Terra Cognita

Miami

Well, I'm back on familiar turf, or at least relatively familiar. Interestingly, although I've been to Florida many times, I've only stayed in Miami once before. At the moment, I'm staying at an historic hotel, the Biltmore, in Coral Gables. It's on the US National Register of Historic Places, and is truly a grand hotel. However, as usual, I'm getting ahead of myself. I will report on this part of the world in a few days, once I've had a chance to get out and about and actually see it.

Notwithstanding the title, today's post is actually about Brazil, and more specifically Rio de Janeiro, which was unfamiliar territory (though the first two pictures are of Paraty, which I wrote about last time; it's such a pretty place I thought you might like to see it). My basic impression of Rio is that it is very hot and sticky. That may seem rather obvious, and not very insightful, but as in so many places, the weather actually has a significant impact on many things: the culture; people's attitudes; how you, the visitor, react to the place. I will say that the weather made it difficult for me to summon up the energy to do very much. It also doesn't help that the city is reasonably spread out, and getting from one place to another isn't always easy, especially given the topography (some pretty significant hills). I did see the highlights, though, as evidenced by some of the photos. Most of you will no doubt be familiar with many of the sites as they are emblematic of Rio - Christ the Redeemer (which really does tower over the city), Sugarloaf Mountain and the two famous beaches, Copacabana and Ipanema. Interestingly, I found it was actually too hot to go to the beach (it didn't help that there is no shade whatsoever). I wasn't too disappointed though, as the free day I had was a Sunday, which meant the beach was completely packed, not to mention that the received wisdom is not to leave anything unguarded on the beach, which is a bit of a problem if you're by yourself. Moreover, the water is a funny sort of green color; not sure if that's just its normal shade, but it certainly wasn't inviting. I consoled myself with a visit to the hotel's pool, conveniently located on the roof where there was a bit of breeze, but basically I just lived with the heat.

The modern building in the photo is actually the cathedral. I was surprised to see such a modern cathedral in a city that has been around for as long as Rio has. One might think that there was an older building (or more than one) that was destroyed, but the tour guide seemed to be saying that the relevant people just couldn't agree on an appropriate location. I find that hard to believe, but stranger things have happened (and if true, it leads to some interesting speculation on the character of the local decision makers).

It's worth mentioning one of the meals I had. It was at a churrascaria rodizio. That is a Brazilian barbecue restaurant, where the waiters present the meat in large hunks, on skewers. They slice off portions directly onto your plate, and they keep bringing more until you say Stop! (and even then, if they think you haven't eaten enough, they give you a hard time). At this place (and presumably at most others as well), there was also a very large salad bar which went way past the usual lettuce and vegetables to include various seafood salads, sushi, fruit, etc. Unfortunately for me, I wasn't expecting to go to such a place, and wasn't nearly able to take full advantage of it (also another negative about the heat: I find it hard to eat large quantities of food when it's hot). Now that I know what's involved, though, I may try again at the churrascaria down the road from my flat, which I've never tried before (be assured I'll make certain not to eat anything else that day, and if anyone cares to join me, you're very welcome!).

One of the most interesting encounters I had in Rio turned out to be with the taxi driver who took me to the airport. There was a bit of a mix-up on my transfer (one of the very few travel issues I've had on this entire journey), and when no driver had shown up after half an hour, I decided I'd better get into a taxi as time was getting short and it was pouring rain. I was therefore a bit distracted (not to mention damp) as the journey started, and as a result was rather taken aback when the driver spoke to me in fluent English. This reaction may perhaps be better understood if you know that elsewhere in Rio I encountered remarkably few people who spoke decent English, and surprisingly many who spoke no English whatsoever. (Before you get huffy about American tourists who insist that people in other countries ought to speak English, let me assure you, I don't expect that at all, but given the number of English speakers who visit Rio, and the fact that I was in a highly touristic part of the city - Copacabana - I was simply surprised at how little English I encountered, especially in places where it would seem to be to their advantage to be accommodating, like restaurants, and even at my hotel, where only one desk staffer at any given time appeared to speak any English). But I digress. Turns out this man had lived more than half his life in the US, having originally come for 6 months when he was 21 to learn English and not really left more than 23 years later (I didn't quite understand whether he was back in Rio temporarily or he had moved back permanently; he did say it was his brother's taxi and he'd only been driving it for a week to have something to do and earn some extra money). We ended up having a very wide-ranging conversation about the comparative cultures of Rio and New York (he lived in New Jersey for much of his time in the US), language study, corruption, crime, sports, etc. He had some interesting insights into Rio and its prospects going forward, especially in light of the place it will take on the world stage as host of the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics. I must say, it was a very positive way to end my time in Brazil, and left me thinking it would be interesting to return to Rio in a few years' time to see if anything much has changed.