Rio de Janeiro: it's colonial, it's modern
and it's a visual and sensual delight

by Lucy Komisar

It was night and people were lounging on the Copacabana beach, lit brightly by street lamps planted every few feet. We strolled on the sand to get a bit more whiff of ocean, then turned back across the street to the Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana where we were staying. Near the entrance, I notice a blue police booth strategically placed under some trees. I'd heard that Río was unsafe, but very strong government security action – bright lights, policing – is turning that around. If you've put off going to Río de Janeiro out of crime fears, think again!

The ocean, the bay, the lagoon: Rio makes good aesthetic use of the water that seems to surround it.  From the hotel terrace, I could view the sea, the gray rocks and peaks of mountains. Downstairs, the cobble stone sidewalks of black and white mosaic waves remind one of the Atlantic. Copacabana was a fishermen's village, and there is still a cooperative whose members catch sea bass by hand, not with industrial gear. Out at night and back by 5 am, they are on the beach in the morning selling fish till 9.

Everyone's vision of Río includes Sugar Loaf, the mountain quite near Copacabana at the entrance to Guanabara Bay. It got the name, Pão de Açúcar, because it looked like a Portuguese sugar cone. You go there for the view from nearly 1300 feet. We climbed into an enclosed cable car to get to the first level where there's a picnic area and, I was told, little monkeys with white stars on their faces. I didn't see any! I did see a gaggle of rock climbers on their way to ascend to the next level. But I went up the old-fashioned motorized way! From either level, I could look out and see the ocean beaches: Copacabana, Ipanema, and Leme, back-dropped by white buildings from the 40s, 50s and 60s; then the historical and financial quarter of the city; a residential and industrial sector, and the newest part, with industry and laboratories. Flying around were vultures and frigate birds that looked like seagulls.

I like to see city streets and old towns, and I took a day's whirlwind tour of Río. Rich in history it was the capital in 1763-1960, so embassy buildings are still there. And, downtown, the former parliament, Baroque churches, and the colonial style cathedral where emperors were crowned. The church was built by ship captain who was caught in a storm and promised to construct it if he survived. This sea city of course has a large marina for sailboats.

I liked the 17th-century Portuguese style streets near Praça 15. There are just four blocks left, including the pink house where Carmen Miranda lived. She was a hat maker! And I thought that this 1940s maracas-wielding dancer had just suddenly piled fruit on her head for effect. Just off that street, on Thursday and Friday from 5 till 9 or 10, office and bank workers pour out of the buildings and sit at sidewalk cafes or mingle on the cobblestones for an impromptu party.

I wondered why so many of the bars and restaurants and buildings kept their old style. Guide Luiz Augusto told me that when renovations are made that preserve the old facades, there is a tax benefit. So, a lot of Brazilian bars are a charming old Portuguese design.

One expects old churches in places with colonial roots, and there are some lovely Baroque and colonial structures in Río. I was hardly prepared for the ultra-modern San Sebastian Cathedral, a beehive shaped cone designed by Edgar Fonseca and built in 1976 that seats 5,000 people. What's quite amazing is that there is natural air conditioning. Those little windows that make the building seem like a beehive suck in the air. I wandered around inside to gaze at the stained glass windows with not only Biblical scenes but pictures showing the country's racial history. Some of the priests were kept busy having their photos taken with tourists.

Rio is in the funny position of having been a world-class capital when suddenly the government decided to move itself to Brasilia. What to do with all those government buildings! The city has figured out a novel solution. If nobody wants to rent them, use them for exhibits. That's also true for some of the corporate buildings whose tenants followed the government or else simply decided to consolidate in Sao Paolo.  So, the Stock Exchange closed and is now a convention center. The Bank of Brazil building is a museum.

One building still in original use is the gorgeous opera house on Praça Floriano which presents opera and ballet. It was built a hundred years ago on French inspiration. The Rio mayor had lived in Paris and seen the work of Georges-Eugène Haussmann. He wanted the same. He ran a competition for the building and the winner was….the mayor's son! There were protests. So the judges included the second place winner. The façade and first half of the building is the mayor's son, the second half is the runner-up's! The façade does remind one of the Paris Opera with its classical columns and Baroque designs.

By then it was time for lunch which was celebrated at the 115-year-old Colombo tea house. This art deco establishment started as pastry shop, but now has a lower floor for tea and snacks and an upstairs restaurant. An atrium connects the two floors, so all can hear the pianist playing classical and Sinatra pop. Sometimes there's also a violinist. It was a place frequented by Brazil's presidents when the government was in Río.

The tables in the tea room are marble-topped. The chairs have cane backs and seats, and all is lit and set off by small lamps and huge gilt mirrors. The upstairs Saturday buffet was feijoada, the national dish of pork and beans. I dipped into platters of farofa, manioc, fried banana, and a green called couve mineira. Among six kinds of pork, I chose pork loin and pork rib. The desert table was expansive and on good advice I took a mango tart. Colombo is a popular tourist and local favorite.

Where was the artists section? There's always one in a grand place like Rio. It turned out to be in the neighborhood of Santa Theresa, where actors, writers, artists, and composers had gathered, "Our Montmartre," Luiz said. It also for a while was home to Ronald Briggs, famous for Britain's "Great Train Robbery." On his escape, he fled to Brazil, married a Brazilian, and wrote a book. He eventually returned to the UK – and jail. Some mansions have been made into boutique hotels. On a small street of restaurants I found Amazon cuisine at Abrazibel designed to look like a traditional wood house! But alas not many galleries.

