There are two main prominent geographical features (at least from a "look up" perspective) in Rio. One is the mountain where sitting atop is the Christ the Redeemer statue. I'll see that on Monday, one of my last bits of tourism before leaving this beautiful city. The other is Sugarloaf Mountain (Morro Pao do Acucar), which sits right in the middle of the city - somewhat dividing it, with Copacabana, Ipanema, Leblon all sitting below it, and Centro and others North of it. Today was my day to see Sugarloaf, it was all encompassing, taking a bit longer than I expected - but so, so worth it.
The day started with a bit of a pain, whereby my tour of Maracana stadium was cancelled due to some maintenance issue that popped up as they prep for Carnaval. Now, Carnaval isn't hosted in the stadium, but I guess it plays some role or something. Who knows. So, with a morning now free (granted, I got up at 10:30), I decided to take another stroll along Copacabana beach. I'll say it now - I am not a beach person. Of course, even I can marvel at how beautiful the beach is, and more to the fact it sits right in the heart of a major city. If I was a beach person, I would have really loved it. This is doubly true when it comes to Ipanema beach, which we'll get to.
After getting my fill of Copacabana, and aroudn the time the searing heat was starting to maximize (I've gotten super lucky with zero rain in my time in Rio, but it has been very, very hot), I headed over to lunch at Miam Miam in Botofago (another neighborhood! this one similar to Leblon), which is a well reputed place serving plated up versions of classic Brazilian dishes. To start I got a dish of duck terrine and roasted chicken hearts - which I should say was me taking a risk. I'm not historically a fan of heart, and don't think this converted me, but the hearts were about as tasty as any I've had. My main was more successful, a classic dish - pineapple and pork fried rice - but elevated with fried onion for crunch, a mix of ponzu and clove for spice, and a truly slow cooked pork that just broke up on contact. It was great. It is this type of seemingly blah food that probably made me a bit averse to Brazil, but if you can get it in great versions like this it all works.
From Miam Miam, I started the trek to Sugarloaf. You technically can hike it but need to get tickets and get it approved. It also takes a long time. Instead, 99% of people (me included) go up to the top by cable car. It's far quicker - far more beautiful (I assume) and works in a super organized way. Technically there are two rides that are not connected. The first ride takes you from ground level to Morro Urca, which is a peak about halfway to the top of Sugarloaf. From here already you get truly amazing views of the city of Rio. There's a great view of Centro, with teh Santos Dumont airport where if you time it right in the day yoiu can have planes take off seemingly towards you. At this point, the Southern view of Rio (e.g. Copacabana) is a bit obstructed. The rest of the city is gorgeous. There's a lot to do at Morro Urca - way more than what's setup at the peak of Morro Pao do Acucar. Here at the medium stop you have a series of food stalls, bar stalls (including a craft beer one that was excellent), shops and even a DJ taht was spinning some good vibes, and of course this being Brazil prompting a fairly well attended dance party.
After taking a 30 minute break to take it all in, I took the second cable car to the true top. The view is better - you see really the entire city from here. Copacabana beautifully splayed out to the South, with so many umbrellas and life on that beach when seen from afar. Ipanema is a bit harder to see but you can see parts of it jutting out from in between buildings. The rest of the city to the North as beautiful as ever. The Christ the Redeemer statue above it all. Other than Cape Town, be it from atop Table Mountain or from Signal Hill, I don't know if there's a city with a natural viewpoint quite like this. The crazy curvature and hilly nature of Rio lends itself to such a beautiful scene.
I came late enough in the day by the time I was heading back towards ground level so were most of the people so I had to wait at times 5-10 minute to get a cable car - they only run one in each direction at a time, though the ride itself is super quick (3-5 minutes). In the end, the entire process of going up, chilling around and on it, and then going down, was about two hours, but two hours really well spent.
From there I headed over to Ipanema Beach - again I had planned to spend time strolling the beach, but a combination of it being a perfect beach day for people who like beaches (sunny, blisteringly hot, enough wind to create waves) making it super crowded, and my own stupid lack of planning and not having swim trunks, made this much like my morning Copacabana stroll - one that was more about acknowledging waht a cool setup this is but realizing that beaches, even two of the more famous locations for them in the world, just aren't for me.
Ipanema is good for more than the beach though - just like with Copacabana go a block or two up from the beach and you are in a city. If anything, I prefer Ipanema the neighborhood - more bohemian, more townhouse type buildings and bars and restaurants, rather than the more concrete jungle of Copacabana. The last stop in Ipanema for me was the Delirium Cafe, a brewpub built by the Delirium brewery from Belgium, but they serve all types of beer - a mix of Delirium classics and then mostly Brazilian brews. Brazil seems to have a super strong beer culture, what with this place and RioTap as my two examples so far.
If it seems like I didn't do a lot in the day, that is probably fair, what with the late start, the Maracana tour being scrapped, and the last factor, which is my dinner at Lasai was a 7pm reservation. If taht name is familiar, it is because it was featured in the Somebody Feed Phil episode of Rio, as a tasting menu spot focusing on the best of Brazi. That all is still true. Their location changed - now in a small 12-person chef's counter setup where, and i mean this truly, I've never seen as much of the meal prepared in front of you like this. Usually these places may be only doing the last bits, but this was all of it. The whole production was mesmerizing. The food great as well - I prefered it to Oro despite it being more vegetable / produce focused, mainyl because Lasai was also a bit more inventive and audacious, with generally great success.
After Lasai, I stayed in Botofago, but headed first to Hocus Pocus DNA, a brewpub run by Hocus Pocus, a local craft option. Not sure what the DNA part of the name is about, but it doesn't really matter. The place was great. They served only half pours, which I liked as it let me try more of their offerings. From there, I had about an extra 90 minutes or so to kill before ending my night at D-Edge. I had a few options, but didn't realize that Canastra Rose, the cocktail bar/lounge taht I loved my first night, was about a 10-minute walk (again in a very well off and crowded area of Rio) away, so I headed over there for a repeat.
It was busier (unsurprisingly, given this is a Saturday vs. that being Thursday), but the vibe no less great. I'm amazed how quick the four bartneders are with service given how many people are there. I generally had to wait no more than 5 minutes to get a drink. Their negronis are something truly special. In the end, I grabbed a pair of those, an old fashioned, and got into the dance groove - though this place is far more latin and/or hip hop than D-Edge, which is straight EDM.
D-Edge was about teh same as yesterday, namely excellent. The open warehouse style still has some pretty damn powerful air conditioning to make it all still feel quite airy. The bathrooms also shockingly clean for a place like this - to be fair though I've seen that trend across all the places I've been to so far in Rio, there's a general trend of cleanliness that I wasn't expecting. On this night I spent a bit more time on their roof bar, which I guess in busier times has its own DJ, but here was more just a place to chill. From there you can get a view of the city, though all the mountains and whatnot are dark - except for the top cable car station on Pao do Acucar, which they keep alit all the time. A great way to end a great night by staring at the beauty of what lies above.
