Author: thelasthurrahsite

There was a sombre mood in Rio this morning after the plane crash that killed so many footballers yesterday evening.  It was also quite a grey day for a change.

but that didn’t bother me much as it was a packing up and airport day today. Then I looked up again , blinked and saw this.

It was surreal. I’ve no idea where it came from or where it was headed but it seemed to suddenly appear and then move majestically onwards.

So, that’s the end of my American adventure. So full of interest; so full of contrasts; so many memories. And when I look back through my blog diary I surprise even myself with what a huge amount I have seen and done over the past 7 weeks. It’s been amazing. Now , though, it’s time to move on but not without saying a big Thank You to my young friend Darren from Lima who helped me so much in that city and also gave me good advice about my time in Buenos Aires.

 Cheers, Darren and to you all!

Until the next stop.

Phileas

If only but sadly, apart from the first word, not talking about me! For those too young to remember, this is the first line of the song ‘Girl from Ipanema’ – another famous beach in Rio, next to Copacabana. After the exertions of yesterday and because it’s sunny and hot, I decided to have a relaxing day around these 2 beaches, safe in the knowledge that back in the UK it’s minus something!

After the Brazilian hobbies of exercising and photography must come surfing. The waves were amazing today so the surfers were out in force with some doing better

than others as usual Both beaches were relatively quiet

after the mayhem of yesterday.

(N.B. Not everybody here is a ‘Beautiful Brazilian’ as you will see. So there is hope for us all!).

I discovered today that it’s very easy to do nothing here. Just hire a chair and an umbrella (all day for app £1.50) and sit and watch the world go by. Drinks  and nibbles are on hand

as are the mobile shops!

But if you do fancy a stroll along either of these two famous beaches then there is always something of interest to look at.

And in the case of Ipanema, just behind the beach there are some lovely cool residential streets full of cafes, restaurants, the occasional pond

and an odd statue of Christoper Biggins’ brother!

I’m off again tomorrow so it will be ‘adeus Brasil’. I give Rio 9 out of 10 and if Spanish or English were spoken here it would be 10/10 but then it wouldn’t be the same. Anyway, a great city which I would recommend to anyone who likes to venture afar.

Phileas

A party atmosphere goes with every beach resort in the world. So it’s no surprise that Saturday night was full of music, dancing and good humoured fun. Latin American music is everywhere and people just sway along to it whatever they are doing. Waiters, taxi drivers, street cleaners, stall holders and even the police all moving to the sounds.  It’s mesmeric. I came across this impromptu gathering on my way back to the hotel last night. 3 musicians belting out samba rhythms joined by locals of all ages swaying, waving, tapping and clapping in perfect time to the music.. And, as in Lima, I saw no loutish behaviour,no drunkenness – in fact very little alcohol at all. Just a group of people out enjoying themselves on a Saturday night.

I don’t know if the inhabitants of Rio go to bed early or maybe they don’t sleep at all at the weekend but, by 8 o’clock this morning the beach was already getting busy.

However, tempting though it looked, I headed off for some inland sightseeing on the basis that this might be less busy then the beaches.

The Parque Lage used to be an old sugar plantation which was turned into a 52 acre tropical park by a Brazilian industrialist with the help of an English architect. It is now owned by Brazil’s equivalent of the National Trust and open to the public free of charge.

For any of you who are Snoop Dog fans, the main house featured in his video of ‘Beautiful’.

The gardens themselves are pretty spectacular with winding walkways through tropical landscape

which even includes a man made grotto complete with stalactites and mites!

There is wildlife in abundance

including some very naughty monkeys who were hell bent on stealing food from the nearby picnickers.

Yesterday, I thought that exercising was Brazil’s national hobby. But today I think it maybe photography. And some of the guys walk around with some serious kit.

I saw a number of pregnant women being photographed. Absolutely nothing wrong with that but  baring one’s pregnant tummy in a public place did seem to be a bit odd.

This lady in the pink little number had just finished her posing session.

Baby photography was also high on the list of top subjects both in the Parque Lage and the Botanical Gardens I visited next.

These gardens, opened in the early 19th century, cover more than 130 acres of prime land in the centre of Rio.

