I want to record it all in case I forget even a minute of it.
I know there are bits I’ve forgotten already. But I’m grasping at what is still
fresh.
An overnight stay in Santiago, Chile came first. I’d scoffed
when friends had teased me about South American men, thinking I’m impervious to
the greatest of charmers. Hah! The very first one I met, a taxi driver, could
easily have swept me away, had I been 20 years younger, of course. Oh, alright,
30 years younger.
I know fellow blogger, Ginger, a former Rio de Janeiro resident is keen to hear my impressions of Rio. It’s nearly a month since I landed there and my lasting impression is much the same as the first. It was an assault on my senses. The heat, the noise, the sights, the smells. They were all strange and new to me. But the main impression was (and still is) the contrasts, the beauty and the ugliness, the extreme natural beauty, the wealth and the poverty.
We spent my first afternoon on Ipenema Beach. You know what
the beaches are like where I live, right? I like them deserted and if there are
people around, I like them at a distance. I’m accustomed to listening to the
waves breaking on the shore. Ipenema was crowded. We found a vacant spot,
hired chairs and an umbrella and I lay back and stared. There was so much to
look at. People, people, all sorts of people. Those there for the surf (not
many of them), those there to catch the rays, those there to be seen and those
there trying to make a buck. I felt so sorry for the vendors, trudging up and
down the hot sand, under that hot, hot sun. Shouting to advertise their wares.
So many shouting at once, so much noise and close enough to the road to be able
to hear the noise of traffic as well.
I guess I was a bit jet lagged on my second day. I encountered my first
Brasillian queue, the first of many. It was very long, the day was scorching
and I don’t do standing very well. There must be a better way to move the
scores of visitors to the statue of Christ the Redeemer. But it seems that
Brasillians accept queues as part of life. And I guess most visitors are like
me and would be prepared to put up with the disorganisation just to be there, to
see this fabulous icon and stand there at its feet and look out over the natural
beauty of Rio. I felt quite overcome by it all, could barely believe it was
me, there.
An unexpected stop on our guided tour was a visit to The Chinese View in the
Tijuca Forest. Our guide told us its interesting history but I can’t remember
the details and today Google has been no help. It offered a lower, different
perspective of the city.
Before calling it a day we had a stop at Escadaria Selaron, 250 steps which are
covered in over 2,000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world.
We found the Kiwi tiles eventually.
