Well have reached Buenos Aires and it looks amazing – but more of that later. Better not forget about Rio and my flying visit. Like Mike from the Monkees I wished I could travel to Rio and I did. Because of the delay from Easter Island I only had 3 nights and 2 full days there so I didn’t really get to see a whole lot of the city but the bits I did see were amazing.
Visiting the Christ the Redeemer statue was an emotional moment for me – it was like walking into Sydney harbour: a world landmark that I never actually thought I would see. So it was pretty special even though it was wet and misty and you couldn’t see much at the top.
My few observations on the city. Firstly it’s massive – about 10 million people live in Rio and consequently the traffic and driving is just horrendous! I just avert my eyes on the buses because the driving makes me so nervous. Plus they have millions of buses going all directions – never saw so many in a city. There also is a lot of construction going on for the Olympics next year – will probably be chaotic here but great fun. So all that makes for serious traffic.
The locals, or cariocas as they are known, come in all shapes and sizes and all colours from European looking to black skin – there is no one type of person there. We could all be Brazilian! And they walk really, really slowly – saunter actually! Even when I consciously slowed myself down I was still faster than them. It’s a teeming city but people don’t rush like they do in London or New York.
The language here really stumped me – out of all the places I have been the Portugese spoken here sounded the most foreign to me. The actual Portugese can’t understand the Brazilians! So I generally hadn’t a clue and there is not much English spoken, but people were nice and helpful so I got along and didn’t starve or die of thirst. Once food and drink are covered I am ok! Another language I can ask for the bill in…
The safety of the city has really improved and I didn’t feel unsafe anywhere – just need to take the usual precautions. There were times I didn’t take out my camera from my bag so as not to look like a tourist but it didn’t feel dangerous. There does seem to be some homeless in the streets, and there are some no-go areas, but not where I was which was a lovely residential area. Things are cheap here in comparison to the euro so I’d say it’s not a hugely wealthy place – I saw a man fixing teapots and saucepans on the street where I was, something I haven’t seen anywhere else. Even the travellers in Ireland don’t do it anymore! I would say there is not a lot of spare money.
They have a really ugly concrete bunker of a cathedral which has some lovely stained glass inside – that’s another Jesus statue in the door, not a tall randomer. It’s very strange in a city that has some really nice old architecture. But that’s the 60’s for you.
I went to a music club the other evening which was just fantastic – a proper club where you sit at little tables around the stage and they serve you food and drinks! There was a singer and his band and people dancing – real, good dancers dancing sambas I presume. It was really South American and I bought the singer’s cd as a souvenir. It was a great show and would love to have gone out for a night on the town there – the main drawback of travelling alone is that you have to go home early! Mostly I don’t mind but I felt it in Rio.
Anyway, I really enjoyed my few days and am so glad I went. Let’s see what Buenos Aires brings…