RIO DE JANEIRO

MARCH 22, 2006
The flight from Iguassu Falls was enjoyable because of the two French ladies next to me. As I said, they were giggly and talkative so the flight time seemed to zoom by pretty quickly. The sight from the plane of Rio was spectacular. The lights and the incomparable landscape of the city and its environs were just breathtaking.


We were lucky to be picked up by our scheduled transfer from the airport to the hotel without any hassles this time. The driver gave us our first insight of the city as he pointed out the different areas as we drove by them. We reached our hotel, the Le Meridien Copacabana, which is ideally located of course just across from the world-famous Copacabana Beach, and we checked in and found our room on the 23rd floor very well-appointed with views of the beach and Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açucar). We refreshed ourselves and got ready to go to dinner. The concierge recommended a Japanese restaurant nearby, only a few minutes walk. It was crowded, we had to wait for a few minutes, the room was windowless, the waiter didn't speak English, screwed up our order, obviously wasn't the kind of restaurant we would have enjoyed.

Since it was such a nice evening, we walked along Copacabana beach on the way back to the hotel. We passed by several little makeshift shops along the beach selling refreshments (beer, sodas, drinks, coconuts) and souvenirs. We sat down and had a couple of coconuts (just the liquid, not the meat) and enjoyed the seabreeze. After a while we went back to the hotel and made reservations for dinner at the Le Saint Honoré for the next night. We also made reservations for our trip to Sugar Loaf and Corcovado for the day after. Then we went up to our room and had a night cap before we dozed off to dreamland.

MARCH 23, 2006
This morning we had a very nice sumptuous breakfast at the Café Fleuri Restaurant at the hotel. Great choices of breakfast treats, including crepes and omelettes, and juices (guava, etc.) besides the usual, and we had a nice view of the beach from our table on the terrace. Breakfast can also be had by the swimming pool which also overlooks the famous Copacabana Beach.

We took the local bus to go to Centro, or downtown, passing parks and the Guanabara bay. We looked for the tram that goes to Santa Teresa, a quaint neighborhood with a convent, museum, little shops and restaurants, and beautiful sights. Chief among these is the bonde, the old-fashioned streetcar that whisks passengers from downtown over the Arcos da Lapa into Santa Teresa.

The tram station was not easy to find. After a few miscues, we finally found the tram station. It was behind the big "hanging gardens" Petrobras building, on Rua Prof. Lélio Gama, a little street that runs off Rua Senador Dantas. To our dismay it was closed due to a strike by the tram workers. So, off again we went and took another bus and finally we were on our way to the hilltop neighborhood of Santa Teresa. We saw the Roman-style aqueduct named Arcos da Lapa. I later found out that most hilltop neighborhoods in Rio are favelas -- unsanctioned shantytowns.

Santa Teresa is anything but -- it's a respectable, slightly bohemian neighborhood with a number of sights to lure visitors. We got off when we thought we were in the middle of the Santa Teresa district and decided to just walk around. We had some refreshments at a small local restaurant.

Saw the garage where they filmed the movie "Black Orpheus", a Brazilian-French-Italian retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth, set during the time of the Carnaval in Rio de Janeiro. Then we looked in at some shops, and John found a nice set of pottery figures of a quail mother and her brood. Next we saw a very nice little restaurant with a beautiful terrace in the back with beautiful views of the city so we made a reservation for our last night dinner in Rio.

We walked on, following the tram tracks back toward the city. We passed by the Museu Chácara do Céu and the Ruin Park. Side by side on a tall hilltop, both are worth a visit. We wandered through the neighborhood enjoying the fabulous views, and the mix of modern, colonial, and Art Deco architecture. The next site that we wanted to see was the Convent with its famous multicolored-tiled steps put together by the artist Selaron, but it proved "elusive" and after going up and down the hilly streets, we decided to just go back to the city proper.

We went down the hill and under the Arcos da Lapa and took the bus back toward our hotel. While enjoying the view we rode on and on until we passed our hotel and ended up going to the last stop in Leblon. We just stayed on the bus until it went back and got off near our hotel. We finally decided to go back to the hotel to take our siesta.

