EC-Rider Travels

Paulo took us to down-town Rio today – again such a contrast of old and new, stunning modern office buildings interspersed with beautiful baroque churches and tumbling down colonial buildings. Covid has hit hard and many of the shops and restaurants in the business area have closed and market traders have moved in. Analida was very saddened by the change and Paulo told us it is now an unsafe area in the evening. There were a number of side streets full of what until had been beautiful old coloured colonial buildings which had just be left to ‘die’ – all rather heartbreaking.

Paulo filled us in on a bit of history as we passed the former Royal Palace: In 1807, during the Napoleonic war, the Portuguese royal family fled to Portugal’s largest and wealthiest colony, Brazil and settled in Rio, which became its capital. In 1821 King John VI returned to Portugal and left his son Peter I to become King of Brazil. One year later, Peter I declared independence from Portugal and became the first Emperor. By March 1824 he had defeated all armies loyal to Portugal After his father’s death, Peter I also returned to Portugal to become King, leaving his youngest, 5 year old son, Peter II, as regent. Peter II, known as ‘the magnanimous’ went on the be an excellent, liberal leader, ruling for 58 years. His daughter Isabel gave freedom for the African slaves.

There are 26 states in Brazil, each with its own Governor and mayor of each city. The election of these ‘leaders’ is pretty corrupt, indeed the last five Governors of Rio are in prison! The President and National Congress, which runs the country, are based in the Federal capital, Brasilia. Again everyone in Brazil has to vote, and if you don’t, you are fined and it is seriously marked against you and prevents you from renewing all sorts of things. There is a forthcoming election, which has caused a great divide in the country and will be a tight race. Once again it is all pretty corrupt.

The Flamengo Park (almost 300 acres running up to where Analida lives) was a very special, award winning, botanical and horticultural project for the city. It was designed by Carlota de Macedo Soares in 1969 using reclaimed land to create a natural habitat to attract birds and animals. She was a friend of the state Governor but also the lover of American Poet Elizabeth Bishop which was controversial at the time.

We then visited the San Sebastián Cathedral or New cathedral. It is designed as a cone, apparently based on Mayan architecture / pyramid style. It was built between 1964-1979 and has replaced a number of other churches in the city. the most recent and notable being the Church of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, which was the cathedral until 1976. It has an internal diameter of 96 metres and a height of 75 metres. It can seat 5,000 or have 20,000 standing. It has four rectangular stained glass windows and holes all the way up each side of the building to allow for natural air-flow.

We visited a number of other beautiful, if a little over the top, Baroque churches and also the stunning monastery of St Bento where the most beautiful sung mass was taking place.

The highlight was the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading – the most incredible library. Built in 1837, it has the largest collection of Portuguese literature outside Portugal and voted by Time Magazine as the fourth most beautiful library in the world.

The evening was spent drinking caipirinhas in a bar overlooking the beach and more chat can you believe!