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FLYING DOWN TO RIOby Carole Kotkin
Rio’s residents are called cariocas, which translated from the Portuguese means an energetic exuberant people in love with life.The Girl from Ipanema may have aged a bit since the 60’s when the bossa nova became an international rage, but Rio remains one of the most colorful playgrounds in the world. Copacabana and Ipanema are the most famous beaches and a great place to watch cariocas at play. Volleyball and soccer players on the sand vie for attention with strollers or joggers in string bikinis. It’s one of the best shows in town and it’s free. Rio is an unusual blend of seaside resort, sophisticated big city and cultural capital. There are 60 museums, many theaters, a burgeoning film industry (Central Station, one of last year’s Oscar nominees for best foreign film was filmed there), and is home to artists and intellectuals. However, like every country, Brazil has its impoverished. In Rio, directly above the fashionable beaches, they live in huts without benefit of plumbing or electricity in mountainside favelas on some of the most gorgeous land in the world. Rio is now implementing a master plan to upgrade these settlements.
Rio de Janeiro, with a population of around six million, is one the world’s biggest and most populated cities. Being a major city, Rio offers its visitors a wide selection of hotels, restaurants and bars. Where to Stay:Rates calculated on current dollar conversion. Copacabana Palace: Declared part of Brazil’s Historical Heritage, it has been restored to its old-fashioned elegance, located in the heart of Copacabana on the beach. Some of the best Italian food in Rio can be found here at Cipriani’s. Double room about $275, 55-21-548-7070 Hotel Rio Othon Palace: This very modern hotel offers all the amenities for the business or pleasure traveler—spa, health club, business center, etc. plus a gorgeous view of the famed Copacabana beach. Double room, about $180.00, 55-21-522-1522. Sofitel Rio Palace Hotel in Copacabana. Newly restored featuring large rooms, many with verandas, and houses the highly regarded Le Pre-Catalan French restaurant. Double room, about $165.00, 55-21-5251232 Sheraton Rio Hotel and Towers. The largest hotel in Rio; all rooms overlook Vidigal beach. Double room about $180. 55-21-274-1122 Where to Eat:
Antiquarious: Portuguese food at its best; try risotto Cascais style with shrimp and skate flavored with paprika and cilantro. 19 Rua Aristides Espindola (Leblon) . Casa da Feijoada: A favorite of Rio residents specializing in the national dish. Rua Prudente de Moraes, 10B (Ipanema). Caesar Park Hotel: They are famous for their Saturday feijoada feast that begins at noon and continues until sated diners go home to sleep off the feast. Ave. Vieira, 460 (Ipanema) Claude Troisgros: World-class French/Brazilian food. Rua Custodio Serrao ,62 (Jardim Botanico). His more casual restaurant Boteco 66 is located at Avenue Alexandre Ferreira, 66. Confeitaria Colombo Restaurant: Built in 1894, this Belle Epoque is one of the city’s landmarks with its famous Belgian mirrors, Italian marble benches, ornate light fixture. Don’t go to eat there, just go to see it. Rua Goncalves Dias, 32 downtown. Marius: A Rodizio restaurant in Copacabana, Rua Francisco Otaviano, 96; also for rodizio; O Porcao, Rua Barao da Torre, 218 in Ipanema, Yemanja: The spicy food typical of Salvador, the capital of Bahia; seafood (moqueca) stewed in palm oil and coconut milk. Rua Visconde de Piraja, 128-A (Ipanema) What to see:
Cable Car to the top of Corcovado mountain: The cable car runs every half hour to the top (2,300 feet) from 8:30 a.m until 5:30 p.m. daily. Rua Cosme Velho, 513. Cable Car to the top of Sugarloaf: There are two stages in the trip. The first is from Praia Vermelha to Urca hill and the second one links Urca hill to Sugar Loaf, (1,300), 8:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m.. Ave. Pasteur, 520. Nightlife:
Ipanema: This sophisticated district offers a lively night life scene with a blend of live Brazilian music (Café das Artes), bossa nova music in small bars, concerts, ballet and opera in the Municipal Theater. What to Do:Carnival: Brazil is best known for Carnival, one of the greatest shows on earth . It is a mixture of street parades, carnival balls and a revelry which takes over the entire city. It has no fixed date, but the last day of Carnival always falls on Ash Wednesday. Macana Stadium: Enjoy an afternoon at the world’s largest soccer stadium. It seats 200,000 and it’s filled to capacity on Sunday afternoons. There are other sports activities besides soccer: tennis, golf, sailing, hang-gliding and more. Carmen Miranda Museum: Small, funky museum with exhibiting costumes, jewelry and photographs of this legendary performer. Parque Brigadeiro Eduardo Gomes Tijuca National Park: This is the largest urban forest in the world. Roads run through the entire length of the park. The most famous part is Alto da Boa Vista. It can be reached from any part of the city. Shopping: Brazil is the world’s largest producer of colored gemstones—emeralds, aquamarines, tourmalines, topazes. H. Stern, a firm that is also international, and Amsterdam-Sauer both have shops. A trade agreement between the U.S. and Brazil means that no duty is charged on gemstones purchased in Brazil. Visit the H.Stern Museum, a permanent exhibition of jewelry (also a retail outlet). Rua Garcia D’Avila, 113 Ipanema (they’ll even send a car to the hotel to pick you up). Hippie Fair for handicrafts in Ipanema every Sunday. This is a government-sponsored arts and crafts market where everything offered for sale must be handmade. The atmosphere is very festive. Bargain like crazy. Praca General Osorio. Copacabana: From art galleries, fine jewelry stores to designer clothes boutiques this is the perfect place for a shopping spree. Rio Sul Shopping Center. Modern multilevel mall of 400 shops. Rua Lauro Muller, 16. |
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No other city in
the world can match the natural beauty and dramatic setting of Rio de Janeiro
where miles of dazzling beaches and majestic mountains frame the busy metropolis.
