Rio is Brazil's second largest city and the most visited city in the Southern Hemisphere. Having heard so much about Rio we were excited to get here and experience it for ourselves.
Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Rendentor) one of the seven man made wonders of the world was one of the first things on our itinerary. We had heard it was busy but we weren't quite prepared for 3+ hour waiting, first in the line for a bus to the ticket booth, (we could have walk the 6km but apparently muggings are not unheard of and we wanted to take our big camera), then the ticket lines (unavoidable) and finally the mini bus to the top (apparently you aren't allowed to walk - but we did see a few people along the road). It was definelty worth all the waiting, the icon of Rio and a beauful Art Deco masterpiece. That aside the view was also a highlight, set on top of the highest point in rio the was 360 views of the entire city. After an hour or so of appreciating the viewing platform we decided to head back to the base of mount Corcovado. Plenty of waiting again for the bus back to the ticket counter and then again for bus back to the city. All in all an unmissable Rio experience!
Escadaria Selaron, the beautiful mosaic staircase in Lapa, Rio created by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón. Perhaps my favorite place we visited (we actually went twice). The colours and 2000 tiles (which he constantly changes) from all over the world took hours to wander around and appreciate, with every step a unique tile. The artist also included many tiles he had painted, always depicting a pregnant woman who is from an experience in his past (see below). This work was his tribute to Brazil and as written at the base of the stairs "I will only complete this crazy original dream on the last day of my life."
Sadly, we learnt while we were here that the artist Jorge Selarón was found burnt to death on the stair case a couple of weeks ago.
Now for anyone who doesn't know . . . I love my food and like to try as much as I can. Rio is a great place in indulge and we have made a good effort and trying as much as we can.
Our first stop was Colombo cafe, a famous Art Deco restaurant in the city centre opened in 1894. I had an cappuccino and gazed at the beautiful sweets cabinet, not quite what we expected in Rio but a welcomed surprise.
We also enjoyed slipping into the small deli's / supermarkets to see all the cheeses and deli meats, Ryan was particularly interested in the 1.5m cheese log we saw at one place (see back of picture above). Another interesting thing about Brazil is apparently they do great pizza's - so we thought we better try one too and we were definitely not disappointed with our huge $10 pizza we had for dinner one night overlooking one of the city's flavelas (shanty town) and city centre.
After our trip up to Christ the Redeemer we returned to Lapa and were rather hungry after all the waiting - so we decided on a place called Bar Brazil. Now we chose this place as we thought it might do good local food, well it didn't, but after we got our smoked pork chops with sauerkraut and potato salad we certianly were not complaning. The food was AMAZING - Ryan and I both agreed that it was the best German food we have ever had (note: the bar has been set for Germany).
For our final lunch when we were in Copacabana we stopped in at a restaurant / bar that was packed with locals. Ryan thought it was time to get a filet mignon steak and I tried a traditional feijoada (stew - developed by colomial slaves when they started cooking the pork meats that farmers discarded, such as ear, tails and feet, with the black beans) mainly because I loved black beans. Ryan's delicious steak turned up with a bed of rice covered in potato chip and copious amounts of cheese and my stew arrived with side of greens, pork crackling, farofa (made with cassava flour) and orange cubes. Again we walked away over indulged but thoroughly enjoyed our meals.
Of course we also had to try a Churrasco, an all you can eat brazilian BBQ, there was certaining a great selection of all sortes of meats cooked in the traditional BBQ and a great range of sides but we weren't as keen the buffet style of meals. We will continue the hunt for great BBQ on our travels!
Overall, visiting Rio was a great experience. We were certianly a little cautious after reading up and hearing about how dangerous it could be, but we never really felt in danger. The beaches definelty rate up there as some of the best, especially considering they are located in a city so densely populated. The food was a real treat, the art deco architecture was impressive and the costal views amazing. One thing that definelty help make it was Casa 579, our hostel, there is nothing more relaxing then lying in a hammock on the balcony of you room, sipping a beer looking out over Christ the Redeemer and Sugarloaf as the sun sets.
