Brazil/Brazil - Rio de Janeiro

We spend a good week in Rio and at the beginning we get an endorphin rush when we arrive. We have chosen accommodation in one of the many pacified favelas, and it's a hit again! The favela is called Pereira da Silva and belongs to the Santa Teresa district. It has been peaceful here for many years, while in others the situation is still or again unsettled. It is a relatively normal neighborhood, of course not rich, everything is very modest, located on a hillside, not accessible by car, we feel comfortable and safe here. At the entrance of the favela, we are immediately approached by an older lady who kindly shows us the way through the narrow, confusing paths to our accommodation and tells us that guests are welcome here, and we can totally feel that. In our accommodation, we are greeted warmly and after the long bus journey, we first sit down with beer and cigarettes on the rooftop terrace, from where we have a great view of Rio Glücksgefühle hoch 10! Shortly afterwards, the friend of the lovely boss joins us and after lunch, siesta, and a shower, we go out in the evening with him and a few other girls to a small concert where Brazilian singer-songwriters perform their own songs. It was wonderful, very small, cozy, and very private, we would have never found it alone.

In the next few days, among other things, we get to know downtown, which consists of some pretty historic buildings such as the theater, the national library, and the royal palace, but above all many ugly new buildings. Not much colonial architecture has survived. The cathedral of Rio is particularly ugly... a pyramid-like concrete block, which is fortunately a bit better on the inside than on the outside. Of course, we also went to Copacabana, and we were shocked when we arrived because it felt like all of Rio was there on the beach. We didn't know that it was a holiday...😀 it was crazy! At first, we found it terrible, but with time and with the help of Caipirinha, we adapted well and were able to enjoy it! In the crowds, we actually met a Spaniard from Salvador. It's worth mentioning the thongs that are worn here by almost every woman on the beach, whether she has the right rear end for it or not. Connective tissue weakness and ample padding are not a reason not to squeeze into a thong. Butts are shown, however, going topless is not practiced at all, a twisted world. According to Brazilian standards, you must look really stupid in a normal bikini 😀

In our favela, there is an art project called Morrinho, which was started by a few children and teenagers almost 20 years ago. At that time, life in the favela was very difficult, with lots of drugs, violence, and shootouts... the boys aged 11 and 14 years started playing and building with stolen bricks, which are used to build houses in the favela, Lego, and other toys. As a pastime. Today, the project is known beyond Brazil's borders, the boys have been invited to Barcelona, Paris, and Berlin and have participated in art exhibitions there. In addition, the project serves as a meeting place for young people and children in the favela, so it is also a social project. We have taken a look at it and have met one of the founders who has also embellished various walls in the favela.

Although we feel very comfortable, we move to accommodation in Santa Teresa after a couple of days. From here, we can explore a lot on foot and don't have to take the bus. The accommodation is neither as warm nor as well located, but here you are right in the middle of the action. In about 5 minutes, we are in the Lapa district, where the bear dances on weekends. Lots of bars and clubs, live music almost everywhere, and crowds. During the day, there is almost nothing going on here, at night the streets and bars are packed. In Lapa, there are also the Selaron Stairs, which the Chilean artist covered with tiles from all over the world! Very colorful and beautiful. Unfortunately, you can see a lot of homeless people and poor people in Rio, especially in Lapa.

What else? We walked up the Corcovado hill, where the Christ stands and you can really look down on Rio. You can see the dimensions of the giant city with its beaches and the Sugarloaf. We visited the Museum of National History, which was not that great... lots of somehow disorganized information, we didn't get much smarter there. On Sundays, there was an open-air exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art with, as it should be, live music. The art scene from Rio was mainly present, and I felt so uncool and like such a country bumpkin 😁 We also went to Ipanema Beach, where it was much quieter than at Copacabana 😉 and in Santa Teresa, which is an extremely beautiful neighborhood with an old tram, where you can sometimes see monkeys running over the power lines to the next tree, just like in Salvador, we went to a small café almost every day where they sell the typical Açai. In Germany, I think it is known as a superfood powder, but here the fruit grows, and it is processed with banana into a kind of frozen puree, delicious and healthy! They also sell gluten-free pão de queijo (like small warm, savory cream puffs) made from tapioca, irresistibly delicious! One very pleasant thing in Brazil is that you don't stand out visually here. Brazilians come in all sizes, shapes, colors, and types. So, visually we don't stand out here as foreigners, but only when we open our mouths and mumble something in Portuguese 😊 The last few months, our experience with Couchsurfing has been disappointing. We have tried it again and again to get to know locals and understand the culture better... it is really difficult to find something, we didn't have such problems before. It is noticeable that 90% of the people offering Couchsurfing are male, maybe it's only like that in Latin America? I don't know, but it's frustrating, and apparently, as a couple, we are not that popular 😐 we will try a little longer... now we are going to the Iguazu Falls. Another long journey, but the roads here are good, and the travel times are realistic, absolutely not comparable to the conditions in some Central American countries.

