One day after my Portuguese class, I went to lunch with several people from the program. One guy suggested we check out Confeitaria Colombo located close by in the historic center of town. This beautiful bakery/tea house has been around since the late 1890s. It wasn't until they sat our party of 8 that we discovered the lunch buffet was R$55. Wetake advantage of the array of food and dessert (to which I went back at least 3 times). The lunch was very lovely... I'm not sure I would recommend eating there, as it was definitely overpriced and the food wasn't that amazing, but the venue itself was great. What surprised me the most was the clientel. I would think that with those prices it would be filled with tourists - but it wasn't. The whole place seemed to be filled with people enjoying their lunch break. After lunch, I came home to find Mads just waking up (it was nearly 3pm.) I had emailed her telling her my plans, but as she pointed an email doesn't make an alarming sound that wakes her like a phone call would. Oops. As it was now too late to go to the beach we decided to spend the afternoon walking around exploring our hood. While Lapa is the place to be at night, there are also a few things we found to do during the day.
First stop:
Photos at one of the major landmarks of Rio and of the Lapa quarter, the Arcos da Lapa. These arches cross the main street in Lapa, Avenida Mem de Sá, where all the partying takes place on Friday and Saturday nights. We have spent many a night under the arches listening to random pagodes play their samba. Usually I do not have my camera, as it is not safe to have at night, but while out during the day I decided it was ok to stop and take a photo.
The Arcos da Lapa, a double tier of arches 64m/210ft high and 270m/ 295yds long, are part of the Aqueduto da Carioca, which was constructed in the colonial period to bring fresh water from the Rio Carioca to the population of the city. Deactivated at the end of the 19th century, the arches were adapted in 1896 to serve as a bridge for a tram - the Bondinho de Santa Teresa (the only tram still in use in Rio de Janeiro) - that transports passengers between the centre of Rio and the hilly Santa Teresa neighborhood.
When we went to Santa Teresa I begged Mads to take the tram. As it was getting late by the time we left the house we decided it was better to get up there before the sun set than ride the tram. Mads had ridden it before, and told me it really wasn't that cool, but I was still bummed because deep down I am a cheesy tourist who really needs to do everything. So one day after class, I took the tram across the arches and jumped off before it hit Santa Teresa. Afterwards Mads asked me if it was everything I expected.... not really but for R$0.60 I was glad I saw that for myself. Haha. It was definitely fun to ride the tram, but honestly I didn't even realize we were crossing the arches until we were half way through them.
Second stop: The Escadaria Selarón is a set of world-famous stairs created by Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who claims it as "my tribute to the Brazilian people". Leading up from Rua Joaquim Silva ("pee alley" - see Weekends in Lapa), the stairway straddles both the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighborhoods. There are 250 stairs measuring 125 metres long which are covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world. These stairs were the site of the Snoop Dogg ft. Pharrell music video "Beautiful" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_M15ougn6E&feature=av2n). Clearly after watching this video I HAD to go and take pictures on the stairs.
Santa TeresaSo we didn't go to Santa Teresa on the same day as our Tour de Lapa, but I decided it would be fitting to put it in the same posting as it lies right above Lapa. Santa Teresa is
located on top of the Santa Teresa hill and is famous for its winding, narrow cobbled streets which are a favorite spot for artists and tourists. Named after the Santa Teresa Convent founded in the 1750s, Santa Teresa used to be an upper class borough, as testified by its magnificent mansions, many of which are still standing. Santa Teresa ceased being an upper class neighborhood long ago, but it has been revived as an artistic hotspot. It is home to several artists and art studios and galleries.
Because Mads and I have visited Santa Teresa just before sunset we plan to go back again to walk around the cute little
shops. After it got dark we ate at a delicious (but pricey) restaurant called Aprazível. It is hidden on a windy road at the top of a hill. Not even knowing the name of the restaurant, Mads and I saw it from below and made it our goal to reach this cute location. Coincidently it turned out to be a place that had been highly recommended to us. The place was so cute! It has spectacular views of the city and such cute garden decor. There was even a table that was in a tree house!! After dinner we walked down into town for a little and then caught the tram down the hill jumping off right before it crossed the arches.
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