Rio, once again. i love it down here. the beaches, the colonial center,
and the weather. this time we went during the fall, so, it wasnt as hot. it was still fairly warm. 80s and 90s mostly. but, the beaches were largely deserted during the week. we went to ipanema, because thats the beach we go to, and one of the days we went, the beach was disappearing. supposedly, this happens, and the tide comes up and then eventually it all goes back and the beach returns... but at one point on the beach, the water was coming up to the boardwalk. on the way back fmro the beach one day we stopped by the market next to the ipanema metro stop and looked at what they had... LOTS of fish stalls. seriously, i counted at least ten
stands selling various types of fish... like these. some of them looked really exotic like the ones in the center of this picture, and some i recognized from home, like several rather large dolphin (mahi mahi or dorado, whatever you prefer to call them), they also sold lots of vegetables, fruit, and random other things, like flowers... and cookies. we bought cookies.
rio sometimes seems like two different cities. you have the beach side of town by ipanema and copacabana, and then you have the colonial zone and business part of town on the other side of the city... downtow
n rio has the opera house, the museums, several stretches of long walkable parks along guanabara bay, and then the colonia
l zone with the cathedral (interior pictured). it also contains Lapa, the up and coming night life area pictured here with the petrobras building, the new modern cathedral, and the aquaduct in front of it.
today, a tram runs across the aquaduct to the suburb of santa teresa. santa teresa was described by my cousin as a carioca montemartre. i havent been up to montemartre, but santa teresa, maybe it was because it was like 1030am... everything was closed still... but, apart from some very nice old villas that were rather run down, it was just kind of shady up there... beautiful views though. still, as of right now, not totally convinced i'd want to live up there, or spend much time... probably have to go back up on the weekend a little later in the day.
we also went to the naval cultural exhibit in downtown, with a nice view of the naval base, and the ihla fiscal. they had an old US destroyer escort, a british submarine, a sea king helicopter, and an old Portuguese caravel on display. they also had a special exhibit on women in the navy. the first group of female officers joined the navy in 1980, during the closing days of the military government. i guess, right now the highest ranking one is a captain.
next trip down there, we will probably take the ferry over to ihla fiscal to look at that. as well as spend some more time on the beach at ipanema.
and the weather. this time we went during the fall, so, it wasnt as hot. it was still fairly warm. 80s and 90s mostly. but, the beaches were largely deserted during the week. we went to ipanema, because thats the beach we go to, and one of the days we went, the beach was disappearing. supposedly, this happens, and the tide comes up and then eventually it all goes back and the beach returns... but at one point on the beach, the water was coming up to the boardwalk. on the way back fmro the beach one day we stopped by the market next to the ipanema metro stop and looked at what they had... LOTS of fish stalls. seriously, i counted at least ten 
stands selling various types of fish... like these. some of them looked really exotic like the ones in the center of this picture, and some i recognized from home, like several rather large dolphin (mahi mahi or dorado, whatever you prefer to call them), they also sold lots of vegetables, fruit, and random other things, like flowers... and cookies. we bought cookies.
rio sometimes seems like two different cities. you have the beach side of town by ipanema and copacabana, and then you have the colonial zone and business part of town on the other side of the city... downtow
n rio has the opera house, the museums, several stretches of long walkable parks along guanabara bay, and then the colonia
l zone with the cathedral (interior pictured). it also contains Lapa, the up and coming night life area pictured here with the petrobras building, the new modern cathedral, and the aquaduct in front of it.
today, a tram runs across the aquaduct to the suburb of santa teresa. santa teresa was described by my cousin as a carioca montemartre. i havent been up to montemartre, but santa teresa, maybe it was because it was like 1030am... everything was closed still... but, apart from some very nice old villas that were rather run down, it was just kind of shady up there... beautiful views though. still, as of right now, not totally convinced i'd want to live up there, or spend much time... probably have to go back up on the weekend a little later in the day.
we also went to the naval cultural exhibit in downtown, with a nice view of the naval base, and the ihla fiscal. they had an old US destroyer escort, a british submarine, a sea king helicopter, and an old Portuguese caravel on display. they also had a special exhibit on women in the navy. the first group of female officers joined the navy in 1980, during the closing days of the military government. i guess, right now the highest ranking one is a captain.
next trip down there, we will probably take the ferry over to ihla fiscal to look at that. as well as spend some more time on the beach at ipanema.
