Today was a sightseeing day for Ambar and I. We headed out at around 11:30 (we slept in til about 10; I'm still not feeling well and have pretty much lost my voice at this point :(; so I needed all the extra rest I could get) and headed for the Escadaria Selaron in Lapa, which was about a 20 min. walk from our hostel. We got a bit lost along the way, but not so much so to the point where I felt we looked like obvious foreigners. The steps actually ended up being situated on a very bizarre street. It almost looked like a back alleyway that you never would've guessed they would've been on, but they were there. They were absolutely gorgeous. As some brief background info., Selaron is a Chilean artist who created the steps (which are decorated with tiles of every color and design imaginable) as a tribute to the people of Rio and to Brasil as a whole. It is literally a living work of art because on the information plaque in front of the steps, he mentions that he's constantly changing the tiles out for new ones (there's tiles there of every color and design and from so many different countries--they're are some written in other languages like French and even Arabic!; he also said he collected/bought some of the tiles from vendors all around Rio). It was truly amazing. I've never seen anything like them. And, of course, I took tons of pictures! ;)
It was really bizarre too because Ambar and I ended up meeting this old Chilean man named Pedro at the base of the steps (he looked at least in his late 60s; I noticed him talking Spanish to another person and asked when he was done--in Portuguese, of course ;)--if he spoke Spanish) who said he was a salsero (salsa singer). He asked where we were from/how we knew Spanish and we told him we were Dominican. He then said that he had travelled all around the Caribbean singing and loved our country (DR). He proceeded to sing us some salsa songs acapella (which it seemed like he had penned himself), which was cute and told us that he had been living in Lapa for the past 7 years. He told us about some place in Lapa that plays salsa on Friday nights and said we should go cuz he's always there and that it's really fun. He pulled out his camera and asked if he could take a picture with each of us (which I was going to ask him if I could take a picture with him anyway for memory's sake). We did (I took one of him and Ambar with his and her camera and vice versa), but then he asked her to take another picture of him and I and kissed me on the cheek in the picture which was cute...at first. As we kept talking to him, though, he kept giving me kisses on the cheek and saying how he loved darker women which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. He even asked Ambar and I if we'd like to smoke (a blunt) with him in his apartment! It was weird. So we kind of said bye and climbed the steps and were taking pictures. As we were coming back down he said he'd take pictures of she and I together on the steps, which was nice of him. But then he kept doing the kissing me on the cheek thing and saying he loved dark women! It was creepy and annoying (especially because he was old enough to be my grandfather). Then he called down his Chilean friend, Christian (they live in the building just next door to the steps), and told him to come meet us. We chatted with him for a bit (he didn't seem too creepy--he was a lot younger, but not well kept or anything; they told us to come back tomorrow and they'd take us out to eat and to the club--we're definitely not doing that by the way), and then jetted asap. Aside from that weird encounter, I loved the steps. It's a shame, though, that my experience there was a bit overshadowed by the chance encounter.
After the steps, Ambar and I walked to the Carmen Miranda Museum. It took us quite a while to get to (on the map it looked within walking distance, but in reality it was mad far; it was literally in the next town over--Botafogo--and took us about 40 min. to get there), but when we finally did it was fantastic. It's in such a non-descript building, though, which really shocked me. You would have no idea it's even there unless you were specifically looking for it (there's not even a sign on the actual museum on the outside that says "Carmen Miranda Museum" or anything). It's literally in the middle of a park. The museum opened in 1976, though, so it's been there for a while. It's just sad because it's really great and I feel like it gets all the attention it deserves (I don't think many tourists think to go there or even know it exists when they visit Rio). I was really impressed by it. There were so many beautiful pictures of her inside and there were even disaplys with the jewelry, costumes, shoes (which were RIDICULOUSLY high!!) and headpieces she wore. There was also a tv in the back with chairs where you could watch some of her musical performances from movies she was in. She was a really beautiful woman. She reminded me a lot of Josephine Baker in her heyday. Needless to say, I took plenty of pictures there too ;).
After that, we walked back to Catete and went to the art museum next to the ex-presedential palace (which is literally around the corner from our street) and then walked around the palatial garden. All in all we did quite a lot of walking today so I'm genuinely tired. We also took some really cool pictures of graffiti along the way to each of our destinations (Rio's supposed to be known for its intricate and beautiful graffiti). Maybe I can even have one blown up and hang it up in my room ;).
We ate dinner at (you guessed it) Big Nectar and Ambar got the "X-Tudo," which was basically a hamburger with an egg, ham, cheese, and bacon on top of it. It looked ridiculous and monstrous but she said it was good. I also tried something new and got a "pastel de frango," which is basically a huge pastelito (a turnover) with chicken in it (although I didn't like how they prepared the chicken; it tasted almost like tuna fish but with other spices and pieces of corn in it--not good; I'll definitely be trying another kind when I get one again) and got a mango juice to go with it. We also got a slice of cake called "pavi," which tasted like it was made with whipped cream and had softened cookies in it and chocolate shavings on top. It was surprisingly good.
