Rio - The Marvelous City

Rio - one and only on the whole planet Earth. We were so lucky to spend one week in this incredible city. What makes Rio so special is its unique location that produced its beautiful nature, perfect climate, and fabulous way of life.

Rio is extremely generous to its visitors. It has so much to offer that you need several days to get a taste of what it’s like to live in this Marvelous City. During our rather short stay in Rio, we accomplished a ton of things, those that were on our must-see list and those we didn’t even think of. In the following series of Rio posts, I will try to highlight the most incredible pieces of the colorful puzzle called Rio de Janeiro.

If not my introduction, then this song from the movie Rio will set the right tone to my first story about Rio. :) 

Rio is a magnet that attracts Brazilians and foreigners with great power. It's a very happy place that, nonetheless, contains an element of danger and even status-quo. I have to say right away that Rio might not be the safest city in the world, but it’s definitely not the most dangerous one. Our whole trip was without an incident, so we were pretty lucky to not encounter the unpleasant side of Rio.

In terms of status-quo, it seems as though the rich carioca will always remain affluent and the poor will forever live in their favelas, no matter how hard they work. Maybe it's true in every country and in every society, but something was different about Rio. I’ve got the impression that the poor of Rio were pretty happy about their life, which is not the case in many other places I’ve been. After thinking about it a little bit, I realized what makes Rio and its people so different and joyful.  Everyone who lives in or comes to Rio, regardless of their status or circumstances, enjoys the same generous sun, soft beach sand, and turquoise waters of the ocean. And although the economic disparity is a trait of Rio, everyone has the right and opportunity to enjoy the best of Rio.

The Rio people certainly have a typical Rio outlook on life. No matter what day of the week or what time of the day, people relax on the beach with their families and friends, or even alone. Whether it’s Monday or Friday, restaurants and bars are full with people chatting with their friends and drinking Caiparinhas. Now that’s the way to live!

The steaming dish served right on a frying pan

My husband and I went out for dinner every night, and every time we wanted to try something new and Brazilian. So we came across this small, simple, and very lively place not too far from our hotel located between Copacabana and Ipanema. Despite the fancy location, the diner - as I would call it - was a popular place among the common people. When it comes to dining, our rule of thumb was like this: if the place is full and locals eat there, it's a go! So we decided to eat at this restaurant.

Honestly, we were intrigued to see what kind of people were at this place. Every table was taken, the football was on, and everyone was having a great time. We sat down and ordered something from the menu, something we had no idea about as the waitress did not speak any English. All we wanted was real Brazilian food, no matter what it was. While we were waiting for our plates, we had a chance to look around some more. There were young and old, families with kids and single people, football fans and… more football fans. After all, everyone loves football in Brazil. :)

Favelas

One of the patchy favelas rising above the city 

Then we noticed that the new people coming to eat at this tiny restaurant were descending from the hill right across the street. There is one important thing you need to know about Rio. The city's hills are home to favelas. A favela is essentially a neighborhood of poor people who live in small dwellings built very close to each other. Most of the villages had been pushed out of the expensive areas and up the steep hill slopes. Because the colorful, square houses spread out and piled up on top of each other like toy cubes, the people have no choice but walk up and down these hills several times a day. It was very impressive how favela residents have learned to patiently take the countless steps connecting their homes with the mainstream city. Favelas have become a natural part of the city skyline, almost as natural as the surrounding mountains themselves.  

So we realized then that we were sitting among the residents of the near-by favela. This was something we did not expect from our trip, and, to be honest, was kind of eye-opening. Favelas have this notorious reputation of dangerous villages full of dangerous people. And although we were not in a favela, we were surrounded by the real favela people - simple and happy to dine in a good company. And the food there was outstanding. We ate at fancier and more expensive places in Rio, and the meal we got at this street diner was just as good as it could be. Great food aside, we stopped at this restaurant mainly for its fun and lively atmosphere.  It was really cool to eat at that place filled with loud voices, cheering, and laughs. We loved it so much that we came back for dinner the next day.

Music

You cannot imagine Rio without music. It’s the place where the bossa nova style was born in the 60s. Positively, the most famous bossa nova song is the Girl from Ipanema. When you are in Rio, you can almost hear the rhythm of this melody in the way this city lives and breathes. If you haven’t heard this song, you must!

You cannot be in Rio and not experience the magic of the jazzy samba tunes. One night we met a couple from New York who were hanging out at the same bar with a funny name Bip Bip. We were listening to the live music when this guy came up to us and asked to join them at their table. It turned out that his parents were from Brazil and he spoke fluent Portuguese. He also knew a lot about Brazilian music and Rio of course. So the next day, we went to the prime music area of Rio called Lapa.

Waiting to enter Carioca da Gema for real samba music

Lapa, where our new friend brought us to, was obviously the place to be that night. The entire street was crowded when we arrived and it was just as crowded when we left after 4 a.m.(!)  While we were standing in line right outside Carioca da Gema, in its windows we could see the dancing figure of the singer. I was extremely excited to finally be able to listen to the live samba performance, right in the musical heart of Rio. The atmosphere inside was incredible. The energy coming from the band and the singer made our hearts beat with a new strength, and we were dancing to the samba songs as if we were native Brazilians. It was an unforgettable experience to be right in the center of what is the essence of Rio de Janeiro.

Rio de Janeiro - Cidade Maravilhosa

To be continued…