{"id":1313,"date":"2011-06-16T00:27:58","date_gmt":"2011-06-16T07:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/interspacedesign.wordpress.com\/?p=1313"},"modified":"2021-06-25T11:53:11","modified_gmt":"2021-06-25T18:53:11","slug":"from-formals-to-gum-boots-cruising-rome-rio-and-forays-into-the-amazon-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/from-formals-to-gum-boots-cruising-rome-rio-and-forays-into-the-amazon-part-4","title":{"rendered":"From Formals to Gum boots: Cruising Rome-Rio and Forays into the Amazon, Part 4 – Brazil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Port 6 \u2013 Bahia da Salvador<\/strong><\/h1>\n

We were diverted from the Brazilian town of Recife because the cruise ship and local port authorities \u2018failed to reach an agreement\u2019, whatever that was\u2026 Once at Bahia da Salvador<\/a>, we found out that anyone who didn\u2019t want to get mugged getting to the UNESCO heritage site of Cidade\u00a0Alta<\/a> (Upper Town) would have to take the Elevador Lacerda to reach it. For the next 2 hours, we tried every international bank ATM machine\u00a0on the main street, including 3 trips to Citibank (its ATMs apparently take siestas\u2026), in our quest for the $0.15 USD elevator fare.<\/p>\n

\"View<\/a>
Picture of the elevator tower and sky bridge from Cidade Alta overlooking the port.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Once out of the elevator, we were transported to a world of well restored Easter egg-colored Colonial buildings that house shops, galleries, cafes, and restaurants.<\/p>\n

\"Salvador<\/a>
Square in Cidade\u00a0Alta, renowned for its Portuguese Colonial architecture dating from 17th to 19th centuries.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We sampled gelados (ice creams) through several ice cream shops and barely made a dent in the amazing selection of exotic flavors. Not knowing any Portuguese didn’t slow us down because of the sizzling Brazilian summer heat and sweltering humidity.<\/p>\n

\"Acaraje,<\/a>
Scrumptious but artery clogging snack from a street vendor by the park.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Acaraj\u00e9<\/a>, a crunchy Afro-Brazilian street food, is a bean fritter fried in dende\u00a0(palm oil), filled with a paste of dried shrimps, nuts, dende, coconut milk, and augmented by heaps of okra & hot sauce. Yum!<\/p>\n

Port 7 \u2013 Rio de Janeiro <\/strong><\/p>\n

Our cruise finally came to an end at Rio. After disembarking, we stayed for another two days before taking our flight into Manaus, the gateway to the Amazon. We found Brazil to be a surprisingly expensive country. My unscientific benchmark is the cost of ice cream \u2013 averaging at $4 a scoop, it\u2019s not what I\u2019d call developing country prices!<\/p>\n

Because of security concerns, we didn\u2019t carry much currency or credit cards. We once managed to snack through our combined assets and had to rely on the kindness of strangers for metro fares to get back to the hotel, but that\u2019s another VERY long & embarrassing story\u2026<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
View from ship approaching Rio with Cristo\u00a0Redentor (Christ Redeemer) above Copacabana Beach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

H. Stern<\/a> offers\u00a0free shuttles from the cruise dock to its Gem Museum adjacent to the jeweler’s worldwide headquarters in the posh\u00a0Ipanema<\/a> neighborhood. This is a convenient way to get into a popular tourist area known for its upscale shopping and social beach scene.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
Diamonds are a girl\u2019s best friend, so here are some of my Best Friends!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

After dutifully touring the boutique and failing to find anything I couldn’t live without, it was time to do some sightseeing.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
Stained glass windows inside a church in Rio.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We eventually made it to the next beach, the fabled Copacabana Beach<\/a>. I had heard much about the beach and was excited to see if the beach lives up to the hype.<\/p>\n

\"Copa<\/a>
The distinctive Portuguese pavement mosaic at Copa Beach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The black and white stone sidewalks of Copa Beach are called cal\u00e7ada. Designed by Roberto Burle Marx<\/a> and completed in 1970, the main streets alongside the cal\u00e7adas are turned into a pedestrian-only zone and closed to 4-wheeled traffic on Sundays.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
A sea of umbrellas on the beach.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Our quest for Beautiful People at the fabled Copa Beach was a bust. We made the strategic mistake of showing up before noon, when no self-respecting BP would have rolled out of bed!<\/p>\n

The next day we headed for Rio’s other attractions. The 1,299 foot\u00a0P\u00e3o\u00a0de A\u00e7\u00facar<\/a>\u00a0(Sugar Loaf) mountain is the second most visited tourist site in Rio. It’s only accessible by a 2-stage cable car with the base terminal close to\u00a0Praia Vermelha (Red Beach). The tram makes an intermediate stop at\u00a0Morro da Urca at 722 feet, where you can hop off to enjoy panoramic views from the multi-level outdoor terraces and get some snacks. It was at Sugar Loaf that I bought the most expensive ice cream cone in all my travels – $7 for a single take-out scoop!!<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
View from the P\u00e3o\u00a0de A\u00e7\u00facar\u00a0(Sugar Loaf) tram\u2019s lower station at Morro\u00a0da Urca looking towards the 1300 ft summit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We stayed till dusk and spent some time taking pix of the amazing views from the observation platform before catching one of the last cars down.<\/p>\n

\"Rio<\/a>
Ethereal sculpture on the observation deck at Sugar Loaf.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Rio<\/a>
Magical sunset view of Rio and its beaches sprinkled like spilled diamonds beneath the Sugar Loaf.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo journal of my cruise-tour from Rome to Rio and beyond. Part 4 covers the Brazilian UNESCO heritage site of Cidade Alta in Salvador and urban metropolis of Rio de Janeiro. From the white sand beaches of Copacabana to the granite faces of the Sugar Loaf, there is plenty to see, do, eat and drink!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8740,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3,7,415,15],"tags":[85,91,219,223,242,277],"class_list":["post-1313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-architecture","category-food","category-interior-design","category-travel","tag-copacabana","tag-cristo-redentor","tag-rio","tag-salvador","tag-sugar-loaf","tag-world-heritage-site"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/salvador-cidade-alta-upper-town4-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1313"}],"version-history":[{"count":42,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8739,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1313\/revisions\/8739"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8740"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1313"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1313"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/interspace-design.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1313"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}