Last day in Rio

We had a later start today, caught up on ourselves. Sitting on the balcony watching the sun come up & reading or blogging in the cool of the morning has been a real joy.

After a leisurely breakfast we took the local bus to the Centro area.

Here we happened upon the grand Municipal Theatre in the major square of Cinelândia & which just happened to be offering guided tours; after navigating the ticket system guided by the very helpful staff & in a mixture of English contributions from several of them, we went off to find a famous Colombo cafe & again were assisted by a delightful young man who walked us a city block to ensure we got there.

ThIs is another of those must-do's: the Confeitaria Colombo is a wonderful turn-of-the-(20th) century, belle epoque building that was Rio's pre-eminent café, the site of elaborate balls, afternoon teas for upper-class senhoras, and a centre of political intrigue and gossip. There are enormous mirrors from Belgium, stained glass from France and tiles from Portugal.

We again negotiated the purchasing system & enjoyed a coffee & yummy sweet delights. We managed to nevertheless ‘stuff up’ the order & got only one coffee but I had made a New Friend of a local woman also having a coffee & - in broken English - we all solved the issue: this involved the young man behind the counter relaying to her what the problem was, her translating that to me, my re-ordering said coffee; & my New Friend translating back the solution to the young man - who gave the universal thumbs up!

We returned to the Teatro Municipal for our allotted tour time & spent a delightful hour being shown over the magnificently restored building which is regarded as one of the most important & beautiful theatres in the country. Designed in an eclectic style inspired by the Paris Opera of Charles Garnier, the restoration cost $US40 million & took only a breath-taking 3 years.

Afterwards we wandered around the Centro getting somewhat lost. We found the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian: a monstrously ugly concrete structure some describe as being like an upturned bucket which is perhaps a bit unfair when one finds out that the architecture is based on the Mayan style of pyramids; in fact, the interior is beautiful, spacious & relaxing.

A quick trip by metro took us to Copacabana beach where we relaxed on the sand & watched the antics of some of the local vendors selling beach balls, hammocks, scarves, coconut drinks, beers, etc.; & others lathering themselves in coconut oil & sunbathing; others playing soccer.

Our final port of call was Sugarloaf Mountain (Pào do Açúcar), on every traveller's checklist for Rio. We took the cable car to the top (220 m) & watched the late evening light pass over the city. Great 360 degree views including across Guanabara Bay to the city of Niteroi.

At the bottom we walked a short way to Praia Vermelha (Red Beach), a small & pretty beach especially at the time we were there - in the late afternoon light. Then a bus back to Glória & a longer wait today for the Combi van up to Santa Teresa. We packed for our flight in the morning & returned to Simplesmente for another of their great pizzas. I was almost asleep on my feet having been awake since about 4:00 a.m.

So comes to an end our stay in Rio. We both have said that our enjoyment of this city has been a tribute to the people themselves. We have remarked on their kindness & helpfulness.

We have particularly enjoyed our stay in Santa Teresa - up in this hilltop almost-favela neighbourhood - away from the glitz but so close to everything at the same time. Our proprietor, Olindo, has been like a friend. He was saying to us how the loss of their tram (bonde) in an accident in 2011 has been a setback to all businesses in the district, and also diminished the character of the area. This tram linked this isolated, very Latin American district with the trendier areas like Lapa until the derailment which killed 5 & injured many others. It was supposed to be repaired by 2014 but this looks a long way off judging by the slow progress of work we saw.

We have enjoyed our stay.