Over the hills, under the moon - and off the beaten path

This weekend we went far outside Rio - and we even had the feeling of visiting a place far back in time. The small island of Paquetá, situated in the north eastern part of Guanabara bay,  has for centuries been a summer refuge for Brazilian royalty and wealthy cariocas. There is still a ferry running between Rio  and Paquetá, but while old timers described the Guanabara bay as a vast surface of clear water, broken by jumping pods of dolphins, the bay today is a polluted mess of raw sewage coming from the millions, living in the  Rio suburbs. The black spots on the surface of the bay are certainly  not dolphins but rather floating tires or other trash - and the beautiful beaches, which in the last century were filled with sunbathers during the weekends, are now empty, as the risk of getting infected with viruses is high, if you swallow just a few teaspoons of bay water. With this in mind, a weekend outing on the ...

  Todays outing led us to one of the buildings at the very top of our architectural bucket list - the fabled Flying Saucer made by Niemeyer. The saucer, also known as Museu de Arte Contemporânea  or for short: MAC,  landed twenty years ago just outside the city of Niterói,  and to get to it,  we had to cross the Guanabara bay by ferry. The hundreds of busy commuters on board probably sail the bay twice daily and they seemed lost in their newspapers, laptops or mobiles, while we sat marvelling at the splendors of the Rio skyline, the mountains and the skyscrapers, diminishing across the water. Arriving at Niterói, we weren't that impressed. The town is supposed to be the wealthiest city in all of Brazil, but - as far as we could see -  it has not that much to brag about, beside its vast condominium complexes with fabulous views of Rio across the bay. We walked along the coast, passing a few fish...

The Arpoador rock, jutting up at the border between the Copacabana and the Ipanema beaches, is a favorite place to be in Rio, when the sun sets. We sat there tonight, together with hundreds of cariocans, watching the sun setting down in all its splendor behind the mountain ridges west of Rio. Guys climbed around the rock, selling long drinks to the spectators, and when the sun finally vanished in blushing red and orange, like everybody around us, we applauded the fantastic spectacle. A few times during the summer you can actually from Pedra do Arpoador see the sun set directly into the sea - a rare sight in  the Rio area.  Normally you see the sun setting behind the mountains and you have to arrive in good time, as nighfall is a least half an hour before the official sunset time of Rio.

I wonder as we drove through the landscape along the coastline: where do Brazilians grow their vegetables? I know nothing about the quality of the soil but with around 206 million inhabitants and a country the size of North America, there must be a market? Actually Brazil is one of the world's major breadbaskets, and Brazil has been the largest producer of coffee for the last 150 years. When I shop food in the local supermarkets here in Vidigal, I can only find what I regard as a small selection of vegetables. Maniok, potatoes, sweet potatoes, green pepper, chuchu ( in the family of cucumber), carrots and onions. I know I live in a favela and that the selection might be limited, but I found the same limited selection of veggies, when we stayed in Itacare, a relatively wealthy town. Is it simply supply and demand or is there another explanation? Also: I have watched many street kitchens, cafes and restaurants. All kitchen staff even in the street kitchens are wearing hair...

Some of our experiences here in Rio are like stepping between the most beautiful and the worst. Like it was today, when we arrived at Centro, the city center, and saw rows of torched and burned out city buses and lots of smashed up shop windows after a night of violent demonstrations. Thousands had been protesting against government plans for cuts by making a general strike during the day - and during the night mayhem had beset the streets and police had thrown tear gas and  had been shooting on protesters with rubber bullets   Photo: Reuters & AP Even when we passed through the area at noon, many hours later, armed policemen patrolled the streets and cleaned up the barricades, which were put up by the protesters during the night. And then - in the midst of the devastation - we found a picturesque alley, Arco de Teles, where we were attracted by the sound of distant, gentle bossa nova It was a strange feeling to walk from the remains of...

