March, 2005
March 11 - 16, 2005
Rio is everything it is hyped up to be, and more. We definitely saw it through rose colored glasses, as Jay came through with the hook up part two, in the form of a penthouse apartment in Ipanema for the weekend, which is definitely the swankiest part of town. Rio is a big crazy place, but we got around to most of it. Between, eating and shopping in Ipanema, wandering the beach at Copacabana under Sugar Loaf, climbing to the statue of Christ the Redeemer at Corcovado, hang gliding in Tijuca National Park, taking the trolley through Santa Teresa, and surfing Macumba, we didn't miss much. And, between Sonja, who is Brazilian, and Jay it was a pretty relaxed situation most of the time in terms of communication, which is always nice.
Wasting no time, Mike, Jay and an off duty cop/hired surfing guide, Alesandre were surfing Macumba within 2 hours of arrival. Macumba is fairly famous from the surf mags, and the waves got pretty powerful for a while. Alesandre turned out to not only be a great surfer, but a really cool guy who didn't charge us what he could have, and even took us out a couple of more times for free. Jay looked like quite the accomplished surfer as well. Mike is definitely still taking his lumps.
The next day we took a trip into Parque Nacional Tijuca, which is a gorgeous mountain forest overlooking the ocean, and went hangliding with Bizarro Brazilian Castleman as Ruthie's instructor. It was kind of weird. This guy was a dead ringer, down to the haircut and clothes. Sonja couldn't be convinced to come, but maybe it was better that way.
As with Sao Paulo, the food was good, as was the service; though not quite as good. Still, it dwarfed anything in the States. In particular, Porcao is a pretty unbelievable rodizio, or churrascaria. We ate ourselves silly. Also, we discovered the lanchas in Rio. Pretty much on every corner there is a little street front, open cafe type of fast food joint. However, the food is all fresh, made to order, and dirt cheap. Plus, they all have the most unbelievable assortment of fruit juices on the planet. By day three we were pretty much eating every meal at the lanchas, and even a few meals in between. That on top of the 7 orange juice a day habit Mike had acquired.
In one of the coolest non nature related experiences of the trip, we got the chance to see a soccer match at Marcana Stadium, which is the Brazilian National stadium, where Pele played etc. It also has the distinction of being the largest stadium in the world; 120,000 strong. We watched Fulmanese throttle Botafogo 4-0. Unfortunately we were in the Botofogo section, not because we didn't like them, they were a lot of fun, but because they got spanked and were pretty dejected by the secondhalf. You can't imagine the hysteria level at these games though. The stadium was not filled, but pretty much looked like it with a good 90,000 in the stands. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately (as we believe no one was hurt) we got to be in the middle of two soccer riots, and we even saw a stick of dynamite explode in our section. It was a little scary, because when a fight breaks out everyone runs for the highest point in the stadium, which obviously produces the inevitable body crunching phenomenon which is what usually kills people. Luckily, the skirmishes died down pretty quickly, and it was an experience rather that a tradegy. At any rate, while we wish LA fans had as much spunk, at least the fights in the stands don't get this out of hand.
Things were considerably more calm in Santa Teresa, which is a lesser visited, artsy section of town. It has beautiful architecture, including a Cathedral which is a modern pyramid. It is definitely a big departure from the form of the cross in almost every other cathedral. It was cool to look at, but very unorthodox. We also took the old trolley through the neighborhood up towards Corcovado. Its a beautiful ride that affords great views of the city, ocean, and many of the hillside favellas which, as in Sao Paulo, provide an omnipresent and powerful reminder of the huge disparity between the rich and poor in Brazil. Apparently, the Favellas have become so dangerous that even the police almost never enter, and that the only semblance of political structure is provided by drugdealers. The favellas receive little, or no running water, and most electricity is pirated from neighborhoods below. Its pretty surreal to see these bastions of poverty located on beautiful mountains overlooking the ocean; land that would cost millions of dollars in costal cities in the US.
After a combination of walking and cabs, we got up to Christo Redentor, on top of Corcovado. This is the famous statue found on every Rio postcard in existence. The statue is a 75 year old art deco masterpiece which is probably 200 feet tall. Its really hard to describe how incredible it is without actually seeing it. For an art deco work, the emotion and graveness in the face is almost unreal. Without a doubt it is the equal of the Statue of Liberty. Tourist attractions often underwhelm, but this did not. Moreover, the 360 view is worth a trip to Rio alone. The city sprawls below into the ocean, while almost cylindrical mountains rise up throughout the landscape. It was hard to leave. And, as if the city wasn't enough, we caught up on four movies, which was nice.
Estadio Maracana