Rio de Janiero - Day 9

Our last day of touring Rio! We know our plan and that the boat leaves at 11:00 but we start a out little early since I think we are a little anxious because this is our last day and we ant to see as much as we can today. We stroll along the beach and decide to peek in at Amsterdam Sauer. Remember earlier in the week when we were whether to head to Cristo Rendentor (Christ the Redeemer) and the gentleman (Conrad Wolf) on the street called his friend who was on the mountain top and found out that the view was worth going that day. Well, he works for this store right next to the Copacabana Palace Hotel and had invited us to come take a look. So, this became our first stop and what a wonderful store. A little out of my price range but the jewelry was beautiful, all of stones found in Brazil. After a quick look around we headed up stairs and were awed by the spectacular sculptures of birds. All carved from those same rocks found in different parts of Brazil, the artwork was truly a nice unexpected find on our journey this morning.

 

           

 

After our visit to the store is over, we head to the Metro and hop on the train to head towards Guanabara Bay. It takes us downtown and we head toward the wharf to get our tickets for the two boat excursion we are interested in for today. We are a little early but later appreciate this fact as other who arrive after us don’t get tickets on the second boat due to it being sold out. We wait for our trip and have coffee and browse the Brazilian Navy Museum.

  

  

12:30 comes and it is time to board the boat to head to Fiscal Island. Glittering like an emerald in the bay, it seems to have been dropped into the bay. On the island stands a castle completed in 1889 that takes up every square meter of the island.

It is in this castle that the “Last Ball of the Empire” occurred here later that year. The grand ball was celebrating the empire’s accomplishments, where Dom Pedro II (Emperor) even attending this lavish occasion. Days later the Empire would be overthrown in a bloodless coup and the beginning of the Republic would begin. OK enough about the history of this island, it is time to head there. As we wait for the boat to push off, a group of middle school students board the bus making a ton of noise end of the empire prior to the republic state. e and posing for photo every chance they can get. Their excitement is our demise as we were looking forward to a quite boat ride and it is now nothing near this. They seem not aware there are other passengers on the boat and we can only hope they have a separate tour guide once we arrive at the island. We arrive on the island and are happy when there are several tour guides and we are assigned ours without the teens. The tour will be in Portuguese so I am
           


  

handed a booklet with information in English to share with another visitor from Cologne, Germany (who speaks English). We become good acquaintances by the end of our journey on the island. The palace is filled with extravagant columns, festoons, and arches, most definitely reminiscent of the empire of Brazil. The murals by Frederico Steckel adorn the walls and the clock in the tower (from Germany) is surely amazing and delightful. We are guided around the castle and learn of the history as well as some things about the Brazilian science station in Antarctica. It is a beautiful start to our day. The tour is over and we investigate the castle on our own. I continue my conversation with my new Germany friend,  she shares about her travels as she has family in Brazil and Australia.
    
  
 
         

As we wait for our return ride, I notice a couple of teen girls from the boat ride earlier hanging around us but don’t pay it too much attention. Soon it is time to board the boat and a group of the girls are by me again listening and whispering. Finally one asks if I am American and when I say yes they all decide they want me to speak English and have their photo taken with me. It was my 16 minutes of feeling like a rock star I think as all the girls from the school soon ascended on me for a photo. Honestly I could not stop laughing as it was ironic that earlier I had thought them rude and inconsiderate of anyone else around because of their enthusiasm and now it was pleasurable. Go figure!

We board the boat and off to the main port we go.We have an little over and hour to wait until our tour of Guanabara Bay but the hour is short and soon we are off.  First passing close to the airport we had arrived in Rio at not long ago and will be departing from tomorrow.
 I surely don't want to start thinking about that.  It is an extremely relaxing afternoon on the water and a totally different view of the city we have spent the last days exploring by foot. We begin to plan out next trip to Rio as we pass by sugar loaf, fortifications at the entrance of the bay, some well known beaches on the opposite side of the bay, the Niterio Contemporary Art Museum, The Bridge crossing the bay built in honor of President Silva. There is plenty of photos to take. As we pass by the huge oil rig I think of the devastation in the gulf and hope this never happens to this beautiful place. Soon our boat excursion is over and we are goon back on shore.  We grab the Metro back to Copacabana.

 

             

              

We have decided to try Greek food at a restaurant near the apartment and spend the evening walking along the beach. The Greek food leaves something to desire so I won’t mention the name of the restaurant and after eating Margarete and I head to the water front for a little

 wading in the ocean. I have to share this story as we spent some time wading and after a while decided it was time to head back (as Luiz was waiting). We said 3 more waves and we are out of here. 1st wave, 2nd wave, then the third wave came in so hard and so much further then any other wave in the whole time we were there that we got caught off guard and got all wet. We laughed with amusement as what an appropriate way to end our stay at the beach. We head back to the room and on our way we come across the first signs of the animated movie Rio on the beach. Of course there is posing to be done. The final stop is for fruit salad and then off to get a good night sleep. Last night of dreaming of beach adventures for a while.  (Read Rio de Janiero - Day 10)
     
                                         



Rio de Janiero - Day 7

Another day and I wake up to noisy neighbors in the courtyard after a good night sleep. We have allowed ourselves another little break as Margarete gets her breakfast in bed.   Now that I have my feet wet in Rio and we have gone to most of the places Luiz and Margarete had planned. (except Sugar Loaf and I suggested we go there only if the skies are blue and sunny so it would guarantee some great photography of the view). I use this time to  look on the internet for things to do in Rio.  Luiz heads to the internet shop to post some photos of his own since he has been anxious to do this since we arrived. The internet we have in the apartment is Margaretes and the signal is a little weak. One computer for three people and since loading photos takes a while he decides it is better to do it at the local internet shop.
I on the other hand am able to borrow some internet access from someone locally who does not have a password on their connection. My computer needs to be on the window seal to obtain this connection, but I am happy to have some internet time.

