Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Tuesday, February 14, 2012 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Early morning sail in to Rio! Lovely day – warm and humid and just what you expect. We arrived ON TIME. J, Gene and I took the free shuttle from the jewelry store H. Stern to their office on Ipanema Beach, which was great. It was clear across town so you got the entire tour of Sugarloaf with the cable cars (of James Bond fame) and Corcovado (Statue of Christ on the hill) and past Copacabana Beach. Sugarloaf is reached by cable car and there is an excellent view of Rio’s skyline. The cost is approx. $28 to go up and we had done it before so we went on to the next site.

Corcovado, the large statue of Christ, Christ the Redeemer, was recently chosen as one of the new Seven Wonders of the World. The view from the toes of Rio’s mountain top Christ is spectacular. It was intended to mark the 100th anniversary of Independence for Brazil in 1922 but it arrived 10 years+ too late. This also costs approx. $28 per person for the train to the top of the hill and since we have been there before, we opted for the view from the ship, streets and on sail away; it can be seen from almost anywhere in the city.
Great office and museum – we saw how the natural gems of Brazil, the emerald, imperial topaz, tourmaline, amethyst and aquamarine are faceted and cut and mounted and then were shown quite a few options for rings, pendants, necklaces, earrings…could not resist so one of us brought home a lovely imperial topaz and diamond ring. We asked for a private van to return us to the ship and to drive slowly so we could photograph the beaches and sites and it worked out great. Lunch on the upper deck and then Gene and I went off to find internet. But since we had taken a ½ hour nap we hit the rain storm, and of course had left our umbrellas behind since the morning was so spectacular. We waited it out at McDonald’s, which did NOT have WIFI, and found a small hole-in-wall internet shop to use for $2 an hour.

That satisfied and wishing all a Happy Valentine’s Day, we returned for dinner on the ship and a fantastic Brazilian folkloric show with all kinds of dancing from samba, tribal, carnival (which begins next week) to capoeira (martial arts acrobatics that I am enthralled with) to the conga line. Walked around the ship and out on the docks at night – lovely, clear night sky and fell exhausted in to bed.

Oh yes, I did try my Portuguese – with my notes, I am fine. Without them, I rely on my Spanish. Not good.

Rio de Janeiro, or River of January, is the former capital of Brazil and has a spectacular natural harbor ringed by beautiful and famous beaches. It is equally famous for its Carnival celebrations and samba music. Along with the very wealthy that can afford the splendors of the city, it has an extremely large slum area. Over 6 million live in poverty in communities called favelas. Crime is a major problem in Rio and you must use common sense and leave valuable jewelry at home and watch your purses and bags.

“Too often travel, instead of broadening the mind, merely lengthens the conversation.” - Elizabeth Drew

Wednesday, February 15, 2012 – Rio de Janeiro

Hot and humid again it started out quite stressful trying to negotiate a taxi to take us to the cathedral, monastery and arches in Lapa. The prices are astronomical. We turned them down at first, $100 for 2 hours, and then we ended up with that anyway. Safety is your first issue and they had “secure” taxis or “street taxis”. Pay the price and be safe.
We were very fortunate to end up with Sergio, a very amicable Presbyterian taxi driver with some English, who was just good fun. He tolerated my poor Portuguese and helped me with the pronunciation, told us about his wife and 7-year old son and took us to the church where they were married. We hope to meet him again. They are putting a contract down now for a flat one block away from Copacabana Beach and hope to complete it by Carnival! Exciting times in his life.

First we stopped for gas, which I did not appreciate UNTIL we got to the station. It was a natural gas station. This meant we had a small hose connect to the front engine section of the Chevrolet. Then we had the big yellow gas tank in the trunk. And they gave you free Brazilian expresso (very sweet) and cookies at the station. He said he get 70 miles on $10! Very informative and interesting stop for all of us.

We ended up going over the 7 mile bridge to Niteroi – accomplished what Gene wanted to do – cross the bridge – and what I wanted to do – see the modern space ship/flying saucer Museum of Modern Art designed by Oscar Niemeyer, who also designed the Guggenheim in Bilbao, Spain. Lovely beaches there and you can take a ferry from the center of Rio to the center of Niteroi – next time.

Back to the city center to see the Cathedral, a bee hive structure, and past the Municipal Theatre and to Lapa, once known as the Parisian “Montmartre of the Tropics” and the Roman-style aqueducts called Arcos da Lapa. There used to be a trolley which rode on the top of the arches but after a recent accident, that was stopped. Gene had wanted to do that today so at least we found out before trying to find the station to take the trolley. Back to the ship for lunch and a quick rest.

After lunch we ventured off on our own to the Mosteiro Sao Bento, a monastery within walking distance of the ship, high up on a hill. We were able to get the school bus to the top to visit this incredible Baroque church from the 1500s. Every inch of the church is richly carved in wood and covered in gold leaf – a sight to see. Must be very moving to attend a Sunday mass featuring Gregorian chants. Trying to find the cathedral on our own, we asked some “security” in front of a building. They motioned us inside this building and you have never seen so many armed men in a lobby! There were three outside and at least five inside. We could see a large rotunda and I felt it was like our Capitol – found out it was the Central Bank of Brazil. They must have all the billions of dollars the US has given them in there and they certainly are not giving it back.

They could not help us with walking directions, even with four employees discussing and looking online, so we wandered off to the church of Nossa Senhora de Candelaria, likely the most impressive church in Rio, has stood on this spot since the 1680s. There are huge and ornate cast-bronze doors, the ceiling panels tell the story of the church and the large Art Nouveau lamps look like cast-iron Christmas trees. We wandered through different streets to find the way to the internet café and there was a drunken man passed out on the street. Legs sprawled, head half on and half off the stoop and just looked as if he were dead. This did not cause one person to stop and notice; we felt it was quite the “norm” and it probably happens even more frequently during Carnival. The internet man was pleased to see us again and I was able to resolve my Verizon issues. Again, we ran back to the ship for the 5:30 sail away.

It was a very nice evening with the Brazilian churrascuria BBQ on the open decks as we sailed out of Rio. All kinds of meats and salads and the live music and we passed the smaller domestic airport, the military bases, Corcovado could be seen in the distance as the sun set and Sugarloaf was still moving people up and down in the cable cars. The lights of the city were slowly coming on as we sailed out to sea.

The entertainer was a magician/comedian, Jeff Moche, and then I watched a Sean Connery film, The Medicine Man.