Journalled on Sunday, 25 June 2023 | Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 28 degrees, hot, sunny, but slightly overcast.
It is Sunday, and it is a beautiful day, but I am still a little down with a lingering cold.
The plan is to get up early, work out in the park, have coffee at the Portuguese baker’s, and then maybe walk to Urca. Urca is my church, my safe haven where I like to go when I want to think about myself and life.
It is still one of the few places in Rio with a little bucolic village feel, like Santa Teresa. Both have a rural, small-town feel. Other neighbourhoods in Rio have a similar vibe.
However, they are usually hidden from the general public, discovered only if you live in the area, know it well, or walk around to find out exactly what is there.
At the back of Botafogo, there is a side street that climbs into the hills, Rua Nova Mundo. It is a back street at the end of Rua Marques de Olinda. The street’s entrance is almost hidden; you would only notice it if you were looking for it.
The street goes up into the hills that face The Bay and Botafogo Beach.
The higher you go, the more of a rural, small-town vibe it takes on; only the stunning view of the bay and Niteroi on the other side reminds you that you are in Rio de Janeiro.
From Rua Marques de Olinda in Botafogo, Rua Nova Mundo eventually connects you to either the boutique favela Dona Marta at the top, the highest point of the favela, which became famous because of Michael Jackson and the Dutch urban graffiti artists/painters Haas & Hahn.
Or to the back of one of Rio’s most historically traditional neighbourhoods, Laranjeiras. It is considered a neighbourhood in Rio with a royal background, where the palace was built, and aristocracy lived when Brazil officially had a royal family and was the capital of Brazil.
As you go through Nova Mundo, you encounter an avalanche of contrasts: old houses built more than a hundred years ago and new, wealthy, architecturally designed residences that face out over the cliff of the hill so that their owners can see and enjoy the bay views from almost anywhere inside. There are many old houses in not-so-good condition at the beginning of Nova Mundo, just as you are beginning to go up.
For me, it shows a certain amount of Carioca decadence that is apparent throughout Rio, where there are some quite beautiful properties, but due to Rio’s long-lasting decline as a significant economic player since losing its status as the capital to Brasilia, the Carioca does not have the financial or economic power or status as before.
At the hill’s peak, approximately 50 per cent along Nova Mundo between Botafogo and Laranjeiras, you come to a fork: you can either go to Dona Marta or continue to Laranjeiras. Continuing to Laranjeiras, you go up even more to the highest point of the hill, with enormous police barracks.
It is probably a strategic point from which they can quickly and easily deal with any situation in the region. I am assuming this because I would never imagine a police barracks in such a place; if you do not see it for yourself, you would not believe it, something quite singular.
When you pass the police barracks and descend towards Laranjeiras, you are heading into the back of Laranjeiras. There are beautiful, small, narrow side streets that are difficult for cars to pass. Lining the streets are lovely, quaint, pastel-coloured old townhouses that hide a rabbit warren of space behind their facades.
Many of the tiny, coloured houses and some three-storeyed residential buildings remind me of Ocean Drive in Miami.
Following the main little street that descends, there are some small quirky botequims where you can eat and drink to the silence of a car passing now and again, the rustle of the trees if there is a breeze, and just this. Again, it is a hidden gem among the rest of Rio’s population; very few people know it exists.
I have taken this route by bicycle many times, and it is a pleasure to make a round trip to Botafogo, Laranjeiras and back to Botafogo; you either do it by bike or foot, in any way or form, it is good, and it shows that Rio has much more to offer besides the obvious of the beaches, Copacabana, Ipanema etc.
So, after working out and having a coffee, I went to Urca alone. It is sometimes essential to make an appointment and have quality time with us, and I love meeting with myself in Urca.
There is a new popular bar/restaurant inside at the start of Urca where you can buy drinks and snacks, cross the street, sit on the wall, and eat and drink on the Mureta facing the bay.
I like to purchase a glass of dry red wine and sit on the wall, the Mureta, and think about life, what I have done, and what must be done.
Tomorrow, Monday the 26th, I will have to present myself and my respective documentation at the Federal Police station to receive a new copy of my Brazilian ID.
I’m cautious because it is Brazil, and as a foreigner, there are factors beyond my control. It can depend on the people working that day and their mood; let’s hope everything goes smoothly and there are no hiccups.
I got home at about midday, and Yasmin and Nalva were up. Nalva cooked a very nice late lunch; I washed the dishes and cleaned the kitchen so everything would be good for Monday, starting the week well.
I finished some design work on the computer, then watched a film before trying to go to bed early, but it was useless, as I could not relax in anticipation of the next day at the Federal Police.
In bed by 10 p.m.
Thank you.
Thanks for reading my blog. Check out my other posts and share your thoughts in the comments.
Richard