Funds in our pockets are a little low so it is time to find a bank and a.t.m. We ask some people on the street for our bank of choice and we hit the jack pot as the lady we ask is actually heading to the bank we need, so we follow. I reflect as I wait for the others to get money, what life was like prior to a.t.m.s. I would have brought travelers checks and some cash. But if that would have run out I would have relied on my credit cards, which I still have as my back up but it sure is nice to pay for travel on a pay as you go basis. With cash back in hand we head out for the day.

We browsed the neighborhood as we head down to Princess Isabela Avenida (the beginning of Copacabana). It seems to be a little rushed walk and I am interested in checking out the nooks and crannies but have to follow the leaders or risk getting lost. We arrive at the Avenida and head toward the beach to do some what? Of course some walking… We turn to the right down Copacabana beach toward Ipanema. We stroll past the Palace hotel and by this time it is late enough for lunch so we stop at the restaurant we had found earlier in the week. We relax and Margarete and I split a meal of camarao na moranga –
a great Brazilian cuisine which is a cream based soup with shrimp as it meat and it is baked in a pumpkin and served in one as well. It was by far the best meal I have had in Rio and maybe Brazil thus far. Luiz stuck with the Brazilian standard of meat, rice, sausage, and beans. His meal was good as well and presentation from our newly found restaurant was picturesque. We talk to the staff and find out they have not been open that long and are planning a tented area out front. We wish them well and thank them for our great meal and head down the street.

 

 

After lunch we continue to walk and decide a walk Ipanema is in order so off we go. On the way we take a quick minute to look around a high end mall on the beach and fill our sights with wonderful artwork and trendy items. We continue and travel through the affluent neighborhood of Arpoador.

 

 

At the ocean of Arpoador neighborhood is a famous rock formation “Pedra do Arpoador” where we find a wonderful view of the beach. Many people head here for watching the sun set and in midsummer it is one of the rare locations in Brazil where you can watch the sun set over the ocean’s horizon. Viewing the sunset from this location was our original plan, but since the skies have not cooperated, we decide today is the day at least come and imagine what a sunset

would be like here. The ocean off Arpoador is also known to be the best metropolitan surf spot in Rio. The waves today are 5-8 feet tall and I spend some time watching the numerous surfers catching their waves. As we sit enjoying our down time, I also observe the birds, both those the birds diving into the ocean for their lunch and those around us begging for a bite. It is a quite relaxing afternoon and even though there is no sun and a little windy. We spend some time bathing in the gray skies anyway.

Back to our walk, continuing off the rock formation along the Ipanema beach, as song starts racing through my mind and off my lips. “Garota de Ipanema” (Girl from Ipanema” although I may not be 100% familiar with the lyrics, the tune is alive and well in my memory and easily whistled.

 This song originally sung in Portuguese recorded in 1962 by Astrud Gilberto, later became popular worldwide winning a Grammy in 1965. The tune continues to be in my thoughts as we continue down the sidewalk.

A little while later Margarete and Luiz begin to whisper and as we get a little further they share with me that we have just passed a famous Brazilian actress sitting having coffee. With a little prodding we turn around to meet her and see if a photo is possible. Later I find out that she is the very famous actress Fernanda Montenegro. She is often referred to as Brazil’s first lady of theater and television. Her claim to fame in the U.S. was her nod for an Oscar in 1998 for her roll in Central Station. A movie about a young boys friendship with a jaded middle-aged lady. We make our introduction and she is happy to have a photo taken with us. In English she asks if I am American (I guess it is obvious) and I say yes and we continue with the photo. This encounter gives Luiz and Margarete something to reflect on as we continue to walk down the beach. As we walk along the beach we meet another famous Brazilian television personnel from the Novela das 8, but it is right after our fortunes with Fernanda and he is one the phone so we do not turn around for a photo opportunity.


We joke about walking the whole beach and ending up at the famous “dois irmaos” (two brothers) rock (another formation of rocks named for the split in its peaks) but decided to walk through the Leblon neighborhood in hopes of coming across another celebrity. This neighborhood is quite affluent with the highest land prices in Latin America. Many famous Brazilians live in this neighborhood, so we hope our luck is good today and maybe we can find another celebrity photo opportunity.

I enjoy the neighborhood and it is very similar to that of Ipanema and the rest of Rio. There is lots of shopping to be done and the squares are full of trees and greenery. After a little search we come across a place to have coffee. We really wanted a bakery but there seemed to be none around. Of course when we left after having coffee we came across a bakery so decided to have a second coffee of the afternoon. The bakery goods were delicious and we left a little full but feeling good. (after this stop we end up seeing 2 more bakeries within a couple blocks – go figure)


We head back towards our apartment by buy and have dinner at a restaurant in the Copacabana neighborhood and end our journey with a stroll on the beach. All is good in the world and though the site seeing has been a little less today, it has been a wonderful day.  (Read Rio de Janiero - Day 8)