|
|
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro State
- Brazil
Past splendor
Rio de Janeiro is a spectacular city. It boasts all the excitement yet all the well-known problems of any great metropolis.
In a certain way, Rio de Janeiro resembles Buenos Aires, since both are cosmopolitan, historic and feature places of enormous beauty.
Rio was the capital of Brazil from 1808 to 1960, when the national administration was transferred to Brasilia. In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte was determined to invade Portugal, which forced the Portuguese royal family and court to flee towards the colony. With independence in 1822, the Empire of Brazil was born.
Nowadays, Rio displays a splendor that in fact no longer exists. Copacabana, Leblon and Ipanema are beautiful places with dozens of deluxe hotels that were once internationally renowned.
I stayed at a hotel located in the Peixoto district (within Copacabana). Despite its central location, streets are calm and cost-effectiveness is excellent. The district is so quiet that it even serves as a soap opera scenery (I saw how Globo TV Channel was filming one chapter).
I don't really recommend you rent a car in Rio because, among other reasons, the traffic is a real chaos. It is far better to take the subway or a taxi. Buses are awful since they aren't equipped with air conditioning - and that is just inacceptable if you consider that temperatures in summer usually go over 30º C.
Beware with taxi fares: in Rio taxis can be red, yellow or white and each one will charge you a different fare. The best thing you can do is to previously arrange the trip with the taxi driver so that you are told in advance what is the total amount you are expected to pay.
Where to go:
There are countless places to visit. Rio is such a big city that even several months wouldn't suffice to fully take in its sights. I'll then just name a few classic hot spots:
- Christ Statue (Corcovado): this is undoubtely a must see. The edge of the Corcovado Mountain allows you to experience a breathtaking view of the city. To arrive up there you need to take a streetcar. Even though the trip is quite pleasant, it's clear that improving infrastructure has not been a priority for many years.
- Sugar Loaf Hill: I had the opportunity to visit the Sugar Loaf Hill in a previous trip, and I can confirm how stunning it is. A cableway will take you up to the top of the hill. If you are afraid of heights, I recommend you try some other attraction because in the cableway it feels like you are floating.
- The Botanical Gardens: Simply amazing. This beautiful garden was created by emperor Dom Pedro II more than 100 years ago. It features plant species from all over the world, which have all been perfectly maintained. Inside its walls you will also find a river, a lake, a Japanese garden, etc.
- Santa Teresa District: A typical district of Rio. There you will certainly find lots of "botequins", simple yet pleasant bars where you can taste the famous "caipirinha" drink to the sound of a samba. My recommendation, though, is that you take special care if you are visiting Santa Teresa late at night.
- Barra da Tijuca: Barra is a new district that greatly resembles Miami. There are shopping malls everywhere, some of which are extremely big.
Where to eat: Dining options in Rio are endless, with a variety of restaurants to suit every taste and budget. "Joaquim e Manoel" is a famous local chain with a very pleasant restaurant over Avenida Atlantica, in Copacabana.
In Rio (as in Brazil as a whole) you will not come across many cafes, but classic Cafe Colombo is an attraction in itself. This belle epoque building located downtown just boasts an unique atmosphere.
Traveler's nightmare: Insecurity. Even though I didn't experience any security issues, I was afraid of walking through the streets. At night, Avenida Atlantica is full of prostitutes and even in the most important districts, like Leblon, there are homeless people sleeping on the streets.
In addition to that, right in the middle of Rio's most exclusive districts lays "Rocinha", the biggest shantytown in the world. Many drug dealears make Rocinha their bunker and sometimes exchange shots for revenge. Besides this famous shantytown, from time to time a phonomenon known as "arrastão" takes place, when young criminals come running altogether down from the shatytown hills right to the beaches and go on stealing everywhere they can find on their way, no matter if it belongs to tourists or locals.
It is clear that political negligence, lack of decision and corruption are key in understanding why such sad episodes still happen in Rio, with an obvious negative touristic impact.
Things you should not miss: Anyone in town will say you shouldn't miss the traditonal tours to the Sugar Loaf Hill and the Corcovado, but in addition to that I particularly recommend you visit Rio's fabulous Botanical Gardens.
Don't miss "Academia da Cachaça", where you will have the opportunity to taste all sorts of this traditional Brazilian spirits, alone or as the "caipirinha" drink.
If you like museums, be sure to visit Rio's Fine Arts Museum, which displays incredible pieces of art. Don't even try to take pictures (not even flashless ones) because if you do so a guard will keep an eye on you during the whole tour. During my visit, I was quite impressed by two extraordinarily huge works that were part of a Prehistoric exhibition.
|
|
|
|
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