The "dicey" part of town used to be Lapa, where the night clubs are. It was the Bohemian part of town, and dark. Now there are new lights, new bars and restaurants, and lots of traffic, so the violence that comes with darkness and desertedness moved away.

The afternoon expedition was to Corcovado, the other scenic viewing place 2330 feet above the sea in Rio's northwest. Initially, there was just a railroad to the top of that mountain, built in 1884, the first railroad in Brazil, to take people to view the city. Later on, someone got the idea to build a statue. The empire of kings and queens had ended. With the new republican government, the Catholic Church lost power. Registration of people had been based on baptism, now there was civil registration, so people didn't have to get baptized. But the Republicans wanted to keep a good relationship. They allowed the Church to build a statue with money from public donations. It was constructed from 1925 to 31.

The 20-minute train ride to Corcovado goes through the Tijuca National Park, a lush forest with red hibiscus, tall jackfruit trees with fruit that looks like khaki pouches (and, I'm told, has the texture of bananas) and other plants from around the world. Portuguese King John VI demanded that all Portuguese ships traveling to Brazil bring plants and seeds, as it was a headquarters of the Portuguese government. You can walk or take a van or car through the park, which has 13 kinds of birds and 2 types of monkeys. It's where Brazilian coffee began.

From the top of the mountain, you can see Rio -- and Sugar Loaf, which I think affords a better view. But the reason people come here is to get close to the kitschy 98-foot-high statue. Many visitors have their photos taken with the figure's outstretched arms as a backdrop. Up close, you can see the small triangles of soapstone that cover the concrete form.

For me the memorable moment was to discover in the souvenir shop a fake photo of the statue! Tourists want photos of the Christ with Sugar Loaf in the background. The statue is facing Sugar Loaf, so that photo would give you the back of Christ's head. The souvenir shopkeeper explained, "People say don’t you have a picture of the statue and Sugar Loaf? No, we want the face." So giving in to demands of the market, one post-card maker produced Christ with his back to Sugar Loaf, so his face shows in the photo. It’s a fraud! Here are the real and fake post cards.

After all the touring, time to relax. I decided on a leisurely drink and snack in the hotel's high-up Club Millésime. The Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana is a perfect beachfront redoubt for exploring the city. And also for providing comfort and entertainment close to home. One evening, we dined on the balcony overlooking the beach. Later, we stopped at the Horse's Neck Bar, a cabaret room which also opened onto a balcony. I poked around the extensive fitness center and stuck a toe in the pool, but I preferred sitting with a drink in hand and a view of palms and sea.

When it was time to leave, we drove to the airport at around 9 at night and were surprised to see joggers running on a path along the bay. "No problem," said the taxi driver, who said that crimes reported in the province are often labeled as happening in Río but that the situation had improved in the city since there is now policing in the favelas. The old slums now have houses of brick or cement served by water, electricity and street lights as well as cops on the beat.

Favela is a plant. Soldiers living in a military camp on Providence Hill in the late 1800s brought the plant from the northeast. Other people started to build houses around camp and it became a slum. People started calling it a favela. So maybe the word for slum will go back to its original meaning.

If you go

Sofitel Rio de Janeiro Copacabana
Av. Atlantica 4240, Copacabana
22070-002 Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
55 (0)21 2525-1232
Fax 55 (0)21 2525-1200
sofitelrio@accor.com.br
reservas.sofitelrio@sofitel.com
www.sofitel.com.br
338 rooms.
Club Millésime with bar/food lounge.

Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar)
Av. Pasteur 520, Urca
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
55 (0)21 2295-7149
Fax 55 (0)21 2295-8244
evento@bondinho.com.br
www.bondinho.com.br.
Cars leave from 8:30 am every 20 min or as soon as they are full till 8pm. Site closes at 9 pm. R$44 adults, R$22 for 6 to 12 yrs.
New Swiss cars put into service this year take 65 people. It takes an hour to see it all.

Colombo Tea House
Rua Gonçalves Dias 32
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
55 (0)21 2232-2300
Metrô: Carioca
www.confeitariacolombo.com.br
R$50 a person plus 10% tax.
Lunch 12 to 4, tea house till 8.
Reserve on weekdays.

Corcovado Train
Rua Casme Velho 513
Cosme Velho
Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil
Tel/fax 55 (0)21 2558-1329
trem@corcovado.com.br
www.corcovado.com.br
Train from town first ride 8:30, last 6:30 or 7, every 20 or 30 min.
20 min ride R$36 R/T. Half price children 5 to 12 yrs; free under 5.
Or you go on train on your own and then take the tour.
A van picks up people from cars who drive to parking.

The beaches

Most of the beaches are on the ocean, a few on the bay. The lagoon has no hotels because of its brackish water. The bay is partially polluted and not recommended for swimming. The sea water is a comfortable 65 to 70 degrees. Of the ocean beaches, Copacabana has 15 hotels, Ipanema 4, Leblon 2. Copacabana is served by 3 air conditioned subway stations, Ipanema by one. Lagoon, Ipanema, and Lablon are the sophisticated residential areas, more exclusive than Copacabana. The only beach restaurant I saw was in front of Hotel Arpoador in Ipanema. I was delighted at public beach amenities. It costs just R$1 for use of the shower and restroom at a lifeguard post.

Photos by Lucy Komisar