Discovered in 1502 by Portuguese navigators and given the name, River of
January, it is a city of great contrasts. Historic buildings, baroque churches
and monuments sit side-by-side with ultra-modern architecture, and traditional
street markets have their place alongside modern shopping malls. The city blossomed with the arrival of the
Portuguese court in 1808 when, for the first time, a European country was ruled
from a country of the Americas. In
recent years the city has invested a substantial amount of time and money in
restoring its historical heritage. Rio, like the huge statue of Christ the Redeemer on the top of Corcovado
mountain, stands with its arms wide open waiting to welcome and embrace
visitors. And, there is no better time than right now. Due to the latest
Brazilian fiscal crisis, the value of their currency has dropped considerably.
As a result, prices of food and lodging, as calculated in dollars, have dropped
greatly from previous years. There are bargains to be had, making a city that
is already one of the world’s wonders even more appealing to the American
visitor. 
The city lists
over 860 restaurants with the kind of sophistication, ethnic diversity and
international cuisine found in large cities. The native cuisine is
Afro-Brazilian from the state of Bahia and it emphasizes seafood. This is the
place to eat feijoada, a stew of
black beans and white rice enriched with dark smoked pork and garnished with
lightly toasted manioc flour (farofa),
deep-fried squares of fat back, plantain fritters, collard greens, hot salsa
and orange slices to offset the saltiness of the feijoada. Feijoada originated
as a slave dish but it is now considered the national dish of Brazil. Saturday
is tradionally feijoada day because
it’s impossible to have such a heavy meal and then expect do anything except
take a long siesta. It is always served with Caipirinha, sort of a Brazilian margarita,
(made of distilled sugarcane, cachaca, flavored with lime and sugar or
passion fruit, pineapple, or coconut).Tropical fruits are so abundant that most
of the time you drink them at juice bars throughout the city: passion fruit,
mango, papaya, guava, tamarind, persimmon, cashew. The mix of African and
Portuguese cuisines come together in Rio. Here African dende (palm oil) and okra meet Portuguese beef and
bacalhau and combine with native manioc,
peanuts, coconuts and chiles. Acaraje,
a puree of black-eyed peas formed into a cake, deep fried and then filled with
vatapa (a peanut/coconut paste) are sold by street vendors. A meat
lover’s heaven would surely be the Churrascaria
rodizio or Brazilian steakhouse. The name translates to sirloin rotation
which refers to the serving style: Waiters constantly circle the room, bringing
javelin length skewers of meat to be carved directly onto diners’ plates. I
recommend you skip lunch before visiting one. The meats are cooked over open
wood fires and served in a certain order, with the lighter meats, like rabbit,
coming first and the heaviest, beef, coming last. It could be any one of a
dozen barbecued delicacies—pork, spare ribs, sausages, Chateaubriand, or the
traditional delicacy, chicken hearts. The rodizio
style of dining is almost a game. Flip up a sign saying Rodizio Constante (Keep Serving)
to signal the waiter to bring on the meat. To take a digestion break or
to call it quits, flip the sign down and the waiter will stop the rotation. And
believe it or not, vegetarians will find plenty to make them happy at churrascarias—side dishes like polenta,
black beans, hearts of palm, asparagus, fried bananas, fried yuca and greens. Cariocas
are partial to French cuisine
and some of the best food outside Paris can be found here.The most
distinguished French restaurant in Rio is the eponymous Claude Troisgros near
the Jardim Botanico where Chef Troisgros, carrying on his famous family’s name,
blends the disciplines of French technique with the enticing flavors of Brazil.
An example of his French/Brazilian fusion is a luscious taro root mousseline encased in a single jumbo “raviole” and
surrounded by a silken sauce made of a reduction of cream and white truffle
oil. 
Rio has suffered
for years from its once well-deserved reputation for chaos, confusion and
crime, but Rio is a much safer and
better policed city these days. You’d still be well advised to be cautious here
as in any other large city. If you’re going to the beach, don’t take a camera,
a passport or a large amount of money, and hug your purse in crowded situations.
Dress is casual
in Rio. If you wear a jacket and tie people will think you are going to a
funeral. 
Jardim
Botanico (Boctanical
Garden): Created by Emperor Joao VI in the early 19th century, it
displays some 6,000 species of flower, plant and tree native to Brazil. Rua
Jardim Botanico, 920; open daily. 
Rio is a city
with a passion for music—jazz, bossa nova, American top 40. Samba schools rehearse for Carnival
throughout the year. Most hotels can arrange visits to some of these schools.