Day 1 in Rio

We started out the morning (July 13, 2019) with the breakfast that is included at our hotel, and boy was it spectacular. There was a ton of really good food like eggs, bacon, breads of all kinds, and even fresh watermelon juice. We tried not to pig out too much. 

Hunter really liked the churros con leche, a type of local pastry that was delicious but certainly not healthy

After breakfast, we headed to Etnias, a massive mural created for the 2016 Olympics displaying native diversity. The mural is located in a rather sketchy area with lots of abandoned warehouses. At first, we were rather worried when our Uber dropped us off, but the mural was right around the corner in a rather nice spot. We walked along looking at all the beautiful artwork with so much detail. The mural by Kobra is so large, its almost impossible to get a photo of the whole thing. It is 15 meters tall and 170 meters long. It is actually in the Guinness Book of Records for being so large. The painting required 180 buckets of acrylic paint, 2.8 thousand spray cans, and seven hydraulic lifts.

Where we were dropped off

The first part of the painting. Each person painted represents a tribe from each continent. This one represents the Huli from New Guinea (Oceania).

Europe’s Supi people

Americas’ Tapajós people

Thailand’s Kayin people

Ethiopia’s Mursi people

After exploring the areas with the murals, we walked to the Museum of Tomorrow, a science museum focused on innovations to make the world a better place for the future. It is a very futuristic looking building. Entrance for both Hunter and I was less than $10 US. The museum is highly interactive. You get to download an app and look at things in augmented reality - it was pretty neat! We also got to watch this really cool video in a dome, where it felt like you were inside what was happening.

Walking up to the museum

Sadly there was so much trash floating in the bay

An oil rig

Looking back towards the area with the mural

Cool art. There were lots of pools surrounding the museum

They were cleaning all the pools around the museum

While saddened by all the trash, we did see this little boat which was picking it up. It has a conveyor belt that catches large debris. Rio is trying to be greener as a city, while this is hard in the developed world it is even harder in developing nations. It is tough to imagine facing the troubles we face at home with extremely limited resources.

On the app, this was one of the locations you could use augmented reality - see below

DNA sequencing

Two examples of DNA sequencing

A's C's T's G's - different combinations that make up our DNA

This room was pretty neat. It has all sorts of different posts.

These are some of the interesting images we found

This one fell under the power section

A big video display of how we are impacting the world

One of the interactive games we played called me a confused scientist which I thought was funny

Approaching the end of the main museum

A place to reflect

Another opportunity to use augmented reality to see what the bay would have looked like before humans

And here is the bay with humans... I preferred the whales, but we got to see a big ship cruise through. 

After exploring the main museum we decided to check out the temporary exhibit which was all about food, and how we are going to feed everyone in the coming years. 

 

Sections of different foods

 

 

 

 

 

This was a really cool display. It showed different meals that were made out of crazy ingredients like insect parts and algae... while these might not sound like things we would eat now they are some of the most efficient sources of protein and may become crucial in the future

Of course, we had to stop at a McDonalds for lunch as we try to see the new things on international menus

We broke the machine when we paid which resulted in an interesting google translate conversation with the cashier trying to figure out our order number

This cost $9 USD. Hunter had some bacon burger special and I had a BBQ special.

After lunch, we headed to a monastery that was recommended in one of the guides I read before this trip. It turned out to be super cool. To get to it, we had to walk up this hidden driveway on a hill. It is very plain looking on the outside, but crazy ornate on the inside. When we arrived, we were almost the only ones there (there were 3 other people). As we left, more people showed up. It was nice to almost have the place to ourselves to enjoy.

A flower way up in the trees, it was the only one. 

Some of the side chapels

After enjoying the monastery, we headed to a market that was supposed to be good for souvenirs. While we didn't buy anything, it was interesting to see all the things you could buy for incredibly cheap prices, like Ray-Bans for R$10 which is about $3 US (I don't think they were real). There were also lots of street food vendors, but I wasn't adventurous enough to try the meat sticks. After a stroll through the market, we took an uber to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro. It is really cool architecturally and not like a normal cathedral. There is beautiful stained glass inside.  

A large cathedral on our way to the market

Many shops were closed/closing when we arrived around 3pm

The modern spire of the cathedral

The exterior of the cathedral and the city in the background, the famous Christ the Redeemer statue is barely visible on the mountain to the right

The stained glass was very pretty

My panorama

And Hunters

More of the exterior. It definitely sticks out.

The cool building next to the Cathedral

Bunch of cats playing

A short walk around the cathedral brings us to the Carioca Aqueduct and we timed it just right for sunset! An impressive example of colonial architecture and engineering, the aqueduct was built in the 1700s to bring fresh water from the Carioca River to the city. Today it serves as a bridge for a popular tram that connects the city centre with the Santa Teresa neighbourhood. After taking lots of pictures and getting to see the tram cross, we headed to the nearby Escadaria Selaron also known as Selaron Steps. It is an area covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world! 

There were actually a lot of homeless people under the arches

Getting to see the tram cross

I really like this picture!

Stormy taking the picture she really liked

Walking about a block to find the tiled steps

The steps were crowded with lots of people. Shortly after this picture I was randomly handed some guys phone as he scaled up the steps and told me to take his picture. He did not offer to take ours though. 

Looking down the steps. We didn't go all the way to the top, but there are about 215 tiled steps.

Waiting for our uber

It soon became dark, so we got an uber back to our hotel area. We stopped at a restaurant called Cervantes for dinner which sells sandwiches. We ordered the Cervantes Especial - a filet mignon pineapple and pate sandwich. We took it to go and ate in our hotel room. It was delicious, altho the pate was a little weird and we didn't eat it all. The pineapple was a nice touch. After eating we went up to the rooftop of our hotel where there was a pool, bar, and fitness room. Not much was happening up there, but the views were great. I really wanted something for dessert, so Hunter and I went to this place called Pao e Compagnia, or Bread and Company, a block away that had pastries. We got little eclair type things that were chocolate filled and lemon tarts. Both were delicious and I have a feeling we might be back for more!

Getting dinner

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BONUS: A map showing all the flights Hunter and I have taken (Hunter has a few more lines than me)! We finally have a line to South America! We just need Africa and Antarctica now! 

Date: July 13, 2018