Wow, that was quite a trip!  We left Wednesday afternoon by bus and arrived in Rio 8 hours later and took a 15 minute taxi ride to Flavia’s Uncle Rafael who has an apartment in the middle of the city.

The road was a dual carriage way for the first hour and then became two single lanes. There was often a third lane for overtaking, especially up hills. The last hour was dual, then triple carriageway.  The roads were all in pretty good condition. The modern comfortable bus was limited to 80 or 90 kph for the whole journey and mostly managed to keep to those speeds. It did help arriving in Rio in the evening after the peak traffic.

In the morning Rafael took us on a tour of Rio. It is a real advantage having a car, driver and guide with a detailed knowledge of the city.  First we went to Corcovado mountain and the statue of Christ the Redeemer which is 700 metres above Rio. We stopped at a couple of brilliant viewing points on the way up.  We drove almost to the top of the hill, parked and got

into small buses for the last climb of a hundred metres of hairpin bends. From there was a short walk, a couple of escalators and we were at the foot of the statue without even getting out of breath. There is also a funicular railway which is very useful if you do not have a car.

The views are breathtaking.  It was a hot sunny day and the city inland was covered in a light haze. This trip alone is worth a visit to Brazil.   Rio is full of very steep hills and so there are thousands of locations with fabulous views, soon you become a little blasé about what would be a traffic-stopping elsewhere. Rafael’s lounge faces the statue and a nearby favela an interesting combination of two of Rio’s signature sights.
Around 4 o’clock we had a self-service meal followed by a well-earned siesta.  In the evening we took a 20 minute taxi ride to the old city area full of bars and restaurants. We went to the Scenarium whch the Guardian rates as one of the best ten bars in the world.  It is a very strange place. It is not really a pub or bar or a restaurant or a nightclub or a disco or an antiques shop but a mixture of all of them. It looks like an ancient converted warehouse with two rooms the size of tennis courts on each of the three floors. In fact it used to be housing and each floor used to contain 12 apartments. A girl singer accompanied by keyboards and guitar was singing sambas and the sound was piped to the more remote areas; there was no dancing that I noticed.

It was fairly busy. Plenty of customers were eating large meals or snacks but there was no expectation that the customers should eat. The thing which I like about most live music I have heard here is that the volume is reasonable, not the ear-splitting high volume that is everywhere in Europe.  Some listened attentively while other groups chatted without raising their voices. The musicians accept that they are not giving a concert and that all the customers are not expected to applaud every song. It makes the whole evening very pleasant and relaxing.

So, I hear you ask, what was that bit about the antiques shop?  Well the decor is something that Salvador Dalí or Federico Fellini might have come up with.  The walls were full of religious icons, pictures, statues and other paraphernalia; at least the staff were not dressed as monks and nuns.  During the day the tables and chairs are moved and the premises open as an antiques shop with all the decorations for sale.  I did find it a little disconcerting being so decadent under a life-sized portrait of a nun!  Sadly I did not bring my camera but the next article will have some pictures of its similar sister establishments in the same street.

PS
Pics will appear within 24 hours, I promise!
PPS
They are in place and I have also added pics to the two previous articles.