Posted by February 15, 2017 – Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
We met Rodrigo at 9am and headed downtown by hopping on the tram. The tram was built for the Olympic games. It is free for people over 65. We were told that they had a motorcycle drive in front for the first few weeks because people would walk on the tracks.
We walked toward where the old town is. There are many old buildings that unfortunately haven’t been kept up. You can see that they must have been great in their time. We went to an art museum and then an exhibit of old toys.
Parts of the old town looks very European with outside cafes. The theater is a beautiful building and unfortunately they don’t offer tours of the inside. We went to the contfeitaria Colombo. This is a confection shop and restaurant that opened in 1884. It has a stained glass in the ceiling. Rodrigo took us upstairs to the restaurant area so that I could take pictures. We were limited for time so we couldn’t stop for coffee and a treat.
Next, we went to the Library of Literature which houses thousands of very old books. It is being renovated but we were allowed in to take pictures. There was a man suspended by rope who was repainting the gold plaques around the library.
After this we only had a hour left before returning to the ship so we walked through some more interesting neighborhoods before getting back to the port area.
Rodrigo was an excellent guide. Anyone who is interested in having a guided tour with him can email him at riophototours@gmail.com
The sail out of Rio was really nice. Great views of the city as we sailed out of the bay.
Tomorrow is a sea day and the we are in Salvador, Brazil on our way up the coast heading to the Amazon.
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