A cidade maravilhosa.

(January 15-16, 2009)

Our journey to Rio de Janeiro began with a pleasant surprise when we hopped on the bus in São Paulo to realize that we would enjoy a much comfier ride than the ones we are used to back home. The seats were nothing short of a comfortable, reclinable lazyboy with footrests. We were also given a thick blanket, a pillow, and a little bag of snacks upon entering the bus! Canadian coach companies should inspire themselves from these spacious and cozy South American buses... especially in a huge country like ours, we shouldn't have to dread fifteen-hour bus rides. And aside from the comfort, the view along our journey was absolutely splendid. About midway to our destination, the view of suburban villages gave way to an infinitely green mountain scenery that left us both astonished.

Once at the Rio bus station, we met Bia, our first nomadic acquaintance. She obviously noticed our lack of Portuguese communication skills and graciously helped us in line for a taxi. She introduced herself and through a mix of English and Spanish, we found out that she loves Canada and that she lives in Argentina. After our short but interesting conversation, she left us with a smile and her email address, inviting us to go visit her when we shall make our way through Patagonia.

The taxi dropped us off at Copa Hostel, where we unpacked our things and then took a walk in the neighbourhood to find a place for dinner. We took advantage of our first night in Rio to relax and catch up on some sleep.

The next day, we took a day-trip city tour of Rio, visiting five of the city's remarkable landmarks. We first made our way up 700 meters in altitude through the Tijuca forest, which was a very steep and curvy ride in the van to get to the top. Once there, we saw Cristo Redentor (statue of Christ the Redeemer), one of the seven wonders of the world. It can be seen from pretty much anywhere looking up from the city below, but at the top of the mountain, however, its imposing stature of 38 meters offers a completely different impression. In the grandeur of its open arms, the statue seems to be protecting and embracing the city below.

Also just as impressive was our first breathtaking aerial view of the Rio landscape from the peak of Corcovado rock. The mountains, the trees, the islands, the beaches, and even the city buildings... everything blending together perfectly in a poetic blue ocean setting.

Afterward, we took a detour drive in the mountains through a favela, where we discovered that all things are not marvelous in Rio. Our guide explained that out of its 7 million inhabitants, 2 million live in favelas - impoverished and run-down neighbourhoods mostly found on the mountain hillsides. The largest favela is home to over 400 000 people. We didn't get a chance to discover more in depth the favela lifestyle, but from our first impression we gathered that it was quite ironic for the poor shantytown sectors to be the ones to enjoy the most gorgeous views of the city. We also found the general mindset concerning favelas intriguing in that people don't seem to be particularly ashamed of that aspect of their city. We thought it culturally interesting to get a glimpse of a favela and to relate it to our thoughts on the movie Cidade de Deus (''City of God''), which we had seen together and had both really appreciated.

Continuing our tour, we drove by Estádio de Maracanã (soccer stadium), a symbol of pride for the city. The stadium can impressively hold up to 95 000 people and is set to be the home of the World Cup in 2014.

Our next stop was the Sambódromo, the most famous samba avenue in the world. It was specifically designed for the biggest and wildest event of the year - the Carnaval. We might have visited Rio a few weeks too early to experience the actual festivities, but we were more than satisfied to have simply been given a behind-the-scenes tour of the event preparations. (Besides, the actual Carnaval would definitely be much too outrageous for our low-key taste).

The next landmark was Catedral do São Sebastião, very unique in its architectural design. From the outside, its concrete conical structure seemed to be somewhat awkward for a church, but from the inside, the four 65-meter high stained glass windows gave the church an amazing elegance with all of their colourful nuances.

Our last visit on our tour was to Pão de Açúcar (Sugar Loaf mountain). It was in itself quite unique because of its cone-like shape, the major part of it being mostly rock, and the top being a dense haven of subtropical vegetation.

Taking two cable-cars to a final altitude of 400 meters, from where a beautiful panoramic view was gradually unveiled to us as a curtain opening onto the scenery below. Once at the top, the feeling was overwhelming. The view, magical. The atmosphere, subtletly romantic.

We separated ourselves from the group a while to go explore a bit of the area on our own... we followed intriguing sounds that led us to a little park, and to our surprise, the strange noises were coming from two small animals in a tree. From what we gathered, they were tiny monkeys but of a curious kind we had never seen before. We were grateful for the fortunate coincidence of having been at the right place at the right time to observe these funny little creatures.

We finished the day off by going out for dinner in company of Frank, a guy from Germany whom we had met on the tour. Good food and good cultural conversations were had at Monchique restaurant.

Afterthought: We're not usually fans of big cities, but Rio de Janeiro sure has its charms and we soon realized why it's known as A Cidade Maravilhosa (The Marvelous City).