Today is our last day in Rio de Janiero, and we have a free day. Many of the students are quite *busy* at the beach, but we have some students out and about exploring the fort on the point between Copacobana beach and Ipanema beach. Later this afternoon, some will be heading out to the Museum of Indigenous Peoples, and others will be headed to the Modern Art Museum. And I´m sure we´ll still have a few on the beach.
Rio is a city of beaches, for sure. We are headquartered on Copacobana, which turns into Leme beach on one end. Sugarloaf mountain serves as a dramatic punctuation point for Leme beach, and the giant sand cove of Copacobana ends in the promontory point with the fort on the other end. Behind the fort, Ipanema beach begins, another giant miles-long white sand cove along the Atlantic Ocean. Ipanema ends at a canal, at which point Leblon beach begins. Leblon is the ritziest beach, and one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Rio.
These miles of beaches are filled with people sunbathing, swimming, socializing, excercising, playing soccer/football, beach volleyball, or foot volleyball. Everyone seems to be tan, both young and old. Everyone seems to be healthy, even people who are a little overweight, and their weight doesn´t seem to prevent them from wearing the same beach clothes as everyone else. These beaches are lined by a wide walking promenade, with miles of inlaid stone mosaic designed by Oscar Neimeyer, the famous Brazilian architect. On weekends and holidays, the roads along the beaches, which are pretty main roads, are shut down so people can walk and ride bikes or skateboard. Lots of skateboarding. Every mile or so, there is a large raised lifeguard station, and the areas of the beaches are referred to by station number by the locals. Along the promenade, there are regular fitness stations. These are like jungle-gyms for adults, with all the equipment one might need to do fitness training. A few are quite fancy, with all the equipment to do full circuit weight training. And it´s all free. Lots of people seem to use the equipment, too, and some of our students have tried some of it. There is definitely a fitness culture here, although I suppose with so much beach life, there´s a lot of incentive to stay in shape!
The city areas near Copacobana and Ipanema are densly built up, with many buildings that look like they date from the 1950s-1970s. Much of it has the feel of parts of Manhattan, with street level shops and apartment building rising up into the sky. There seem to be almost no parks in these neighborhoods, and everyone really does seem to head to the beach at the end of the day. It´s really possible to see how Brazilians use their collective ownership of the beach as a means of creating a common culture. Unlike so many places, where the best beaches are privately owned, this city really has an open and welcoming feeling and there is an obvious pride and investment in the beach life.
Both these beach coves don´t have much land before mountains intervene. Behind Ipanema there´s a large lagoon and then Corcovado mountain rises behind it. Copacobana is even narrower, and to get almost anywhere, we have to drive through a longish mountain tunnel. The main downtown area is above Copacobana, on the other side of Sugarloaf. This is the oldest part of the city, and it´s much less dense. It feels more European than Copa. And it has that feeling both because of the colonial architecture and sense of space (open central squares, and such), but also because of the big new gleaming financial buildings. There is surely a lot of construction going on here, not only because of the upcoming World Cup championships, and the Olympics, but also because of Brazil´s new booming economy. It´s really obvious just on sight.
We leave tomorrow for Iguasso Falls in the deep interior of Brazil. We will spend part of our time in Argentina to see the falls on that side as well. We don´t know what kind of internet access we will have there, although we expect we will be able to get online. But if we don´t post for a while, just know we don´t have access. And we´ll be out having an amazing time!
Rio is a city of beaches, for sure. We are headquartered on Copacobana, which turns into Leme beach on one end. Sugarloaf mountain serves as a dramatic punctuation point for Leme beach, and the giant sand cove of Copacobana ends in the promontory point with the fort on the other end. Behind the fort, Ipanema beach begins, another giant miles-long white sand cove along the Atlantic Ocean. Ipanema ends at a canal, at which point Leblon beach begins. Leblon is the ritziest beach, and one of the most exclusive neighborhoods in Rio.
These miles of beaches are filled with people sunbathing, swimming, socializing, excercising, playing soccer/football, beach volleyball, or foot volleyball. Everyone seems to be tan, both young and old. Everyone seems to be healthy, even people who are a little overweight, and their weight doesn´t seem to prevent them from wearing the same beach clothes as everyone else. These beaches are lined by a wide walking promenade, with miles of inlaid stone mosaic designed by Oscar Neimeyer, the famous Brazilian architect. On weekends and holidays, the roads along the beaches, which are pretty main roads, are shut down so people can walk and ride bikes or skateboard. Lots of skateboarding. Every mile or so, there is a large raised lifeguard station, and the areas of the beaches are referred to by station number by the locals. Along the promenade, there are regular fitness stations. These are like jungle-gyms for adults, with all the equipment one might need to do fitness training. A few are quite fancy, with all the equipment to do full circuit weight training. And it´s all free. Lots of people seem to use the equipment, too, and some of our students have tried some of it. There is definitely a fitness culture here, although I suppose with so much beach life, there´s a lot of incentive to stay in shape!
The city areas near Copacobana and Ipanema are densly built up, with many buildings that look like they date from the 1950s-1970s. Much of it has the feel of parts of Manhattan, with street level shops and apartment building rising up into the sky. There seem to be almost no parks in these neighborhoods, and everyone really does seem to head to the beach at the end of the day. It´s really possible to see how Brazilians use their collective ownership of the beach as a means of creating a common culture. Unlike so many places, where the best beaches are privately owned, this city really has an open and welcoming feeling and there is an obvious pride and investment in the beach life.
Both these beach coves don´t have much land before mountains intervene. Behind Ipanema there´s a large lagoon and then Corcovado mountain rises behind it. Copacobana is even narrower, and to get almost anywhere, we have to drive through a longish mountain tunnel. The main downtown area is above Copacobana, on the other side of Sugarloaf. This is the oldest part of the city, and it´s much less dense. It feels more European than Copa. And it has that feeling both because of the colonial architecture and sense of space (open central squares, and such), but also because of the big new gleaming financial buildings. There is surely a lot of construction going on here, not only because of the upcoming World Cup championships, and the Olympics, but also because of Brazil´s new booming economy. It´s really obvious just on sight.
We leave tomorrow for Iguasso Falls in the deep interior of Brazil. We will spend part of our time in Argentina to see the falls on that side as well. We don´t know what kind of internet access we will have there, although we expect we will be able to get online. But if we don´t post for a while, just know we don´t have access. And we´ll be out having an amazing time!
No comments:
Post a Comment