Rio de Janeiro: Day Three

Our third day in Rio de Janeiro was something a little bit different. As Claudio and I had expected, it was a very rainy day, so we decided to skip the beaches and head for the city centre.

The city centre is not the most famous part of Rio, but it has some fantastic sights, and definitely can't be missed!

We decided to start off by seeing Theatro Municipal, which is perhaps the most beautiful building in the entire city. The grand architecture of the theatre and the buildings surrounding it, along with the rainy weather, reminded me of the times I've gone sightseeing in European cities, like Vienna, Bratislava and Paris!

Our next stop was the cathedral, which was something completely different! It was designed in a modernist style, and doesn't really look like a church at all. To be honest, it made me think of a Dalek, but it was actually inspired by Mayan pyramids. 

In fact, the interior of the cathedral is more spectacular than its exterior - once you're inside, you realise just how huge it really is. The stained-glass windows are also very beautiful.

After visiting the cathedral, we walked over to Arcos da Lapa, also known as Carioca Aqueduct. This is a beautiful architectural landmark, which is made more impressive by the fact that it was built in the 1700s. 

Fortunately, the rain started clearing up when we were here, so we could finally take some photos without our rain coats!

The final place we went to see in the city centre is probably its most famous sight - or at least the one that gets posted the most on social media! Escadaria Selarón is a huge set of steps made up of colourful tiles, some of which have paintings on them. There are also various murals surrounding the steps. Interestingly, Escadaria Selarón was actually created by a Chilean artist, Jorge Selarón. You can definitely see the Chilean influence there, and it's hard not to be reminded of Valparaíso and its many colourful staircases and street art.

One of the most memorable sights for me on Escadaria Selarón were these two beautiful cats sleeping next to each other. They looked so perfect!

It was also a nice surprise to discover an Indian restaurant (Hoje Tem Curry) located right on the steps. (I introduced Claudio to Indian food when he was staying with me and my family in the UK, and now we're both big fans!) We decided to go there for lunch, which turned out to be a great choice, as they offer a deal which includes a curry and all the trimmings!

After our delicious curries, we went to take a photo of a nearby street, simply because it reminded me of a street I'd seen in Lisbon in November 2019. The street in question had had yellow and green banners, which had made me think of Brazilian carnivals, and given me Wanderlust to visit Brazil. So it was pretty amazing to finally be in Brazil over three years later, and to see a street with almost identical banners!

By this point, it was the afternoon, and we decided to head away from the city centre and to go to our next stop: the Botanical Garden. This seems to be a less-visited attraction compared to other places in Rio; maybe it was just because of the rain, but we had the place almost to ourselves for the couple of hours we were there. It's a huge area filled with trees and plants from all over Brazil and other parts of the world, and it turned out to be one of the highlights of our entire trip.

The first part we saw was this little garden inspired by Mexico, which was filled with cacti. It's amazing how it survives in the completely different climate of Brazil!

 

One part we really liked was the Japanese garden. It was so tranquil and relaxing to sit under the little shelter there, protected from the rain.

Another beautiful and tranquil aspect of the Botanical Garden are the three waterfalls that you can find not far from the entrance.

In fact, the entire garden is incredibly beautiful and peaceful - it's hard to believe that it's in the middle of a big city!

But by far the most memorable thing about the Botanical Garden were the monkeys! We saw some medium-sized ones leaping about from tree to tree near the waterfalls, and some small ones climbing up and down the tree trunks on the other side of the garden. They were adorable! It was hard to get decent pictures of them, but I'll always have an amazing memory of the experience of seeing them in their natural habitat.

And that concludes my account of our third day in the wonderful city of Rio de Janeiro!

Next I'll be writing about Day Four, which was admittedly the least exciting day of our trip, as we had another full day of rain, but this time we hadn't been expecting it. However, we tried our best to make the most of the situation, and we had some nice moments along the way. A blog post will be coming very soon!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day One here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Two here!

Read about Rio de Janeiro: Day Four here!

Read about Arraial do Cabo here!