Rio: city of breathtaking contrasts still enthrals visitors

By Helmut Reuter May 25, 2010, 15:11 GMT

Rio de Janeiro - On the landing approach to the city airport of Rio de Janeiro, the Aeroport Santos Dumont, a passenger with a window seat immediately realises why Rio is called the 'Cidade Maravilhosa' (marvellous city).

The azure-blue Atlantic Ocean nestles up to the pearly white beaches in the small bays, which are bordered inland by a sea of houses, rugged hills and mountains and the lush green of the rainforest.

Like no other city, the metropolis of 6 million people on the Atlantic has stamped the image of Brazil. Copacabana and carnival, football and samba parties - these are just a few of the cliches which fire tourists' imaginations long before they land in the city under the 'Pao de Acucar' (Sugar Loaf Mountain).

It is recommended that, after arrival, one take in two Rio classics to get an overview of the city. One is the Pao de Acucar, elevation 396 metres, which can be reached via cable car and, in good weather, offers a superb view.

The same applies to the second peak, the 700-metre-high Corcovado mountain, atop which a further Rio trademark reigns: the huge Cristo Redentor (Christ the Saviour) statue.

Since 1931, the 38-metre-tall statue of the holy figure with arms spread wide has towered protectively over the city. The path up the Corvocado is a steep one and its best to depart from the Cosme Velho neighbourhood to take Brazil's only rack-and-pinion railway to the top.

The half-hour trip goes through a thick Atlantic rainforest, the Mata Atlantica, teeming with nectar-seeking hummingbirds and red- blossomed hibiscus trees. Pope John Paul II rode the 'Trem do Corvocado' tram in 1980 in order to reach the statue.

Travel-hardened city tourists then immediately head for the next attraction, which, as a practical matter, can also satisfy their hunger and thirst.

'Garota de Ipanema' (the Girl from Ipanema) is not only the title of a hit song, the first line of which ('Olha que coisa mais linda. ..') at least every Rio fan should be able to sing. It is also the name of the tavern in which, according to legend, Vinicius de Moraes (lyrics) and Tom Jobin (music) composed the song. Back then, in 1962, the tavern went by the name 'Bar Veloso.'

Above the table hangs a giant copy of the original song lyrics, which tell of the enticing charms of the 19-year-old girl (Garoto), Helo.

Each day she would stroll past the Bar Veloso on her way to the nearby beach of Ipanema, along what was then the Ruoa Montenegro and today is the Rua Vinicius de Moraes. The lovely apparition drew the admiring glances of the bar's regular customers, like Vincius and Tom.

In reality, the song did not get composed in the tavern at all, but the legend lives on anyway.

Rio de Janeiro holds every person in its thrall. One of the most elegant elegies about the city is from the pen of Austrian novelist Stefan Zweig.

After a lengthy and bitter escape from the Nazis, he arrived in Brazil in 1940 and wrote a German-language classic 'Brasilien - Ein Land der Zukunft' (Brazil - a country of the future) in 1941.

'There is - and nobody who has seen it once will contradict me - no more beautiful city on earth, and there is scarcely a more unfathomable, more confusing one,' wrote Zweig, who would, in 1942, put an end to his own life in Petropolis, across the bay from Rio.

Rio had pleased the writer, who in downright ecstatic terms had honoured it as the 'fortune bringer.' Until 1960, it was Brazil's capital: 'One is never tired, you can never get enough.'

Even today, many of these impressions are apparent - although, since Zweig's time, many shadows have fallen over the city. Rio has grown, and with this growth have come the problems. Anyone who thinks he can take a carefree stroll at dusk along the Copacabana is mistaken.

It is precisely in the Copacabana district that crime is rampant and prostitution widespread. At night, outsiders are best advised to use taxis to get around Rio's streets. But they should also be alert during the daytime as well.

Virtually nowhere else are the social contrasts in Brazil so stark as in Rio. Glittering areas like Ipanema and Leblon are often only a few streets away from a favela, or slum. There are offerings of tours of the favelas, including overnight stays. A Rio visitor should not venture into a favela on his own.

Instead, one should head to Maracana Stadium in the district of the same name. Those who are not afraid of masses of people and who can withstand the heat should treat themselves to the experience of a football match, if at all possible one between local arch-rivals Flamengo and Fluminense.

Rio's residents, called 'Cariocas,' have a short and simple name for this football classic: 'Fla-Flu.'

Completely off the beaten path, away from the hustle and bustle of the football crowds and densely populated beaches, is the hilltop district of Santa Teresa. Influenced by the style of colonial times past, there stand today imposing villas with magnificent gardens. The district is a meeting point for many artists and backpack travellers.