TRAVELING THE WORLD 365 days/year. You can visit us on Instagram at whereintheworldaremikeandjan. Do not hit “Reply” to message us – Use Contact Tab, above.
Rio! What a city! Jan and Mike had never been to Brazil together, although Mike had been there about 25 years ago for Carnival. It hadn’t seemed to have changed much in that time, though the weather was different, as that time Mike remembers it being HOT all of the time. There are many interesting and beautiful things to see, and we visited the indoor attractions, mostly, because it rained with thunderstorms most of the time while here, which kept the temperature down during this visit. On our last day, we wanted to ascend to the top of Corcovado Mountain and visit the very-famous Christ the Redeemer statue, but it was raining, and the mountain was covered in clouds and fog. So that is something for next time, when better weather is prevailing. However, we could see the statue most days from wherever we were in Rio – Christ the Redeemer does look very protective of the “Cariocas” – as those born in the city are called.
When we walked into the Royal Portuguese Reading Room, on the list of the five most beautiful libraries in the world, we GASPED! And so, we have started our photos below with those from the library. A security guard looked at us, concerned, when she heard the gasp. It is utterly gorgeous, utterly engaging. We hung back, looking a ninth, tenth, eleventh time – to fully capture the details in our minds’ eyes . It was hard to finally leave.
We had a similar experience at the St. Francis Museum, which was a former church totally bedecked in gold. It is amazing to behold. And at the other end of the ecclesiastical spectrum is the Metropolitan Cathedral, St. Sebastien. It was built between 1964 and 1979. Its four banks of stained glass windows are meant to symbolize four attributes of the Catholic Church: One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic.
The other main attraction where we spent a day was the Botanical Gardens. We approached the ticket office to purchase tickets, and found to our dismay that they only accepted cash in the form of Brazilian Reals. (Even the tiny Museum of St. Francis accepted credit cards, where the price was just a few dollars). Additionally, there wasn’t an ATM nearby to get any cash – that was a 15-minute walk! (Since every venue accepted credit cards, and the thunderstorms deterred us from walking around very much, we didn’t feel the need to get local currency. Unlike getting euros for multiple countries in Europe, every discrete country in South America has its own currency. For a few days, it just isn’t worth it, as there is always a minimum you must get from ATMs – plus, there is a fee, plus we get credit card rewards. And in some countries like Argentina [see the previous post], American currency is much preferred.) So, the men in the gift shop showed us a map for how to find an ATM. We remarked that even tiny museums like St. Francis took credit cards – they said, “Yes, but this is the government!” It made no sense, as each ticket costs about $15. We started walking, and one of the men caught up with us after a few minutes, telling us the manager heard our conversation and would give us free admission! Wow! Many thanks to Bernardo, who kindly gave us access to such beautiful, magical gardens. It was so peaceful and quiet, and all in the middle of a bustling city of almost 7 million people!
Our first glimpse of the Royal Portuguese Reading Room. Stunning!
The room is capped by a large white/blue/red dome. The striking architectural features are the wooden columns with a gold motif and the different arches.
This church-inspired cabinet holds the bound diary of a President of the library in the late 19th century.Notice how the gold-motif wooden columns have a twisted orientation.
A detail of one corner of the dome structure.
The beautiful stained glass domethat brightens the room.
The library’s exterior. It is actually very pretty, but being on a very small street next to ordinary buildings, you can never guess at the opulence inside.
The Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro (St. Sebastien). It is just amazing to step inside and be flooded with light from the four banks of windows.
All four windows and the lighted cross on the ceiling.
The exterior was meant to evoke Central American pyramids.
St. Francis is wasp-waisted!
We stumbled across this gazebo in the Botanical Gardens, marveling how much it looks like a structure out of Hobbiton, complete with a stone pathway.
There is “the loner” turtle on the left, with the rest of the community on the right.
So many tall, beautiful trees here!
A sculpture of naked cavorters finding joy in nature.
These giant rimmed lily pads are amazing.
Here is one of the views of Christ the Redeemer.
There were several paths with these giant palm trees, of the genus Barbosa Rodrigues.
We saw several monkeys climbing trees and running around the lawn together!
These glorious orange flowers, on a tree not yet fully bloomed, looked like they were glued on. Can you imagine when it is all in bloom? We also noticed, at the very top, a coconut.
This structure looks so ancient. We walked through it, and there was just a dirt path connecting the pillars.
The Gardens had several pretty waterfalls.
This is a retail store selling household items. Having seen churches that look like this from the outside, we knew these were chunks of colored stones that would look like stained glass windows from the inside. We entered eagerly…
…only to find that the window walls were mostly covered over with paintings, shoes, and silk plants for sale. We did some research, but could not find what its original use was.
The store also had these beautiful decorative columns throughout, reinforcing the idea that its original use was not an all-purpose store. It seems to be desecratory to place baskets and stepladders up against these works of art.
Another, smaller, Portuguese library – its pretty exterior is almost lost on a streetwith buildings that dwarf it.
Beautiful street art.
…and one more.
This reminded us of the old American TV show, Hot L Baltimore.
This is the first exhibit upon entering the St. Francis Museum, mannequin priests modeling liturgical vestments. Then we turned the corner and saw…
…THIS!
The “gold-ness” was overwhelming.
Every inch was covered in either gold or paintings.
In the adjacent room, they had placed metal silhouettes over the windows to make it look like a king was walking by.
The Carioca Aqueduct, also called the Arcos da Lapa. It was built in the middle of the 18th century to bring water to the city from the Carioca River. Today, several lanes of traffic also drive through it.
This was our first view of the sunny beaches of Rio.
As you likely saw in previous photos, the sidewalks of Rio are in these gray and white mosaic designs. Along Copacabana Beach, the sidewalk is meant to mimic some wave action.
There weren’t as many people as usual on Copacabana, due to many days of rain.
This would normally would have people from ocean to sidewalk!
“The” famous swooping view of Copacabana Beach from our 29th-floor room at the Hilton. You can see exactly how gray and cloudy it was here.
…and the same view at night.
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