After being in Salvador de Bahia and Porto Seguro, we arrived in Rio de Janeiro with high expectations of finding a fun and contrasting city, and in most aspects, it has achieved that! Our first residence here in Rio is a hostel called Pousada Favelinha located in one of the many pacified favelas of the city called Pereira da Silva, and it is very close to Santa Teresa, one of the most picturesque neighborhoods in the city. Of course, even though it is a pacified favela, the poorest people in Rio live here, it has a maze of streets and stairs that can only be walked, and electrical cables installed in the most chaotic way. The people who live here are super friendly, and on the first day, a lady from the favela even took us to the door of the hostel so that we wouldn't get lost! The best thing about living in a favela is the views you have of the city since they are located in the highest points of it. So as soon as we arrived, we went up to the terrace of the hostel with a cold beer and simply enjoyed the landscape. The managers of the hostel are a very nice Brazilian-Finnish couple, and since the Finnish guy is a music lover, he invites us that same night to join him at a place with live music. The place is called Casa de la Música and it is located in the Lapa neighborhood, the district to go out for fun in Rio. The concert is wonderful, Brazilian music with very good percussionists, where everything is improvised and the musicians collaborate with each other. Going to this corner of Rio was a 100% success.

The next day, to get oriented and get to know a little more about the history of Brazil and the city, we decided to take a free tour. The first thing that catches the eye in downtown Rio is that it hardly preserves any buildings from its colonial era. In the center of Rio, in Carioca Square, a series of mega structures in the best Pyongyang style are concentrated, with its cathedral standing out, a mega giant cone made of cement. Despite this, the tour is quite interesting, and we are glad we did it because there are very emblematic sites such as the royal palace or the Selaron stairs in Lapa.

Another day we decided to spend a day at the beach, and of course, we went to Copacabana! I imagined there would be people, but what we found there was all of Rio de Janeiro sunbathing. It's just mind-blowing, but little by little and with the help of a caipirinha, we got used to this sea of ​​people. The water was freezing cold, but the waves are fantastic, very fun. I don't know if there is another country in the world as mixed as Brazil, but the people here come in all shapes, sizes, and colors. And honestly, it's a pleasure to see. Another curious thing that also happens in Salvador but that we didn't mention is that it is very common to see very small monkeys moving through the city using the trees and electrical cables!

Since our hostel in the favela is a bit out of the way, we decided to move to a hostel closer to the center, in the Santa Teresa neighborhood. It is worth visiting the National History Museum and Ipanema Beach, which is quieter than Copacabana. And of course, the gastronomy, as we discovered the Açai and the cheese bread they make here, which is delicious. We also went to visit the Museum of Modern Art at a free event held outdoors. It was a mix of exhibitions, people dancing, and quite cool music. Ah, and during the time we were living in the favela, we visited the Morrinho project, which is like a work of art that started as a children's game. A few years ago, when the favela was a place with a lot of criminality, some children from the neighborhood started building a model of the favela in the garden of one of them with bricks in a Lego style. After a while, a reporter from National Geographic visited the favela and saw the model the children had made and was amazed. The result was that these children from the favela were invited to some art shows around the world to explain what they had done! Now they continue with the project from a more social point of view to help the children of the favela.

Rio has been a very beautiful experience and a must-visit if you are in Brazil. But arrive well-rested so as not to miss its nightlife! 😉