There are, apparently, more than 6,000 different species of plants, trees and shrubs which would probably excite any botanist but I must confess to being slightly underwhelmed, the more so as there was an entry fee! At least there were fine views of Corcovado (Christ The Redeemer) whose head was definitely not in the clouds today.On my hike back to base, there was a fine walkway that followed the Rodrigo de Freitas lagoon almost to the sea. This is where the Olympics held the canoeing, kayaking and some rowing, I believe.

Being a Sunday, there were many people out and about enjoying themselves, using a great variety of non motorised transport to get to wherever they were going..

When I finally got back to the hotel, there was some sort of carnival procession going on across the street. 5 or 6 different sets of musicians, dancers and hangers on slowly swaying up the street to the inevitable Latin American music sounds. Then all getting together for a grand finale which is still going on as I type. So much for a quiet Sunday evening. Don’t these people ever stop partying?

I plan a calmer day tomorrow.

Phileas

 

 

 

Brazilians must be very fit. So many people exercise and so many areas and facilities for doing so. As in  Buenos Aires, there are cycle/jogging/skateboarding lanes.

And the local government has installed exercise areas at regular intervals.

Santander have also got in on the act and have sponsored these which are dotted all along the many beaches and in the parks.

But the beach itself is the obvious place for team sports

where these guys were playing a sort of cross between football and volleyball.

I have tried to do my bit also and have so far walked  over 11 miles today (well, according to my iPhone app) which is a record for this trip – and probably an all time record for me if I think about it!  So I’m now kn**kered but happy to do it as there’s so much more to see when walking plus I’m not a very good organised bus tour person.  I much prefer the flexibility of going ‘off piste’ whenever the mood takes.

Being built on a series of hills, there are lots of good viewing points all around this city. I found one such today in the Parque das Ruinas which, as the name implies, is an area that includes the ruins of a colonial style house of one of Buenos Aires’ rich and famous which has now been turned into a museum. The views were predictably good but what was more fascinating is that I had happened upon some local street party  entertainment with barely a tourist in sight! The colourful young musicians and entertainers played and swayed.

They laughed

and they danced

and were still going strong when I left. They and the few people watching were having so much fun. It was fantastic.

Just a few minutes away past some interesting murals (which would never get planning permission in Weedon!)

I found the tourists and the Solaron Steps.

Jorge Solaron was a Chilean artist who lived in this street in the 1980s and 1990s. As a hobby he decorated the area immediately outside his house with bits of ceramic and glass he found on old building sites and the like. This hobby soon became an obsession as he decorated more and more steps and the areas immediately surrounding them, funding this work by selling his paintings.

He even invited ‘outsiders’ to add their bit

like this couple whose wedding is commemorated here.

And at the bottom there was yet more music and dancing.

although this time it was clearly for the benefit of the tourists. Yet another colourful Rio memory.

The contrasts in this city are amazing. A few hundred metres away from this vibrant scene  and right in the middle of some high rise blocks is the Carioca Viaduct which was built way back in the mid 18 century to carry water from the river to the city.

Truly an excellent and aesthetically pleasing piece of engineering.

One of the most iconic images of Rio is, of course, the huge statue of Christ The Redeemer perched at the top of a Sugar Loaf type pinnacle quite close to the centre of Rio. The problem is, though, that ever since I have been here it’s been covered in cloud

but if it’s blue sky tomorrow, I might take a closer look.

So, here’s hoping for blue skies, nothing but blue skies!

Phileas

My yesterday’s wish came true as today was mostly hot and sunny. But before I embarked on my ‘people watching’ project, there was one bit of sightseeing I thought I’d better do today before the weekend rush – Rio’s No 1 tourist attraction: Sugar Loaf mountain.

I’m happy to say that I was able to get my ‘seniors’ discount (!) before I clambered into the cable car and off we went. The car did sway quite a bit but as the journey only took 3 minutes we soon reached our destination – or so I thought. The land and seascape around Rio is spectacular

so the views are amazing (those are Jackfruits on the tree, by the way)

and then I saw……

Sugar Loaf Mountain at the top of the second cable car ride! Precisely at that moment, I got the wobbles. At first, I seriously thought it was a slight earthquake tremor but then I realised it was only me who was trembling. I’ve never suffered from vertigo before but I guess that’s what it was. So, I chickened out of the second ride on the basis that it would just be the same view but from slightly higher up!

