Friday, on to Rio

March 22, 2013

Friday morning, we awoke to a beautiful sunny sky in Paraty.  We had a quick cup of coffee at 7 and went for a walk across the Pereque-Acu river and along the beach, up a hill to the ruins of the original fort.  We continued on to a lovely beach and then returned to the Casa Turquesa for a wonderful breakfast.  

Everything about the hotel is lovely. It only has eight rooms and would be a great choice for a honeymoon.  It is tastefully done and the breakfasts were great.  They included fresh fruit, delicious breads, yogurt, granola and eggs.

After breakfast, we packed up and before flying to Rio we went into the hills about Paraty in the van, first to a operating water wheel mill used to process manioc and to make cachassa.  Then we went to a lovely spot with a mountain white water stream flowing over granite rocks that could have been in the mountains of North Carolina.   

Villa Verde was the name of the property.  It is operated by an Italian who used to operate a a sailboat for tourists.  The boat sank and he decided to stayi n Paraty.  He found the property in the hills above the city and began to operate the reataurant as a weekend family outing spot.  Children can play in the stream and the parents can linger over a three or four hour lunch.  We had a great light lunch of salad and raviolis.  Some of the raviolis were stuffed cheese, some with pumpkin, some beef and some mushrooms.  It was excellent and a good pacing for Rio. 

I received an email from my friend Eduardo Tess from Sao Paulo reporting that he was in Rio.  We made plans to have him join us for dinner.

We went to the airport about 2pm and met our pilots.  Our trusty King Air 300 was sitting there all ready pre-flight checked and fueled.  We boarded and Paulo, our pilot, told us he had obtained clearance for a fly by of Rio on the way in.  We had a fabulous view of Paraty and its hundreds of islands on our way out and a great view of Rio flying in.  We saw Corcovado with its statue of Christ, Sugar Loaf, Copacabana Beach and downtown Rio.  We landed at Santos Dumont airport which is right on the water near downtown and used only for civil aviation and a few domestic commercial flights. 

We were met by Christian, our Rio guide and later by Fabio and his twelve year old son Philippe.  They had arranged for us to visit the Rio Operations Center in which the City monitors emergency preparedness, public services such as power, transportation, sanitation,traffic and public problems. 

Before going there, we went to the Copacabana Hotel  and checked in.  As we were preparing the leave the hotel for our meeting at the Operations Center, we met Eduardo Tess coming in from a long walk along the beach. 

We agreed to meet him in the lobby at 7:15 and went to our meeting.  At the center, Dom, Fabio and Philipe were denied admission because they had on shorts.  They had to wait as we were  ushered in.  The Center does not handle public safety but is linked to the public safety information.  It is part of their effort to be ready for the World Cup and the Olympics.  It was fascinating but it is only a beginning.  Their network of cameras is only 800 and they will need to expand to 3000 by the Olympics.  Eventually it will have to be better integrated with public safety.  Joaquin Monteiro de Carvalho,  the Subsecretario of the Municipal de Transportes was our host.  He is an up and coming young Carioca, 32 years old, and very impressive.

On the way back to the hotel our transport paused for us to get out and inspect the venue for the Carnival parades.  I had not realized it but apparently the floats travel  a short distance, no more than a kilometer, between permanent stands.  It is a competition and they are scored on various things such as the quality of their dancing and whether they make it from the start to the finish in 80 minutes.

We freshened up for dinner and met in the lobby at 7:15.  I went looking for Eduardo who was at the pool bar with a young couple Alex and Carolina.  Carolina is a lawyer and will be working with the Rio Office that Eduardo is opening   Eduardo said he coud not join us for dinner because his wife Christianna was on her way from Sao Paulo to join him and see Caroline.  

We went to dinner Porcao a traditional Braziiam restaurant from where a gorgeous view of Sugarloaf can be had.  Unfortunately there must hare been a power failure as it was all dark..

We returned to the hotel and Christianna had just arrived and Eduardo was at the same table in the bar that he had claimed earlier, this time with a different couple, a lawyer from Rio who has worked with Eduardo for years and his wife who just finished her PhD in the History of Law. They were waiting for a table at Cipriani's the hotel elegant restaurant venue. We chatted with them until 11:45 when they were told their table was ready.  We went to bed and they went to dinner.