Photo: Rio tourism Rio is visually a strange place to visit. Looking at the city from above,  you see the deep blue ocean, the endless strings of golden beaches and the multicolored favelas clinging to the steep foothills of lush, jungle-clad mountains. Seen from above, Rio is for sure a Cidade Maravilhosa, the most marvellous city. But when we came closer and actually walked the streets, we started feeling somewhat disappointed. A not so tall girl on Ipanema... The areas next to our own - Leblon, Ipanema and Copacabana - are (just behind the fabled, bustling seafronts) mostly streets  with quite drab buildings and not that interesting shops. Just some areas which seem a bit faded since their heyday in the 1950ties.  Whenever we returned to Vidigal, we confirmed each other: This favela has the excitement, the sexiness and the samba, which we didn't find in the neighboring residential areas.   After a couple o...

João Goulart, the main road, which winds up along the steep slope of the  Vidigal favela, is normally teeming with traffic -  motorcycles, cars and lorries cruise up and down at breakneck speeds.  Normally, but not on the evening of Boa Sexta-feira, The Good Friday, when everything comes to a standstill during the enacting of the way of the suffering Christ. The darkness is lit up by  twinkling candles, carried by hundreds of pedestrians - all following the young man, who's designated to carry the cross up the hill. Along the route, neighbors have erected candlelit alters, each displaying a small figurine of the virgin Mary. They stand, praying, while the procession slowly passes by. - Pai de Misericórdia durante esta época de arrependimento olhai com compaixão para nós. The priest, walking in front, belts out the words. - Father of Mercy during this time of repentance, look with compassion on us. We walk solemnly up the alleys - until t...

As  our friends know well: We're not into football, but when you happen to be in Rio on the day of a Fla-Flu match, you just can't sit at home. Fla-Flu - the more than one hundred year old, intense rivalry between the two local clubs of Flamengo and Fluminense - is considered among the most beguiling derbies in the entire world. Unfortunately - this Sunday the two teams didn't, as is normally the case, clash together on  the fabled Maracanã stadium. If that had happened, we absolutely would have tried to get seats at the 'Clássico das Multidões' (the derby of the masses) - on the packed bleachers surrounded by what is described as a pandemonium of flags, banners and fireworks. This Sunday, the Fla-Flu match was (by reasons we didn't understand) placed on an obscure stadium far from Rio and we had to make do with watching it at one of the local taverns. Prior to a 'fla-flu' encounter the excitement is building up all over Rio -...

I'm beginning to feel a little bit as a Favelean now - and even though we have this very tiny kitchen in our apartment, today I went out shopping for one of the classic local dishes - beans and rice. First and foremost because it tastes so good (we had it as our first meal at a street kitchen in Salvador, shortly after our arrival), but also because it is one of the basics in Brazilian kitchen - just like "sauce and potatoes" is in the Danish. Now, I'm cooking, while, somewhere deep below, Michael is out running his daily distance along Ipanema beach. Eventually he has to climb the many hundreds or perhaps thousand steps leading up to our building on the mountain slope. I hope, he'll be building up a healthy appetite, because there will be plenty  in the casserole. Here is the recipe I have chosen: Rice and beans or  “o arroz com feijão” : 1 tablespoon vegetable oil 2 tablespoons of diced bacon or use a selection of salted meats (ready ...

Vidigal on the slopes of Dois Irmãos - one of the photos, which back in Denmark persuaded me it could be nice to live in a favela   When we planned for Rio, Michael came up with a longtime dream of spending some time in a favela - one of the vast slum like areas, which are covering the slopes of some of the many mountains in and around Rio. I wasn't keen on doing it, having heard of the violent crime and abject poverty inside the favelas - but Michael worked hard to persuade. He had found an apartment in Vidigal, a township,  which within the last couple of years had almost come to the threshold of being  gentrified. All his research told him, Vidigal would be vibrant, exciting, safe  - and when he showed a photo of the view from what could be our future rooftop terrace - the Atlantic Ocean with huge waves crashing towards the rocks below the terrace - it was a done deal! ...