Prices for food are the same in Brazil as they are here:
high. Literally, there are no bargains here in food or shopping. I love to
shop, and in any country I find shopping more of a treasure hunt than anything
else. Mostly what I am looking for are bargains on folk art or things you can
only acquire in that country. However, here I found that shopping in Rio was no
different than shopping in any shopping mall anywhere in the States. Finally,
after hours of scouring the shops several blocks off the beach, and finding
absolutely nothing, I asked the concierge about it. He suggested we go to the
‘hippie fair’ or market on Sunday morning, so we did.
My
husband is so patient, he kind of looks out for me as I flit around all the
little shopping booths. This hippie fair is where you can find everything from
Brazilian stones to soccer shirts, shells to handbags, flip flops to carved
wooden fruit. We had all kinds of fun. However, we left with very little.
Stones, jewelry was much less than the big jewelry houses of H. Stern or
Amsterdam Saur but still not a bargain. When gold is $1700 an ounce set gems
are just pricy even set in sterling silver. So we passed on most things.
What
we did find was that if you can find a neighborhood jeweler, he or she will
take you in the ‘back’ and show you some stones. They will be cheaper than the
big houses with equivalent quality. I met a jeweler that had stunning quality
amethyst. Some of them were so large they’d need their own zip code, easily 25
karats each. I loved them all. Troy shuddered and sighed a lot.
Jewelers
also carry natural rock. There aren’t really any stone stores. The big amethyst
and citrine cathedrals and quartz, tourmaline stones in the flea markets were
of a wide range of quality. Frankly you can get better prices and stones at
Quartzite, Arizona any time of the year or at the Tucson gem show.
When
you are in Rio, the tour everyone takes, the ‘must see’ tour is the one of the
giant statue of Christ the Redeemer and Sugar Loaf Mountain. So we did that.
The combined tour of both sites cost $275 for two of us and it included lunch.
Even if you had a car, you can’t drive up to Christ the Redeemer mountain,
Corcovalo. You have to take a bus and our tour guide was amazing. He spoke at
least seven languages fluently. The drive up that mountain was great fun. We
got to see a great deal of forest foliage up close. It’s so dense! As we got
higher and higher we were disappointed to see this thick smoggy haze over the
city. The previous four days had been crystal clear and it was at least 90
degrees that day. The Brazilians know that this is a must see tour and they
have it efficiently organized. Once you arrive at the base station you change
buses and go up in a park service bus. This means they can control the flow of
traffic up and the very narrow windy road to the top. Once you are there what a
view! You feel as if you are on top of the world. It is a peaceful place. The
statue is powerful, imposing and yet compassionate – a lot so say for carved
soapstone. We were allowed 40 minutes to appreciate the view of a lifetime. Then
down the mountain and on to an ultra modern church, a visit to a stadium and
lunch.
Lunch
was another astonishing buffet. They apparently bring all the tourists here and
bless them they have it down to a science of efficiency. This is an expensive
tour and I wasn’t sure if they would skimp on lunch but
they didn’t. It was another amazing buffet of food. There were all kinds of
meats; prime rib, ham, pork chops, fried chicken, baked chicken, stewed chicken
and baked sea bass, cod cakes and every kind of vegetable from okra to
tomatoes, red cabbage to peas and on and on. So much food and then off we went
to the cable cars of Sugar Loaf Mountain.
The
afternoon part of the tour took us through the city on to the mountains. These
are companion peaks. You take the cable car up the red mountain first take
photos of the view and see the James Bond cable car then watch the growler
monkeys climb the trees. These growlers monkeys would fit in the palm of your
hand. They’re adorable. At this point there are H Stern Jewelry shops, t-shirt
an ice cream shops and a helicopter port. Then it was on to the top of Sugar
Loaf Mountain.
The
cable car holds 65 people and it sways slightly. If heights are challenging for
you, this cable car ride will take some courage. As the final car inches its
way up almost vertically to Sugar Loaf you hold your breath a little as it
passes the sheer face of the mountain and then finally gently comes to a stop.
There are higher places in South America but probably few with as stunning a
view. There was a fabulous breeze up there amid the snack bars and jewelry
stores. You could see in all directions the whole sprawl of the city. Off in
the distance I could feel the approaching thunderstorms and the lightening. I
took photos through the haze and found myself glad to be down both mountains as
the lightening began to put on a display in advance of the driving rain.
After
the rain, after supper, we walked hand in hand along Copacabana beach under a
brightly lit path. As night approached you could see the oil rigs well lit in
the distance, the ships anchored out and the cruise ships ready to enter port.
There was a welcoming breeze. It was such a lovely evening. It smelled so good
too, with the sea air flavoring the fragrance of the evening. That was our last
night in Rio.
Tuesday
the Transocean driver met us and drove us to Macae, which is about 3 hours north
of Rio. It was curious what the countryside would look like. The drive leaving
the city reminded me that traffic has its own sociology and its own rhythm.
People are generally polite, use their horns sparingly and consider traffic
lanes a polite suggestion. This city is working hard to prepare for the World
Cup in 2014 and the Olympics in 2016. They have a lot to do. So glad that’s not
my problem.
As
we left the city we were reminded of the power of US influence. There was a
Sam’s Club, a Subway sandwich shop, Burger King and a KFC lining the highway.
There were also English, Swiss and German companies represented. This truly is
a global market after all. Often supposedly local crafts are made in Indonesia
and China.
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