It was raining pretty good when we got up this morning and it continued all morning. So, our trip to Sugarloaf has been postponed yet again. We spent most of the day driving through various neighborhoods of Rio. We went through the main downtown/financial district and through an area with a lot of colonial style buildings. The area of colonial buildings was very interesting with a lot of interesting old buildings. It was raining hard enough that we didn’t take many pictures.
A small church tucked in between bigger buildings in downtown Rio.
One neighborhood reminded us very much of Old Delhi, India...masses of exposed electrical and other wires.
There was also a lot of street art. One of street with a lot of art was near the cruise terminal. When we pulled up to a checkpoint to try to drive that area the guards had their weapons drawn. Seems they didn't like our dark car or that all the windows were dark. Glad they asked questions first instead of shooting.
We did make a stop at the Metropolitan Cathedral of St. Sabastian. It was quite a marvel. Google said it was styled after an Aztec pyramid and we both that that it did look very much like one.
The interior was wide open with pews forming a semi-circle around a raised platform with the altar. They were setting up some massive candlesticks while we were there.
The cross with Jesus was suspended from the very high ceiling.
On four walls of the cathedral were huge stained glass windows that soared from ground level to the top. Unfortunately, it was dark and dreary out so there wasn’t as huge a display of colored lights from the windows as on a sunny day. But it is a most impressive building inside and out.
It didn't seem like there were doors on the massive openings. And the three openings were massive.
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Video of Metropolitan Cathedral
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From there we had a very different experience in another religious building. This one was the church at the St. Benedict Monastery. The building construction ran through most of the mid‑1600’s. This church was awash with details, ornamentation and gold-leaf (although our guide said it is no longer real gold).
They were setting up candles at this altar as well.
The organ.
The incredible ceilings.
Some of the statues and altars in the side chapels.
After wandering for a while and photographing everything we sat for a while to soak it in. While we were sitting a monk came up to us and invited us into the roped off area directly in front of the alter. So we were able to get a much closer look there. Our guide later told us that almost no one gets to wander that area. We felt humbled.
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Video of St. Benedict Chapel
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More St. Benedict Monastery Chapel
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From there it
was some more driving. We stopped at an
overlook where we saw the very interesting Museum of Ecology and Natural
History. Sort of looked like a
dinosaur. Or maybe a sea creature of
some sort.
And a long bridge in the background.
We also drove by the Carioca Aqueduct that was built in the early 18th century to bring water from the St. Theresa area into the main part of the city. At that time the city was built in a swampy area with no good drinking water.
We also stopped at a viewpoint that gave us good views of the harbor.
We would have had good views of Sugarloaf except it was still covered in clouds.
And there were other great views...
including one of a castle.
Saw this Great Kiskadee at the viewpoint.
The drive up the mountain ended at one of the favelas. These “slums” or shanty towns date back to colonial times when there was insufficient housing. The situation was exacerbated when slavery was abolished with no programs to assist the freed slaves. About 6% of the entire Brazilian population lives in favelas.
There are
around 600 favelas in Rio with the largest housing around 70,000 people. The favelas have water and electricity but no
trash pickup or sewage service. And many
are huge havens for drugs.
This favela had some very nice street art.
The homes in the favelas are built by hand and most of the materials must be brought in by hand because there are no roads into the favelas.
We saw one man coming down the stairs who said his load weighed 50 kilos (110 pounds).
Our drive also
took us to the Steps of Selarón. They are
the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón. Selarón started the work as a renovation
project to dilapidated steps in front of his house. It became an obsession. There are 215 steps measuring 135 yards long
and are covered with over 2000 tiles from over 60 countries (thank you Google).
There was a bit of a crowd here but Margaret said that on a sunny day it would be packed. So maybe we were lucky that it was rainy. Colorful does not even begin to describe this art piece.
The artist even incorporated a portrait of himself.
We passed the Guanabara Palace again today on our way to the hotel. We couldn't stop so just drove by slowly and got the best photos we could.
We were back at the hotel by noon. We opted to skip lunch and will have an early dinner before heading to our show this evening.
The show, Ginga
Tropical Roots, was colorful and energetic.
It showcased music and dance from the many regions of Brazil.
There were
showgirls with tons of feathers and colorful costumes…
Video 1 of show
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and instruments
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Video 2 of show
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and stick fighting…
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Video 3 of show
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a cowgirl from the south twirling bolas (ropes with a hard ball on the end),
a guy doing a masterful job of spinning tambourines,
and lots of other great routines.
And a grand finale with half the audience on the stage.
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More Ginga Tropical Roots Show
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We thoroughly enjoyed the evening.
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