Well, it's off to bed now. I'm hoping my voice comes back so I can possibly teach tomorrow, but if not I'll go to Falete with Chantelle in the morning anyway just to show that I made the effort and to prove that I truly won't be able to teach. Hopefully no one will be mad. Anyways, boa noite! Beijos!
It was really bizarre too because Ambar and I ended up meeting this old Chilean man named Pedro at the base of the steps (he looked at least in his late 60s; I noticed him talking Spanish to another person and asked when he was done--in Portuguese, of course ;)--if he spoke Spanish) who said he was a salsero (salsa singer). He asked where we were from/how we knew Spanish and we told him we were Dominican. He then said that he had travelled all around the Caribbean singing and loved our country (DR). He proceeded to sing us some salsa songs acapella (which it seemed like he had penned himself), which was cute and told us that he had been living in Lapa for the past 7 years. He told us about some place in Lapa that plays salsa on Friday nights and said we should go cuz he's always there and that it's really fun. He pulled out his camera and asked if he could take a picture with each of us (which I was going to ask him if I could take a picture with him anyway for memory's sake). We did (I took one of him and Ambar with his and her camera and vice versa), but then he asked her to take another picture of him and I and kissed me on the cheek in the picture which was cute...at first. As we kept talking to him, though, he kept giving me kisses on the cheek and saying how he loved darker women which made me feel a bit uncomfortable. He even asked Ambar and I if we'd like to smoke (a blunt) with him in his apartment! It was weird. So we kind of said bye and climbed the steps and were taking pictures. As we were coming back down he said he'd take pictures of she and I together on the steps, which was nice of him. But then he kept doing the kissing me on the cheek thing and saying he loved dark women! It was creepy and annoying (especially because he was old enough to be my grandfather). Then he called down his Chilean friend, Christian (they live in the building just next door to the steps), and told him to come meet us. We chatted with him for a bit (he didn't seem too creepy--he was a lot younger, but not well kept or anything; they told us to come back tomorrow and they'd take us out to eat and to the club--we're definitely not doing that by the way), and then jetted asap. Aside from that weird encounter, I loved the steps. It's a shame, though, that my experience there was a bit overshadowed by the chance encounter.
After the steps, Ambar and I walked to the Carmen Miranda Museum. It took us quite a while to get to (on the map it looked within walking distance, but in reality it was mad far; it was literally in the next town over--Botafogo--and took us about 40 min. to get there), but when we finally did it was fantastic. It's in such a non-descript building, though, which really shocked me. You would have no idea it's even there unless you were specifically looking for it (there's not even a sign on the actual museum on the outside that says "Carmen Miranda Museum" or anything). It's literally in the middle of a park. The museum opened in 1976, though, so it's been there for a while. It's just sad because it's really great and I feel like it gets all the attention it deserves (I don't think many tourists think to go there or even know it exists when they visit Rio). I was really impressed by it. There were so many beautiful pictures of her inside and there were even disaplys with the jewelry, costumes, shoes (which were RIDICULOUSLY high!!) and headpieces she wore. There was also a tv in the back with chairs where you could watch some of her musical performances from movies she was in. She was a really beautiful woman. She reminded me a lot of Josephine Baker in her heyday. Needless to say, I took plenty of pictures there too ;).
After that, we walked back to Catete and went to the art museum next to the ex-presedential palace (which is literally around the corner from our street) and then walked around the palatial garden. All in all we did quite a lot of walking today so I'm genuinely tired. We also took some really cool pictures of graffiti along the way to each of our destinations (Rio's supposed to be known for its intricate and beautiful graffiti). Maybe I can even have one blown up and hang it up in my room ;).
We ate dinner at (you guessed it) Big Nectar and Ambar got the "X-Tudo," which was basically a hamburger with an egg, ham, cheese, and bacon on top of it. It looked ridiculous and monstrous but she said it was good. I also tried something new and got a "pastel de frango," which is basically a huge pastelito (a turnover) with chicken in it (although I didn't like how they prepared the chicken; it tasted almost like tuna fish but with other spices and pieces of corn in it--not good; I'll definitely be trying another kind when I get one again) and got a mango juice to go with it. We also got a slice of cake called "pavi," which tasted like it was made with whipped cream and had softened cookies in it and chocolate shavings on top. It was surprisingly good.
Well, it's off to bed now. I'm hoping my voice comes back so I can possibly teach tomorrow, but if not I'll go to Falete with Chantelle in the morning anyway just to show that I made the effort and to prove that I truly won't be able to teach. Hopefully no one will be mad. Anyways, boa noite! Beijos!
2 comments:
Pedro sounds like a winner! Gosh. You can teach your kida how to say 'CREEPY' in English. JK! It wall sounds absolutely amazing. I'm super-intrigued by those steps as well - I can't wait to see some pics!
PS - And tell Amber that her little 'X-tudo,' though perhaps amazing, sounds equally as frightening...
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