Our big dinner at the Le St. Honoré Restaurant on the 37th floor of the hotel was that evening so at about nine o'clock we took our time getting ready, wore our jackets and ties, and went up to the top of the building. The restaurant was beautifully decorated, oozing with French elegance, beautiful bouquets of flowers, nice large floor-to-ceiling windows to enjoy the spectacular views of Copacabana and the city. We were seated at a very nice table by the window and the view alone was worth it. We started with Kir Royales and then looked at the menu organized imaginatively by Paul Bocuse and prepared under the command of chef Pierre Landry, so I had great expectations. The dining experience started out with great potential, the appetizers were great, the French wine with dinner was terrific, the first piece of the carre d'agneau I ordered was heavenly but unfortunately the rest was below par. John ordered magret de canard, and he probably had better luck. Luckily, there was the after-dinner drink for me to look forward to. Coffee and dessert were not bad but my glass of Delamaine Vespers really helped me get over my disappointment with dinner!

It was past midnight by the time we left the restaurant. We returned to our hotel room and changed to more casual outfits and then went for a walk on the beach. Avenida Atlantica is broad and beautifully landscaped and runs alongside Copacabana. There were still a lot of people walking or having drinks at the little snack bars that dotted the beach. It was so nice and relaxing with the cool breeze and the sand under our feet.

MARCH 24, 2006
After another sumptuous breakfast, we went down and strolled on the beach before our day trip to Corcovado and Sugar Loaf. The beach had very nice white sand. Then we boarded our tour bus, picking up other tourists at a couple of other hotels before arriving at the depot where we took a narrow-gauge train, winding upwards past hillside shacks, through trees and tangled rainforest creepers, up the mountaintop, which I found out was 2,329 feet above sea level. We went up an escalator and then boarded an elevator and emerged at the stylish art deco statue of Jesus Christ, which was 98 feet tall. The view from here was definitely worth the visit. The mountains, the bay, and the city were viewed panoramically. It's enough to give you a feeling of elation. The statue was originally intended to mark the 100th anniversary of Brazilian independence in 1922, but due to a funding shortfall, it didn't open until 1931. Sugar Loaf Mountain can be seen from the Corcovado.

Lunch was next on the agenda for those who took the whole-day tour so after dropping off the others at their hotels, our tour guide took the rest of us to Ipanema to have lunch at a nice local restaurant. We had a leisurely lunch and among the people in our group was a Colombian lady, a Korean tour operator, and a couple from the United States. There were others but they were in a separate table so I never really got to talk to any of them.

We boarded our bus after lunch and drove down Avenida Atlantico, passing Ipanema Beach, famous stretch of beach immortalized in Tom Jobim's song "The Girl from Ipanema," which is nestled between Copacabana and Leblon. Our first stop was the very modern Cathedral.
Then we were on our way to Sugar Loaf Mountain or Pão de Açucar. The cable car took us up to a breathtaking view of much of Zona Sul and the center, and also the neighboring city of Niteroi, just across Guanabara Bay. The ascent takes two steps, the first from the ground station in Urca to the Morro de Urca (721-ft.), the second up to the Sugarloaf itself (1,299-ft). Trams are timed so it's next to impossible to make both trips without spending transition time on the Morro which offers excellent views, as well as a cafe, snack bar, restaurant, and of course, souvenir stands. The ride on the cable cars was quite exciting and exhilirating that after we got up to the top I got John to join me into taking the cable car ride down to the Morro and then back up to Sugar Loaf again. We later found out we were not supposed to do that.

Back at the hotel, we decided to call up and cancel our dinner reservation at that nice little restaurant at Santa Teresa since it was our last night in Rio and we hadn't really seen much of the city life. We had a little Chivas before we went to dinner. We searched for a Brazilian restaurant and found a nice one and enjoyed a Brazilian pork dish with Brazilian beer. After dinner we took the subway to go downtown exploring, and it turned out to be a very nice evening and an extremely enjoyable one!

MARCH 25, 2006
We had our usual diet-go-to-the-devil breakfast, walked on the beach again before we went back to the hotel to finish packing. We checked out, left our luggage with the hotel porter, then went to lunch at the same Brazilian restaurant we ate at the night before. Then we walked around and found a bunch of shops along Avenida Atlantica and just browsed around before we went back to the hotel to catch our ride to the airport.

We flew to Sao Paolo first, shopped at the duty-free there, had a quick snack, then boarded the plane to take us back home. Took an Ambien and slept all the way to Washington, DC.

MARCH 26, 2006
The whole trip was a very enjoyable one. John was such a nice traveling companion. There was not one instance of disagreement between us. I certainly hope we can travel together again soon!

To check my other travel blogs, please click on any trip listed on the uppermost right hand box above. Thank you for viewing my travel blog.