Brasil, parte 3: ‘Bem-vindos’ a Rio de Janeiro
January 19-20, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil — ‘Welcome’ to Rio. People born here — known by the native word ‘Carioca,’ which translates as ‘home of the white man’ — call their city the ‘Cidade Maravilhosa.’ We’d had a message on our in-room TV’s to be up at 6 for the ‘sail in’ since it is considered spectacular. Too bad it was hazy. The highest peak on the left is Corcovado Mountain, famous for the 130-foot, 700-ton soapstone Christ the Redeemer on top. To the right, with its head in the clouds, is Sugarloaf Mountain. If you’re an old-house fan like me, you’ve seen colonial kitchens with a precious ‘sugarloaf’ on the table. Since 1912, you’ve been able to take a cable car to the top of the loaf. The shoreline is nothing but cheek-by-jowl high-rises.
I’m afraid Rio underwhelmed me. From the ’60s to the ’80s, ‘overenthusiastic modernists and military dictatorships determined to leave their mark tore down much of old Rio’ [Conde Nast Traveler]. What colonial architecture remains is overshadowed by a lot of mediocre modern buildings.
The white City Council building holding its own amid modern buildings.
Below: Note the gold on The Municipal Theatre (Rio Opera House). Which reminds me, about gold: When the Spanish arrived in South America, they were met by ‘Indians’ adorned with massive amounts of gold, which the conquistadors naturally decided belonged to Spain. They melted all the fabulous gold items and formed ingots that could be shipped back home. But the Indians who met the Portuguese were naked except for feathers. The Portuguese weren’t into feathers so much, though they, too, eventually subjugated the native tribes. Over 300 years, an estimated 4 million African slaves were brought to Brazil — seven times the number brought to North America.
Rio at a Glance:
• 1565 — Founded by the Portuguese. Today’s population is around 6.4 million, making it the second largest city after Sao Paolo (11 million).
• Brazil is the fifth most populous country in the world.
• 1617 — The first Catholic order arrives, Franciscans. Their monastery is still here. This immediately made me think of the movie The Mission.
• Rio is rich in oil from the ocean bed. There were numerous rigs near our ship.
• According to our excellent guide: ‘Rio’s condition is deplorable... it is almost bankrupt.’
At the Museum of Modern Art, young dancers took advantage of the shade and the window reflections to practice their dance routines. We wondered if they’re rehearsing for Carnival.
This installation consists of transparencies that were damaged in a fire at the photographer’s studio.
Another exhibit displayed dozens of early pieces of moviemaking equipment, and this movie poster. What a cast — Gypsy Rose Lee and Emmett Kelly. Written by Budd ‘On the Waterfront’ Schulberg. Ever heard of it? Me neither.
Being in a circumnavigational mood, I liked this installation of all sizes of world globes rotating on all sizes of turntables.
Fancy apartment house w/o mod cons like central AC.
On the left, the ‘brutalist’ style Nova Catedral Metropolitana. Yes, they know it looks like a Mayan pyramid from the Yucatan.
Far more traditional, here’s Candelária Church at the end of one of the grand boulevards leading down to Guanabara Bay.
The city is very clean. Being Saturday, the business district was empty — except for this man delivering plastic chairs by bicycle.
Did you know that ‘Yesterday’ is the only song that has been covered more than ‘The Girl from Ipanema’? Ipanema is a section of the city a bit further from downtown than Copacabana (below). Now you can say you have seen Copacabana.
I was impressed by the costumes (not to mention the wiggling) of the samba dancers who performed on the ship one night. I have selected a frontal view, since children may be watching.
View from the ship. Street art made by grafiteiros has been legal in Rio since 2014 and when it is good, it is very very good. But when it is done by pixadores marking their territory like male dogs, it is horrid. One gang vies to outdo the other by defacing buildings from the ground all the way to the top stories, sometimes 10 or more floors up!
At sail away. You can see the Christ statue atop the mountain.
Correction: I told you that 90% of Paraguay’s population was killed during the 1864-1870 Paraguayan War (against Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay). The lecturer told the story again: it was 70-90% of the male population. ‘And 130 years later, they are still suffering the consequences.’
Next stop: Montevideo, Uruguay. #
