Rio de Janeiro
Saturday October 29. Rio de Janeiro. Art Deco and Coffee tour
The end of the second leg of our journey - so said sad good byes to Lynne, Utta, Claudia and Suzanne. Had a six hour transit tour of the city called Art Deco and Coffee tour. About 30 of us walked from the terminal with our Italian guide looking at street art and graffiti. We went past the museum of the Future which, just constructed, we had visited in 2016- the year of the Brazil Olympics.
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Click on any thumbnail photo and get a larger photo
After that we concentrated on Art Deco buildings, the phrase originating in 1926, and saw many good examples. Also saw examples of the earlier established Ar t Nouveau, covering natural, non geometrical, shapes.
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Boarded the bus for the journey to Copacabama where we continued our tour. Also heard about the birth of the Bossa Nova. Heard about the girl at Ipanema. Lunch in the Giuseppe grill, very good, chatted to the artist Yvonne for the first time
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. Then we drove, catching glimpses of Christ the Redeemer from the coach, to the art nouveau Cafeteria Colombo where we had fantastic gateaux amidst wondrous surrounds - but what a deafening noise!. It was recently chosen as one of the 10 most beautiful cafes in the world. It was founded in 1894 by Portuguese immigrants Joaquim Borges de Meireles and Manuel José Lebrão. Its architecture and atmosphere allow one to have an idea of what the Belle Époque would have been like in Rio . Between 1912 and 1918 the rooms inside the confectionery were renovated, with an Art Nouveau touch, with huge glass mirrors brought from Antwerp, embellished by elegant friezes carved in rosewood. The wooden furniture inside was sculpted at the same time by the craftsman Antônio Borsoi. In 1922 its facilities were expanded with the construction of a second floor, with a tea room. An opening in the ceiling on the ground floor allows you to see the skylight of the tea room, decorated with beautiful stained glass.
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Once back aboard ship, I had a swim, went to Lea' s intrhoduction for the new girls, as we needed to hear about the excursions in Paraty. Then we enjoyed the sail out of Rio from the back deck. For dinner, we just had a salad in Hot Rocks, but mine was a mush: disgraceful!