Rio: Brazil's Cultural Paradise

Quick Tips:

Despite what you hear about Rio being a dangerous city, crime against tourists is down, and if you take the normal precautions requisite to any large city, you should feel pretty safe.

Best Way To Get Around:

One of about five 5 star hotels in Rio, Sofitel Rio Palace (part of a French chain of luxury hotels) is located just between the famous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema. That's a great selling point to me--depending on what mood you're in you can walk left on the beach to experience the more raucous vibe of Copacabana or stroll right for the more chic atmosphere of Ipanema.

The rates for Sofitel's elegantly decorated rooms run from around $250-$470. I was impressed by the soothing, spa-like color palette and unusual touches, such as cloth wall-coverings featuring delicate fern patterns.

Many rooms have private balconies with spectacular beach and mountain views. Buffets in the Atlantis Restaurant are superior to what you'll find in most hotels--the chocolate mousse I had here ranks among the best I've ever tasted, and the various fish dishes, as well as the rice and beans, were excellent. Gourmet cuisine prepared by an award-winning chef and an extensive wine list are available in Le Pre Catalan.

The Sofitel is ready to please the international traveler. There's an English pub on site as well as an afternoon tea room where you can have biscuits and scones and a variety of hot beverages. The Sofitel is also prepared for business events of all stripes with 10 conference rooms and a business center with 13 private rooms.

A pool deck with serious beach views is availabe for people like me who like to loll about with a novel and soak in the rays, as well as an exercise room complete with sauna and steam room for working off the churascarria.

Caesar Park has 221 rooms and suites with sea views, decorated in classic, Victorianesque style. In your closet you'll find a beach bag that will attract immediate and desirable attention as soon as you hit the sand. Hotel beach staff will appear, ready to scoot you into a lounge chair, make you a drink, and hand you tropical fruits to nibble on while you catch some rays.

The exercise room is state-of-the art and is included in the price of your room. You can even ask for a personal trainer to help make sure you are sufficiently buff for beach excursions. There is something to be said for working out while taking in postcard-perfect sea vistas. An on-site spa offers massage and all kinds of pamering services.

The buffet in Galani, Caesar Park's restaurant, is the best I had in Rio, replete with heart-of-palm salads, succulent fish dishes, and desserts that will make you glad for the exercise room. I'm a fan of the marzipan chocolate cake and the orange/coconut flan. After dining, you can stroll out to the pool deck and have a drink looking out over Ipanema beach.

The hotel restaurant has very good buffets and a beautiful sea view. Breakfast, which is included in the room rate, includes continental cold items as well as hot American fare--very satisfying. Dinner features a cold and hot buffet.

I was impressed by the staff here: the porters and doormen in the hotel were extremely helpful, tying up a painting I bought with string so that I could carry it easily on the plane. The hotel manager walked me down to the bank on the corner when I was having trouble making a withdrawel.

If you want comfort and convenience, as well as a great location, Miriimar Palace is a great deal.

The hotel was modern and well-equipped.

Expect to have numerous waiters circling around your table deftly slicing off strips of roasted meat from a skewer with enormous knives--a very impressive performance! The process is interactive. You have a pair of tongs with which you grab the end of the piece the waiter is slicing to assist the meat's journey to your plate.

The range of meats includes chicken, pork, sausages, and several different cuts of beef. The filet mignon sprinkled with cheese was interesting, if strange to my American palate. I much preferred the juicy sirloin steak, not as well-done as some of the other cuts. On your table you'll find several things to accompany the meat, including french fries, onion rings, fried mantioc, and polenta sticks (tasting for all the world like southern cornbread--salty and crisp.) There's also a cold buffet for salad and a hot buffet with more side items in case several rounds of meat weren't enough to fill you up.

As if on queue, couples sit kissing on benches or burying their noses in flowers as they stroll along. I was told by a friend that less pleasant inhabitants of the garden, the large spiders that build nets in the banana plants, are sometimes visible, but I didn't see any.

