We wish we had more time in Rio


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South America » Brazil » Rio de Janeiro » Rio de Janeiro
August 21st 2007
Published: October 25th 2007
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Christ the Redeemer ...Christ the Redeemer ...Christ the Redeemer ...

... and Pieter on a cloudy day
Arriving by bus in Rio we could see the Christ the Redeemer statue on the hill. We took a fixed price taxi (R$18 or US$9) to our hotel. Hotel Paysandú was the joining hotel for the Dragoman tour we would be taking through Brazil and Venezuela. It is a lovely old hotel in a pleasant part of town but they did give us one of the nastiest rooms our first night there. It was smelly and small and we were woken at 5:30 am by the kitchen staff and their pots and pans. We asked for a different room the next night and it was much nicer.

When we arrived in Rio it was sunny and when we left Rio it was sunny but otherwise it was cloudy. But we went to see Christ the Redeemer anyway. We decided to do the tourist train thing to the top. It was very expensive at R$36 (US$18) each and we were joined by a gaggle of old American tourists. It was a lovely leafy ride with an abandoned hotel and some cute colourful statues of fable characters on the way. We didn't spend too long at the top as there was a cold wind.

We decided to take a walking tour, heading north from our hotel towards the city centre. We saw a sign down a side street for a phone museum. It was wasn't on the map we had and the modern building wasn't marked as containing a museum. It was on the 5th or 6th floor we were greeted by a lady who handed us audio guides and English pamphlets. And it was free! Obviously a recent installation, there were displays about the internet, biotechnology, phone cards (and tokens used in Brazil in the 70s), telegrams, public phones, private phones, and cell phones amongst other things. The audio guide was activated by pointing your player at the displays little round transmitter.

Next we found the Museum of Folklore which was packed with lovely wooden sculptures and toys. Some were animated and very entertaining. There was 3 floors of folklore objects including carnival gear.

Next door was Catete Palace, a very ornate home built at the end of the 19th century by a self-made coffee plantation owner, the richest at his time. He was made a baron. A wonderful staircase with playful cherubs and a stain glass roof.
Sugar LoafSugar LoafSugar Loaf

View from Christ the Redeemer
The rooms upstairs were laid out as they would have been originally. It was competition for Versailles but on a smaller scale. Further up was where former presidents had resided. One president, Vargas, had killed himself in his bedroom in 1954. The room was left as it was when he died and there was a display case containing his gun, the bullet, and the blood stained PJ top with a hole over his heart. Bit spooky.

We didn't quite make it all the way to the centre that day. The next day we took a taxi to the centre with Suzy from our previous Dragoman tour, visiting the Cafeteria Columbo first. A beautiful cavernous interior of wood and lights and mirrors it was just like a grand cafe from Paris or Vienna. We wandered the streets, soaking up the atmosphere and stumbled upon the State Senate (previously the National Senate). Built in the 1920s it was very ornate. We were escorted into the Senate hall by a lovely young lady. A man was speaking but few were there to listen. The corridors were buzzing with press and administration.

Next door at the Imperial Palace we sat down for a cup of coffee and had a nice long chat to an American professor who told us which direction to go next. We went to Ouvidor street as directed and found some lovely old buildings and beautiful churches. Wandering a bit further we found a Da Vinci exhibition. It was expensive at R$30 (US$15) each but we went in. They had a few of his notebooks on display. The bulk of the exhibition was working models of many of his sketches, including a bicycle, a hang glider, industrial designs and an eight sided mirror that you could walk into, seeing every part of your body.

We only had a couple of days in Rio and we really wished we could stay longer but the tour was starting so we had to go.


Additional photos below
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The Phone MuseumThe Phone Museum
The Phone Museum

Old cell phones


26th October 2007

God's best mate
Eh, Pieter, you didn't tell us you were that close to Jesus. Fancy giving him a piggie-back in Rio! Unless you turned into a totem pole....

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