On this basis, I decided against the helicopter ride also.

As many of you know, I quite dislike having my picture taken. So, I’ve never really understood ‘selfies’. I guess I get why people might want to take a picture of themselves with friends. But to want to take a picture of yourself to prove that you are somewhere when you know you are there seems very strange to me. I may well be in the minority, though!

On reaching terra firma again, I noticed that the entrance to the cable car ride is located in the middle of some military academy

where  there was now a parade going on. I think it was the Brazilian version of Remembrance Sunday.

There was hardly much solemnity or pomp and circumstance about it as everyone was dressed in battle fatigues. The officers were, though, carrying swords! So, that made it alright then.

 

Back at base, the waves were even better than yesterday

which didn’t deter this young man diving into the briny from way up high and just for my benefit too!

Let’s see what tomorrow brings.

Phileas

Although there are direct flights from Buenos Aires to Rio de Janeiro, for some reason my ticket didn’t allow me to fly straight there.  So I had a night’s stopover in Sao Paulo (which wasn’t on my bucket list!). As I had to catch quite an early flight this morning it made sense to choose a hotel near the airport thus avoiding a lot of the rush hour traffic. This worked so was good news. The not so good news was that, when I researched the hotel, no mention was made that a) Sao Paulo airport doesn’t close at night and b) the hotel’s windows aren’t double/ triple glazed. OK, there wasn’t a constant noise of aero engines throughout the night but 4 or 5 times I was woken by the deafening roar of a plane passing what seemed to be about 6 inches from my left ear. The first time this happened I truly thought that the aircraft was about to smash into the hotel. It was very loud and a touch frightening.

Although my Spanish is by no means great, whilst I have been in Spanish speaking countries in this continent, I have understood quite a lot and been able to speak a little. In short, I have had no problems getting by. Brazil is going to be very different. Portuguese is a very strange language. There are a few words that are similar to Spanish but many, many more that don’t sound like anything I’ve ever heard before (e.g. ‘obrigado’ = thank you. Where did that come from? To my ear  the language sounds almost Slavic (e.g. Russian, Polish, Czech etc). I guess pointing at things is the way forward.

The famous Copacabana beach in the south of Rio is a spectacular 4km+ curved stretch of  soft sand.

It’s wonderfully clean as well. There’s hardly a piece of rubbish on it although I suspect that might be a different story when it’s sunny and especially at weekends and holidays.

Today, though, it was quiet so plenty of space for non humans to have fun.

The Olympics beach volley ball competition was played here earlier this year which brought in the crowds but the biggest ever recorded gathering  on this beach was back in 1994 when Rod Stewart played to an audience estimated to be 3,500.000!!  That’s so difficult to imagine on a day like today when so few people, especially the famous Brazilian beauties are here.

As a result, the drinks sellers weren’t doing a roaring trade either.

Surfing freaks, though, don’t care if the weather isn’t brilliant as long as the waves are good.

There were a few who were making an average mess of things but there was one guy who really looked as though he was straight out of Hawaii Five O!

There’s a lot I want to see here so it’s time to make a plan. It would be good, though, if it was sunny one day so I can just sit in this most famous part of Brazil and soak up the sun, the atmosphere and watch the world go by.

Ate amanha

Phileas

 

No trip to Buenos Aires would be complete without a bit of Evita. So before departing to the airport, I had time to visit one of Trip Advisor’s top attractions – a cemetery!! It sounds weird, I know but this is not any old cemetery. It’s the one where Eva Peron is buried. I’m not quite sure what the difference between a cemetery and a graveyard is but back home, an image of gravestones  scattered around the grass outside a church springs to mind. Not here though. The Recoleta cemetery is full (and I mean crammed) with over 6,000 mausoleums housing the remnants of entire families of the great and the good of Argentina.

Clearly, mausoleums are significant status symbols.and often built for or by ego maniacs!

