Rio, Blog 11

Rio Blog 12

Travel days are always exhausting and this was no exception.  We got up at 5:30 and went to bed at midnight.  Iguasu, Brazil has a small airport with only 2 gates.  LAN airlines, which we’ve flown throughout South America, has been very good:  on-time, clean planes, pleasant flight attendants, and they even serve a snack.  Supposedly they are eager to charge for overweight hand luggage so our guide has a system:  we leave our hand luggage outside with the bus driver guarding it, and after we check in, we retrieve it.

When we landed in Rio we went directly to Christ the Redeemer.  We traveled past Favelas, which are the slums of Rio so initially I wasn’t impressed.  However, my first impression quickly changed.  The traffic here is horrific.—the worst I’ve ever seen.   Our bus driver refused to leave us off on the wrong side of the street from Christ, so we had to drive about 20 more minutes just to turn around. 

We took a cog railway up to the top through a beautiful jungle like national park.  The statue is very impressive, and the view is amazing.  We could see both Copacabana and Ipanema beaches as well as a lagoon in the middle of Rio. Wherever you go in Rio, you can see the statue.  Our hotel is at the end of Ipanema, one of the more expensive areas, and our room overlooks the tree- covered mountains with expensive homes going up the sides to the very top, the hotel pool, and the beach.

Rio is a spectacular city.  I never think any city can rival San Francisco for the views, but both Buenos Aires and particularly Rio come close.  Dan thinks they are prettier, but just as some people are extremely loyal to a favorite sports team, I am loyal to my beautiful San Francisco Bay area.

At night we went to a typical Brazilian all you can eat dinner.  The waiters kept coming around with various types of meat and chicken and sliced off small pieces.  The salad buffet must have had 100 or more salads and other small dishes—no exaggeration.  After dinner we went to a Samba show.  I always thought samba was couples dancing.  This was quite different-not at all like Dancing with the Stars.   The entire cast was black (I can’t call them African Americans in Rio) with light to very dark skin and they performed as an ensemble to show the history of Rio.  I particularly liked a dance performed by 5 men.  It’s derived  from tribal combat moves that take amazing agility. It reminded me of the Japanese program where you kick your feet straight up in the air (judo, jujitsu?????0   At the end of the performance, men and women paraded in costumes actually used in Carnival.   It was possible to see why some cost up to $10,000.  Think Beach Blanket Babylon on steroids.

I had heard about Carnival but never understood exactly what it was like.  It is divided into 4 days and is a competition with 3 levels.   There are 3 groups in each level with 3,000-5,000 people per group!!  The third place groups perform the first day; the second the second day, and the first place the last 2 days.  Each group gets 1½ hours to parade with breaks in between groups so the whole show ends around 6 A.M.  We saw the venue where the parade takes place.  It’s about 2-3 city blocks long with bleachers on each side of a not too wide street.  When the winners are announced a few days later, they parade all over again.

We got to sleep in today and left the hotel at 10 to go to Sugarloaf Mountain.  We drove past Copacabana, which are guide says is the tourist area.  No thongs! No string bikinis! Disappointed Dan!  I thought Christ the Redeemer was amazing, but I liked Sugarloaf even more.  We rode up in  a tram stopping at a lower level before going to the top.  At the first level, adorable marmosets were playing in the trees.  Unfortunately it has been raining today off and on and it rained at the very top.  We could see still see the view, and it’s a warm rain. 

At Copacabana Beach we stopped for coconut water. The coconut with a smooth, green skin had a small hole cut into it.  Dan and I shared one drinking out of 2 straws.  No one really liked it, but we told our guide that it was refreshing.  I walked across the beach to the water, a wonderful warm temperature.

We toured Stern Jewelers. The chain is ubiquitous throughout Brazil where it began. It also has branches throughout the world. The tour is very orchestrated.  We got tags to wear while we were in the store that is on many levels.  With earphones as our guide, we listened to the history of the business, and watched how gemstones are polished, cut and mounted.  When we were done, I felt as if I was being sold a car. A line of employees was waiting for us.  Each couple was guided to a table, offered drinks while the employee showed us stones. At the end, our guide asked us which was our favorite stone and then brought out rings to show us in that stone.  They were about $6000-$8000 for small stones in underwhelming settings.  I expected good prices in Brazil, but they were ridiculous.  I found some beautiful topaz earrings at Stern’s competitor, Amsterdam Jewelers.  They were $2600, which I think is high for topaz.  I am too used to San Francisco gift show prices.

Dan and I had lunch in the downtown Ipanema area, which is Rio’s version of Rodeo Drive.  We walked around the streets with shops and down to the beach, lined with beautiful condos.  All the buildings are heavily gated and have armed guards in bullet proof vests yet this is supposed to be a safe area!

The local grocery stores hang foil covered ginnormous Easter eggs from the ceiling this time of the year.  They range in price from $9-$20.   People had carts full of them.  I bought some small wrapped chocolates.  One of the surprises of this trip has been the cost of items even in the local stores.  And……there are very few street vendors selling tee shirts and chatzkes.   By the way we have seen almost no homeless people anywhere.

This AM I went swimming in a crystal clear pool overlooking the beach.  The water temp was perfect.  While I was doing my dog paddle, a woman asked if I would like to join her in a water aerobics class.  She lives in a condo near the hotel and swims in the Sheraton pool every day.  We had a young woman as teacher.  As we went through our moves, we had a delightful cultural connection.  The beach is just beyond the pool—I enjoyed it even more than Hawaii. 

This afternoon we went to the old colonial part of Rio—very interesting but we were all too tired.  We stopped at a gigantic church built in 1967.  It was ultra modern made of concrete, but it had beautiful stained glass.  We wished we could have had more time to explore but it was on to the airport.

I could have spent a lot more time in Rio—one of the most beautiful cities in the world.  A string bikini, the national rum drink, my tango teacher, the beautiful ocean--what more could I want!!!