Day 3 – The Many Neighborhoods of Rio
The day started lazily, with me probably going out later
than anticipated on night one (adrenaline is a hell of a drug), and then
intentionally planning for a lighter first day. The morning started around
10:45, with a stroll down Copacabana. There’s a lot of signage about Carnaval,
which is of course coming up in about two weeks. You may ask why go to Rio so
close to Carnaval but not for it – and I guess all I’ll say is it’s better
saving Carnaval for a subsequent Rio trip. Anyway, the beaches of Rio all seem
to have their own life – Copacabana, at least near where my AirBNB is, is
mostly about sports as there’s dozens of beach volleyball courts set-up – and
nearly all were occupied (11am on a Friday). I can’t imagine what this area was
like during the 2016 Olympics.
Anyway, after that it was time to leave the cozy confines of
Copacabana and head north towards one of the many various interesting
neighborhoods of Rio, this one being Santa Teresa, which is built on a hill.
Rio’s geography is super unique – well, actually not sure unique is the right
term as in many ways it is a bit like Busan – a city built around a bunch of
hills and mountains that almost create 4-5 different cities that are loosely
connected. Most of the Rio neighborhoods I’ll visit are at sea level, but Santa
Teresa is an exception. Most of the other hills with stuff are favelas – Santa
Teresa is not, and deep in the heart of it (and I mean after 10-12 winding
turns) is Aprazivel – my lunch spot.
The main calling card of Aprazivel is the view – it is built
on the side of the hill, with the road level being just an elevator that takes
you to the restaurant below. I came early so was given a prime table with a
view of a part of Rio just splayed out in front of me. It really is a stunning
city. Anyway, Aprazivel may be known for the view, but the food is also quite
good as well. They serve hardcore deep Brazilian cuisine, many things with an
Amazonic twist. For instance, my starter was a squid soup with herbs and
tucupi, which is a slightly fermented juice from the manioc (cassava), which
was so perfectly tart. It truly was a great soup – almost a Brazilian version
of a Tom Yum, if you will. The main was more staid but still excellent – a duck
breast with black rice (a specialty in Brazil) and various greens. Just really
solid food, and combined with a gorgeous view and Aprazivel was a hit.
From there I headed down the mountain to Centro – which is
as close as Rio has to some sort of main financial area. Sao Paulo is certainly
the business hub of Brazil, but this area had a few skyscrapers and whatnot. It
also has two museums that are a draw, right up against the water in a large
open square. The first is the Museu de Amanha (Museum of Tomorrow) which is as
much an architectural marvel as a museum. It is a stunning white building that
extends deep over the water (granted, on a pier) and is about realistically the
world and climate change. I guess it’s a science museum, but halfway through it
turns into a really nice display of climate change, overcrowding, deforestation
(a big issue in Brazil especially given what they’ve done to the Amazon). It is
chilling at times, beautiful in others (it almost doubles as a modern art
museum) and is just a weirdly cool experience.
Next is the Rio Museum of Art – which granted is one of
about four or five art museums in Rio, and despite its name isn’t really the
best place to see classical art (Brazilian or otherwise). To be honest, not
sure if there is such a place within Rio. This museum had about 4-5 exhibits, one
large one featuring Brazil’s love and infatuation with first funk and then hip
hop – with a ton of art and music posters and the like, mostly all from Brazil
(with some NYC thrown in). Other exhibits were more classical art – featuring various
Brazilian artists, all from the 20th if not 21st century.
Is this an art museum that can stack up to the great art museums of the world?
No, but in a way it was refreshing and new.
After this I was in centro which is near some of the more famous sights, but also a fairly empty financial district now that it was nearing 5pm. There were still enough people around to make me feel okay walking. Uber is easily used in Rio and in a pinch could take me from point a to point b well enough, but using my legs I was able to check off three spots that were all in close proximity. First the Portugeuse Library, which is basically a giant (four story) open hall of a library, with reams upon reams of old books on the sides. Now, this is all for show – they are real books but are now part of this large art piece.
From there is a simialrly large hall, the Catedral Metropolitano, which is a giant open tepee like structure with vibrant stained glass, muted statues all kinds of light. It is haunting in a good way - unlike any cathedral other than a somewhat similar setup in one of Berlin's main churches (a nice 11-year old pull for me... man I'm old...). What's interesting about Brazil is it is the largest majority catholic country in the world and they don't have a neogothic like mega cathedral. Again, I'm happy they're going about it their own way.
The final stop was at the Escaladaria Selaron, the famous painted tile steps in Lapa (another neighborhood, a bit more bohemian vibe). It was unsurprisingly packed, but more suprisingly pleasant - the crowd was generally quite understanding of everyone's hope of getting a picture as unobstructed as possible. There was almost a natural order to it. As for the steps themselves, they are beautiful but so are the tile walls on the side iwth various drawings, outcrops, etc. The whole scene feels more European than South American, but the music, color and vibe was fully South American.
At this point I headed back to the AirBNB to rest up, charge the phones a bit, and then head out to another neighborhood for dinner at Oro, a 2-michelin star restaurant serving very fancy versions of upscale Brazilian cuisine. The restaurant was in Leblon, a tucked away upscale semi-residential, semi-nightlife neighborhood in the southern corner of Rio. Dinner was excellent (a full post to come on the tasting menus later), especially enjoying the incredible seafood and use of Brazilian produce, such as their second to last main, which was a delightful "Mushroom Many Ways" dish. Oro was a great time.
As was my cocktail spot for the night, at Liz Cocktail & Co, also in Leblon (about a 10-minute walk - this is a busy, in a safe, good way, night area). Liz Cocktail had a great theme of presenting two cocktails that relate to every decade from the 1890s to 2010s, all linked with an artist of the decade (e.g. the 1960s had two cocktails, one of which called the 'I want to hold your hand" for the Beatles). I tried about five of them (was there for 2.5 hrs), during which chatting with various Cariocas who all got a treat out of my story of being someone with a very Brazilian name, but knows no Portugeuse.
Finally when it was time to leave Liz, I headed over way to the northern end of Rio, to D-Edge, a club in a converted warehouse (it's near the port), that was a truly great time. There's two levels, and a pretty novel card system to pay for drinks where everyone gets a card of theirs (like a hotel key card) and then you settle up before leaving. The drinks were cheap, the bartenders fast. The music was great. The crowd got progressively bigger from 1:30 when I arrived to 3:00 when I left (it closes at 7am). It was a graet, great way to end the day, enjoying myself dancing the night away.