Some of these buildings are hundreds of year old but others are quite new.

This one, for example, was designed and built recently by one of Argentina’s leading architects . Hopefully, in time it will merge better with the surroundings!

Being in a city centre where space is limited, I’m not quite sure how such new structures are accommodated. On top of some old ones, perhaps?  Most of these are solid affairs but a few have, in what I think is quite a macabre way, glass doors so the coffins of the recently deceased are on show to any passer by (e.g. me).

I can only assume that when the next generation start popping their clogs, the existing coffins are moved to the crypts which lie beneath all these buildings.

Eva Peron was Eva Duarte before her marriage. So she is buried with other members of her family in one of the less ostentatious edifices.

She was only 32 when she died  and represented  here merely by a small plaque on the right hand side of the family tomb although is clearly fondly remembered by some as this mausoleum was the only one I saw with flowers.

And at  the base there are references not only to her more commonly used name

but also to Admiral Brown the Irish born founder of the Argentine navy!

As cities go, Buenos Aires must be up there with the best. Despite all the traffic and pollution problems, it’s got style, elegance, beautiful buildings and lovely open spaces. But I felt that, for me, it was missing something. Maybe it’s not the best place for the solo traveller. Or maybe my enjoyment was curtailed due to my current diet of Immodium!  Who knows but I’m glad I made the visit. So another tick in the box

Time to move on and practice my Portuguese skills. Mmmmmm!

Phileas

As soon as you move away from the relative calm of the side streets here, the chaos of big city life hits you like a sledgehammer. It’s the pedestrian’s worst nightmare. Where the pavements aren’t being dug up (with all the attendant dust and grime),

every 40 or 50 metres they are cluttered with newspaper and magazine sellers

and florists

So, enough of that. I wanted some space as did these chaps

who soon met up with their doggy mates for some chat and some fun.The green spaces in this Palermo district are beautiful. A cross between Hyde Park and Kew Gardens only bigger. A tranquil oasis slap bang in the middle of this urban sprawl. There are acres of wide open space; there’s a formal rose garden,

and a botanical garden full of the most gorgeous trees, shrubs and plants

plus, of course, numerous statues.

This pretty little thing is called Canto de la Cosechadora which I thought meant some kind of singing person. However, Google Translate tells me it means ‘Ridge of the Combine’. So now you know!

A few wide ‘boulevards’ criss cross the green bits, some of which have been turned into cycling skating and jogging routes.

It’s difficult to imagine that a mere 100 meters or so away there’s a fuming log jam of buses, cars, motorcycles, vans, lorries plus, of course, pedestrians dodging those uneven pavements,  road works, florists and newspaper stalls!

In the middle of this tranquility there is, not surprisingly, another statue . Even though I have slightly overdosed on such creations recently, I have to say this is a magnificent marble and bronze specimen made to celebrate the centenary of Argentina’s independence from Spain.

The locals call these parks the ‘Breath of Buenos Aires’ as the many trees go some way to offsetting  the carbon emissions from the nearby traffic.  I thought it was ‘Hug a Tree Week’ though when I saw this lot

but it tuned out to be advertising for some show at the nearby exhibition centre. Good thing, really as hugging this one would have been a bit of a challenge.

After 8 miles of trundling, my poorly foot was beginning to slow progress so I thought about taking one of Buenos Aires’ Boris Bikes

but just like their London counterparts, the instructions were far too complicated for mortals such as I. However, I was tempted by a horse drawn transport option but hadn’t the heart to wake the driver.

Moving on again tomorrow

 

Phileas

Traffic in any big city is fairly horrendous but in Buenos Aires it seems to exceed expectations largely, I believe, because most of the streets are one way only. The Formula I type start from traffic lights is especially exhilarating. However, it seems to work and there is certainly less horn blaring than in Lima! So, today I took my life in my hands (actually, the Uber driver’s hands) and we careered towards the centre of the city.

Apparently, there are more statues in Buenos Aires than anywhere else in South America or in the world or something. Anyway, there are a lot,  especially in the city centre

all honouring some famous event/battle/war

or some famous person

which in this case is Eva Peron’s hubby.

