Rio Day 1
Shore leave is over.
Time for the travelogue of our 24+ hours in Rio.
On the morning of arrival, we gathered on deck in anticipation of our grand arrival. It was a warm and sunny, but hazy morning. Perfect conditions for sunburn and challenging photography. Little by little, islands and hills emerged from the haze. As each one appeared, there’d be murmuring among the groups, wondering which one was Sugarloaf, or if one of those mountains was Corcovado, the perch of that really tall Jesus. In due time it all sorted itself out.
We approached from the South, so you first pass Ipanema and Copacabana beaches. Then comes Sugarloaf, which stands as a sentry to the inner harbor. A couple of ancient forts lie on either side of the entrance. We passed an oil rig which had been towed in for maintenance, and a few ships of the Brazilian navy, and then arrived at the cruise ship dock. None of the monsters were in port that day, so our dinky little ship was dwarfed by the empty space around it.
Brazilian customs are notoriously slow. It’s not uncommon for it to take 4 or 5 hours for the hard-working government officials to clear a ship and its passengers for entry. That’s of course after you feed them lunch. Since we arrived at the dock around noon, no one made any plans for the afternoon, figuring we would be confined to the ship until late in the day. When it was announced after about 20 minutes that we were free to go there was a mad scramble.
At the end of the docks was an odd-looking building on a small spit of land jutting into the harbor. It was obviously very new. Staff who had been here as recently as a couple of years ago had no idea what it was. Depending on your perspective, the building looks like a lobster, the baleen of a whale, or a cockroach. It turned out to be Rio’s Museum of the Future. The building was certainly futuristic. Those of us with, perhaps, a more finite future than others, (i.e the over-60 contingent) received free admission. So, the museum was a nice way to spend an unplanned afternoon. The walk back and forth gave us a peek of Rio at ground level.
The evening was time to schlep the tourists on a bus and show them some Brazilian nightlife and culture. Although even the suggestion of going OUT at 9 p.m. was met with incredulity by some, most went along.
As you would expect, Rio on a Saturday night is a sight to behold. The neighborhood bars and clubs spill out into the sidewalks. The sultry and slightly steamy atmosphere, busy night markets, music on every block, bustling bus stations and dim streetlights gave it the ambiance you might expect.
We went to a Bohemian district of the city, with pedestrian streets and many clubs, bars and restaurants. We went to a “private” club for a concert by a locally well-known “contemporary samba” singer and his band. It was an interesting locale, basically a long, narrow hall, with a stage in the middle and, somewhat incongruently, exhibits of historic Portuguese and Dutch tiles on the walls. While the acoustics weren’t the best, the band was great. Once the more fuddy-duddy-ish among us left on the early bus, there was room to spread out. The Brazilian drinks (caprianha?) and appetizers flowed freely. Samba is infectious. Hard to feel bad. (Although I think some of the group felt bad the next morning!). Although I know we were back at the ship before things really got lively, or maybe even before dinnertime was over, it was a great experience.