To appreciate the wonder and hardship early settlers in Brazil must have faced trying to subdue this robust jungle you have to make a trip here. But please, don't even THINK of carving your name into the bamboo--whole colonies can perish from a single careless bit of graffitti.

The garden is open daily from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.

One thing we couldn't get over was the sight of middle age men brazenly showing off their speedo bathings suits, while their younger counterparts made attempts at a few push-ups on the beach before collapsing in exhaustion. People talk about the string bikinis, but in my opinion what the men were putting out there was far more remarkable.

At night you can find lots of outdoor cafes on Copacabana where you can sip a drink, enjoy the sea, and wonder over the large number of prosititutes working the scene. At night you'll also find an open market where you can occasionally find something worth buying. Most of the stuff is junk, but I found one merchant selling beautiful silver jewelry at great prices--you can find bargains if you keep your eyes peeled.

One unusual feature of this beach--there's very little swimming. Unfortunately polution has made swimming an option only for the intrepid. I didn't try it.

This picturesque neighborhood began as the site of a Carmelite convent (still here) in the 18th century. Today it is the home of some of Brazil's most vibrant artists (many of whom open their home studios to the public--see my 'Favoretto' entry) and romantic sights and sounds. Rio's elegance and colorful artistic side are expressed in Santa Teresa's lush flowers, winding streets and breath-taking views.

A visit to Santa Teresa should include a stop at Parque das Ruinas (Ruins Park), located at Rua Murtinho Nobre, 169. A spectacular view of the city awaits you from what's left of the Murtinho Nobre mansion, once one of the most posh residences in Rio. I found myself imagining the plot of a historic romance when I heard about Laurinda Santos Lobo, who once hosted elegant soirees and reigned supreme over Rio's social circles from her imposing vantage point. There are musical shows and other programs hosted at the site, as well as 'Happy Hour' events on Thursdays.

In addition to the Parque, Santa Teresa boasts the Santa Teresa Convent, a Buddhist Temple, the Paineiras Forest for outdoor fun, and several restaurants and pubs.

The best way to get around in Santa Teresa is by streetcar. You can pick up the streetcar from the Petrobras Building on Rua Lelio Gama 65, downtown. Streetcars leave every half hour.

The lush feminine elegance of the style is apparent in the curves and delicate lines of every ornate lamp, polished Belgian mirror, and jacaranda wood chair. This is the ultimate spot for lunching ladies, a romantic meeting, or taking tea over a good book. The stained glass ceiling, with its vibrant Pre-Raphaelite greens and blues, is breathtaking. Many visitors to Rio who spend their time on the beach miss out on the wonderful historic buildings the city has to offer.

Living in Deco-obsessed New York, I found the fantasy, delicate crafting, and soulful ambiance of a first-rate Noveau building something to treasure.

Samba schools came into being between the 30's and 50's. Steeped in history, they also generate a wonderful feeling of community and camraderie. To see a five-year old girl trying out dance steps for the first time as her grandmother and uncles cheer her on is to realize the deep sense of continuity and spirituality provided by dancing in Brazilian culture, something Americans sadly miss.

Check with your hotel about arranging a trip to a samba school rehearsal.

The theater's schedule includes 10 months of performances from March to December, ending with the Nutcracker. Note: For a musical performance, the best seats in the house are in the upper sections; however, for ballet or opera you'll want to sit lower and closer to the stage so that your view won't be obstructed.

Writer's chuckle: Four writers are depcited in bas relief in the Foyer--Goethe, Shakespeare, Moliere, and the Brazilian writer Penna. The big four, apparently. Sorry Dante.

The performance I saw, and a recommended venue for those with limited time and resources, is an afternoon opera recital featuring selected pieces from the season's opera schedule. The audience is seated in front of the main stairway, which serves as a stage. The focal point of the stairway is a large painting representing a feminine figure of truth--a bold (and defensive?) statement for a lavish opera house putting on make-believe shows in a Catholic country.

The post-slavery tension between Brazilians of different races formed another major part of the exhibit. Several cases contained items related to the perjorative commerical images of Afro-Brazilians, including household and novelty products intended to portray black in Brazil as naive/overtly sexual/mystical/dangerous people.

