3 of the best beaches in Rio

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Rio-beaches

Rio has long been a draw to South America for many visitors from across the world, what with its vibrant and accepting culture, energetic locals and, perhaps most importantly, its selection of beautiful beaches. Planning a trip to the Brazilian city? Here are just three of the best beaches to discover during your stay.

Praia Vermelha

Often said to be one of, if not the most tranquil beach in Rio, Praia Vermelha is where to go if you want a secluded escape. Also known as the Red Beach, this shoreline gets its name from the red flushes it sees at sunset, making the already gorgeous setting even more unmissable.

The deep blue waters lap calmly upon the soft white sands, and best of all, Praia Vermelha is rarely crowded – expect to see a mere handful of people sharing the beach with you. For such a bustling, energetic city, this spot is a welcome escape for anyone wanting to see the quieter side of Rio.

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Anna's eighty-eight

Thought For Food – Rio Summit 23-27th July 2018

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Food, and all the industries involved in its production, preparation, sale and consumption, has a transformative effect on everything from landscapes and ecosystems to the lives of individuals and communities. Anyone who takes an interest in food would have to agree that these are interesting times. Whether we’re looking at how to grow and distribute enough food to make sure everyone has enough to eat or whether we’re thinking about restaurant projects that try to make a positive contribution towards the homeless communities or those previously incarcerated, there’s a huge amount of interest in this increasingly important sector.

Later this month there will be a meeting of some of the most forward thinking minds in the world of food, right here in Rio. The Thought For Food organisation will be holding a week long summit and academy with international speakers covering a diverse range of subjects such as “how to restore nature through agroforestry” and “new solutions for smallholder farmers”. If it sounds like something you might find interesting then you can get more details about the summit and academy here.

Speaking of putting the food industry to good use, I have to give a mention to one of my favourite projects here in Brazil. Gastromotiva is an organisation that, among other things, trains people from low income families to work in the restaurant and hospitality industry. I’ll be visiting their restaurant (linked to in the first paragraph) in the coming weeks and look forward to reporting back here on the blog.

OK, I’m short on time today so I’ll cut keep this week’s post short. Seeing as it’s been a bit link-heavy today, and perhaps a little short on diversion, the least I can do is leave you with a picture. Last weekend I snapped this, the rather wonderfully named Anna’s eighty-eight (Diaethria anna):

Anna's eighty-eight

If you’re wondering how I managed to get such a close-up without any motion blur, it’s because this particular specimen had already, ahem, ‘joined the great majority’. A most cooperative model.

 

Yoo2-Rio

World Cup encounters and a tough gig for Lonely Planet

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The-Maze-Rio

The Maze – a wonderland of tiles, art and curry.

Happy Friday readers! Having set myself the task of writing every Friday, I woke up this morning in a bit of a panic. Spare time is in short supply at the moment – in case you haven’t heard, there’s a World Cup on, and that means schedules are being squeezed and pushed around in order to fit in with the crucial fixtures. This is the third World Cup I’ve experienced since I’ve been in Brazil and it’s no exaggeration to say that normal life here gets put on hold when Brazil are playing. The cartórios (notary’s offices) just come right out and say “we’re not opening on game day” and the supermarkets close 30 minutes before Brazil games and re-open 15 minutes after. And let’s just say that most people who are (ostensibly at least) working don’t exactly have their minds on the job.

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oxtail sandwich in focaccia

Street dance, a craft beer tour and a super sandwich

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Hello readers! It’s been a while hasn’t it? Can you believe that at one point I was churning out between 4 and 5 blog posts a week? That’s about the number of posts I published in the entirety of 2017. Why the lack of posts? Well, it’s been a topsy-turvy 18 months and that kind of chaos doesn’t lend itself to writing upbeat, entertaining or informative blog posts (believe it or not, that’s what I aim for). So how come I’m back? Well, honestly, I’ve missed the writing and I’ve missed the interaction with you guys – Facebook and Instagram are all very well, but a blog feels less limited and less lazy. So here we go again!

Rather than dive straight into highfalutin articles on the state of politics in Brazil or analysis of some hot topic in current affairs, I thought I’d start out with something light and easy – a quick summary of some things I’ve seen in the last week. Let’s start off with this dance group who perform on the streets of Botafogo.

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Marchezinho-Botafogo

Botafogo blowing up

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A strange, distantly-remembered feeling came over me on my first visit to São Paulo. I was standing outside some funky bar in Vila Madalena and there was a young couple standing next to me. As I stood there I gradually became aware that the uneasy feeling I was experiencing was somehow related to them.  I slyly looked them over – she looked like she’d cut her own hair that morning, he was wearing jeans and some super-cool t-shirt and both of them had a generous smattering of badass tattoos.  I looked down at my standard-issue Rio attire: Havianas, plain shorts, run-of-the-mill t-shirt and unadorned skin. It hit me with a jolt: for the first time since I left London back in 2009 I was feeling deeply uncool.

The-Slow-Bakery-Rio

The Slow Bakery – notice how half the people in this picture are looking at me like “You’re not cool enough to be in here…”

 

Rio has many great things going for it – beautiful landscapes, fantastic places to eat and drink, a friendly, easygoing vibe – but until relatively recently I felt that it lacked the kind of intimidatingly cool subculture that is par for the course in most major cities. I’m not saying that Cariocas are nerdy – they’re generally awesome. And no doubt there were amazing parties and scenes that I never became aware of due to my own undeniable lack of cool.  But overall, the general scene seemed to be more ‘casual’ than ‘hipster’.

People here tend to dress for the beach – shorts, t-shirts, flip-flops. And on the subject of t-shirts (surely one of the greatest opportunities to show the world how awesome you are) Cariocas are the only people on earth I’ve encountered who widely choose to wear tourist t-shirts. Images of Sugarloaf Mountain and Cristo Redentor abound – slogans singing the praises of Ipanema and Copacabana are commonplace. Where else would such garb be worn, unironically, by the locals?

But in the last few years I’ve noticed a change in the air. Awesome little bars and restaurants have been popping up. I’ve been seeing menus featuring obscure international street foods, pro-biotic fermented drinks and artisanal ales. There are little cafés and bistros with locally sourced ingredients and a plethora of places regularly hosting guest chefs. This exciting wave of innovation has spread across the whole city, but one neighbourhood seems to be at the centre of it all: Botafogo.

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