Not all the statues are so inspiring. In particular I felt that this boring looking obelisk in the distance  was hardly in keeping with its surroundings and certainly not with a photo close up.

Apart from the statues there is some pretty impressive architecture around this area.

Across the square, the Teatro Colon opera house is rated no 3 in the world by National Geographic!

And this building is, surprisingly, the Buenos Aires cathedral

where Pope Francis worshipped before he got a transfer to the Vatican.

Close by and just the other side of the business district is the River Plate,

parts of which reminded me so much of some of the docklands’ developments in London complete with passenger only bridge

which in my humble opinion is considerably more aesthetically pleasing than the one back home.

So, time for a coffee and watching the world go by for a while before heading back to my abode, hoping that the locals have short memories when I found myself here!

Don’t mention the war!

Phileas

In our world, Argentina is tucked away in the bottom left hand corner of the map. So we tend to think of the country as being quite small. Not so. I am told that the land mass of the province of Buenos Aires alone is bigger than the whole of Spain and Portugal put together. Surprising! That’s not the only thing that’s big in Argentina. Inflation is currently running at around 40% per annum. Yes, 40%!! The knock on effect of this is, of course, that public services suffer as the councils clearly have ‘limited resources’ which probably means no money at all). As a result, there’s  a lot of rubbish on the streets – even in a supposedly chic area like Palermo.

And even though the roads are in reasonably good condition, the pavements are  death traps, not helped by the roots of all the lovely trees.

If you add this to the less than adequate street lighting you will understand that it’s easy to trip over – as I did last night. No, it wasn’t the amount of alcohol. I just tripped and fell over (NB Kirsty; I fell over. I didn’t ‘have a fall’!) so I’m hobbling today.

Before this happened, I visited the craft beer place that looked so inviting yesterday. But it proved not to be the case. OK if you want to sip 8.5% + Belgium type stuff but not if you’re a glugger like me. So, just down the road I came across ‘The Dubliner’ which looked promising. So in I went. The polished bar itself looked suitably authentic with lots of polished beer taps, polished optics and Guiness signs etc plus even polished hooks under the bar for hanging the Tesco shopping. But that was as far as it went. Not a single Irish beer or even English beer in sight (not even Guiness, despite the signs) and certainly no Irish staff. Being too lazy/tired to move on I asked for the food menu expecting to at least find some bangers and mash, cottage pie or Irish stew. Not a bit of it. 3 uninspiring tapas dishes, some sandwiches and the ubiquitous burger. Tonight, I will go native, for sure.

Like so many other places, Buenos Aires makes a slow start on a Sunday morning. Thus the streets were fairly deserted when I limped off. There were a few people dog walking, one or two taking breakfast home

a couple perhaps saying goodbyebut not much else.

There were just a few more people in the Mercado de las Pulgas (literally: Flea Market), a covered area with more than 100 stalls selling loads of tatty bric a brac,

lighting

and vast quantities of furniture.

I guess that if you were wanting to furnish your home with all this retro stuff then this would be the place to visit. There are tons of it.

and surely these would be the last things you’d want (pun intended!).

as would this …..David!

 

Whereas the Palermo area is supposed to be trendy Buenos Aires, the Recoleta district is definitely upscale BA! The area which has a very distinctive French feel was designed way back in the late 19th century with wide streets and huge open spaces specifically to reduce the spread of the various fevers that were decimating other parts of the city at that time. The sizeable parks are put to good use on Sundays with one of the better open air markets I have seen

because every stall holder has to prove their products are locally made. So, no imported tat here.

One stallholder, though, was more interested in his music than selling things

but he had some stiff competition as close by there was a man belting out such opera classics as ‘Just One Cornetto’ etc with a voice that would have made Pavarotti proud.

Meanwhile, Bob Dylan would have been pleasantly surprised by this guy.

Across the road, there was a free concert where a fair few of the audience were moving their aged limbs to the rhythms of popular South American sounds.

Music, music, everywhere.

No sightseeing here would be complete without doing some tango watching and I wasn’t disappointed

which was not a bad way to end what has been one of the more visually varied and interesting days of my trip so far.

Phileas