The exhibit also included representative work by Brazil's major artists of African descent, as well as photographs depicting Afro-Brazilian life. The collection of late nineteenth century photos was marvelously comprehensive--I've never seen anything even close in the US.

Other interesting aspects of the exhibition included displays examining the practices and history of Afro-Brazilian religions.

Through this extensive production I felt I was able to scratch the surface of the rich heritage and influence of Afro-Brazilians, something crucial to any attempt to understand Rio's unique culture.

I was intrigued by the ornate carvings on the stairs leading to the elevated pulpits--lush designs depicting fat cupids frolicking over roses. The oddness of the grisly scenes of suffering amid romantic globe lights and fanciful patterns seemed emblematic of the strange mixture of kitsch, passion, morbidity and grandeur that is the Catholic Church in South America.

On the left side, notice a disproportionately small Christ, hanging crucified like an afterthought amid the voluptuous splendor of the interior space. On the right side, a virgin stares down from her case like a doll for sale in a Christmas window shop, complete with blinking lights.

The weirdest effect for me was the image of the Roman martyr St. Manuel, resembling a Greek faun impaled through the temple with an arrow, the bloody end sticking out of his ear. Exquisite suffering becomes an aesthetic principle.

Visiting Hours: Mon-Friday, 7:30 am-12 pm and 1 pm-4:30 pam. Sundays, 8am - 1 pm.

In trying to decode the statue's mystique, I'm put in mind of the famous scene depicted on the Temple of Zeus in Olympia. Above a band of drunken, brawling centaurs, the figure of Apollo looms, coolly enforcing his calm rationality over wine-sodden pandemonium. High on Corcovado mountain, the Catholic Apollo gazes over the 'city without shame,' thanks to the efforts of the Catholic Church to assert itself amid political turmoil and aetheism in the 1920's.

Walking around the streets of Rio, I found myself often caught by the beauty and mysteriousness of the Redeemer. Each glimpse invites a moment of contemplation on the healing power of spirituality, as well as the dominance of poweful religious bodies. But to climb the steps to see the thing face to face is to truly realize its power. The uncanny effect of clouds moving behind the enormous statue make it appear to be flying through the air when you stand very close. There are very few places I've been to--the Temple of Posiedon at Sounion comes to mind--where the spiritual force of a deity is so powerfully expressed. The photos I've included here represent different moods of this most fascinating monument as I saw them. They also represent my excitement at learning Photoshop.

Christ the Redeemer is accessible by car, organized tours, by taxi or on foot. Unless you have a strong stomach, avoid the public bathrooms at reststops along the steps.

The 'virtues' emphasized by the Catholic church to instill the proper attitude in their new Indian converts were chastity, obedience, and poverty--customed tailored to the dominated by the dominator. A room full of yellow flowers represent the dual triumph of the church--both in saving the souls of the Indians and discovering gold!

An especially moving detail were holes bored into the rear of a church wall, made by slaves who were not allowed inside. I was impressed by the creativity of one room that was prepared to represent the cathedral as cosmos, complete with ceiling photos taken by the Hubbel telescope and a floor of glass beneath which images of Christ lay among hordes of silver and gold objects.

A final display depicted aspects of Condomble, one of Brazil's Creole religions--a combination of Indian, African and Catholic elements.

Varig flies to 45 Brazilian cities. I went to Rio via Sao Paulo (Rio is a 50 minute jump from Sao Paulo).

The first floor also houses a small, rotating exhibit of paintings by Brazilian artists. I was charmed by serveral examples of Brazilian Art Absurd. The gardens on the grounds are apparently magnificent--unfortunately it was raining the day I visited and so we didn't get to enjoy them.

Serious students of photography will want to learn about the research and preservation facilities at the Instituto. The center is also active in literature, cinema, and the plastic arts.

Located in the Gavea district on Rua Marques de Sao Vicente, 476. Phone number: (55 21) 2395559. A cafeteria is located on site.

There are many talented artists living in Santa Teresa who open their studio to the public. Inquire at your hotel about setting up a visit.