlantic rainforest, and they're very beautiful. I love all the trees around Rio, especially around the Lagoa and Ipanema. I think Ipanema is my favorite neighborhood. It's a stretch of land between the Lagoa and the ocean, so it's only about 5 blocks wide and maybe 15 blocks long (if that). It's kind of like Georgetown, filled with posh boutiques and nice sidewalk cafes, and street markets during the week. Rodolpho's grandmother lives in an apartment right in the central square, so every day we drove in from Barra and left the car at her place. We explored Rio by bus and metro
and on foot, and along the way we made sure to sample local favorites like fruit smoothies (amazing), coconut water (on the beach, also very good), and Brazilian specialties like balcalhou (cod). We had caipirinhas and pastries at the famous Confeiteria Colombo, an amazing coffee/tea/sweets restaurant that looks like the Hall of Mirrors in Versailles, and coffee at the Livraria da Travessa, the Brazilian high-end bookstore that's a favorite of Rodolpho's. (Think Barnes & Noble). We strolled along the oceanfront of Copacana and Ipanema at dusk, and circled the Lagoa on the bikepath watching the crew teams practice on the water. I visited Rodolpho's university (even attended a class!) which gave me a peek into the Brazilian university system, and I think I took a picture of every statue in the city. (!) The only thing I DIDN'T get to do was sunbathe on the beach, because it was a) not sunny, and b) kind of cool. It was probably 75 every day, but without the sun I didn't feel like wearing a bikini! I guess that's what I get for coming during the winter. Next trip: February, for the height of summer and the chaos of Carnaval!!! LOL.
All in all, I think Rio is a wonderful city, and it's the kind of place that I could easily imagine living in one day. It's cosmopolitan and developed enough to feel like home, but foreign enough to be exciting. One of the things I enjoyed the most is the incredible racial diversity of the 'cariocas'. You see all types of people here, and they all speak Portuguese - so they're obviously Brazilian. I could never blend into a country like Peru or Bolivia, but here I could. (Well, maybe if I worked on my tan some : D ) There are definitely darker sides of Rio, just as in any city, namely the infamous favelas that line the steep slopes of the hills. These slums are stark reminders of the poverty that exists side by side with fabulous wealth (ritzy malls and million-dollar highrises), but Lula's government is working to integrate these slums by bringing public transportation to them and replacing precarious, dangerous buildigns with safer public housing. It's a long project, to be sure, but it seems to be working. The slums here are what most of La Paz looks like, so it just goes to show that
poverty is truly a relative measurement. Inequality is extremely high in Brazil, while the people of Bolivia, in contrast, are poorer overall but have less inequality. Which is better, to all be poor, or to have rich and poor rub elbows? I think that social theory will say that the latter is a more politically volatile situation, but I can't bring myself to think that the advanced society in Rio is a negative. Hopefully reforms like those of Lula will be effective and work to "combler l'ecart social" (to quote my professor at Sciences Po), and the richer areas will pull the poorer up with them. It's not a guarantee, but Rio seems to be doing a decent job of addressing the concerns of all its residents, not only the wealthy ones.
I think that's enough theory and philosohical rambling for now (sorry!) and I also think I better finish packing for Brasilia. I have 3 days there, and then it's back to the US of A! I can't believe this trip has passed so quickly. Last chapter of my South American adventure should be coming up soon!
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