Brazilian Sensations
by Francesco Zezza
Rio
de Janeiro is no doubt one of the greatest, most intriguing, cities
not only of South America but – to me, at least - of the whole world. That’s
why when the factory I work for asked me to go there for two months (roughly
from beginning of June till the beginning of August) I was a bit puzzled. Visiting Rio on
one side was definitely an advantage but on the other side I would
have to leave all my beloved tanks / fishes / cacti / carnivorous plant / orchids / turtle. Stefania and Leonardo were
scheduled to visit me there for a three weeks stay shortly after my
departure. To make a long story short I finally decided to go and here comes
my report on what I “discovered” there!
After
a brief introduction on Rio de Janeiro I will go on with my own experience
from the city and the neighbouring area with some photos I took during my
stay.
General Information – RIO.
Discovered
in January 1501, Rio de Janeiro (River of January) gets its name from the
month and from what has been mistakenly thought - when the discoverers
entered the Bay of Guanabara - to be the mouth of a river. The city itself
was founded on March, 1st 1565, by Estacio de Sa with the name of Sao
Sebastiao do Rio de Janeiro. Once the capital of the south of the country,
later the capital of the Viceroyalty, capital of the Kingdom of Portugal,
Brazil and Algarves, then capital of the Empire and, finally, the capital of
the Republic. After Brasilia was founded and made the capital of Brazil, Rio
de Janeiro is still is the
cultural, financial and tourist capital, as well as the principal gateway
for international visitors. Haven’t I said I was there for business? so
let’s begin with this:
I worked there (24th
floor) ... and here comes the “door-plate”; is it big enough?
Enough with work now!
The view I had from one of the windows of my office will become the starting
point of our tour.. Much better isn’t it?
Pao de Azucar.
Let’s
go on ... Rio has a lot of beaches (praias) such as Copacabana, Botafogo,
Praia Vermehla and above all Ipanema, celebrated worldwide in a song by
Vinicius de Moraes: the world-know
“Garota de Ipanema” (aka: the girl from Ipanema). The Ipanema beach is
extremely close to my hotel and, of course, I couldn’t refrain from going
there and take some pics (at sunrise) ...
The
taller peaks shown in the picture are known as the “Two Brothers” A picture of
a rolling ocean wave creates a nice feeling just
before Rio wakes up and begins to rush and yell ...
Corcovado – Christ the Redeemer.
Jardim botanico.
The “Mesa Atlantica” of Tijuca.
The Quati/Coati.
Just to make a
little joke now..
(I always hate to be too serious):
Indiana Jones? Who cares about
him ... Of course it’s me (pictured by Stefania, during a rest stop).
Final remark: Leonardo in the forest.
And finally Rio de Janeiro, day by day ...
Could I forget about bikes?
Some further plans ...
My short report
on those two months I spent in Rio de Janeiro ends here. I avoided mentioning what
was happening during working days on purpose. Timetables were EXTREMELY
tight but on the other hand we had a pleasant staying. May be I’ll have to
return ... lot of other places wait for a visit!
This last picture of one more beautiful sunrise in the Ipanema Beach is my
farewell to this majestic country ... at least for the moment.
