Today, Charlie and I go to the city center, we take
the Metro and few minute later come out in middle of
big buildings. Our goal is to take the "boundinho",
a very old tramway of Rio. In the old times there where
more of them but now its a city of cabs and buses!
To go there we left the metro to Cinelandia, after that
you just look up and you see big buildings, in fact
we are in the middle of the buiseness center. On the
bottom of the buildings the people are walking to their
different job, it s a typical new york atmosphere...fast
and furious, but the people keep in smile. At some corner
some police are staying, they look more like Eishokey
player with their antiweapon clothes.
Well some shops later we arrive in front of a strange
looking building. It s high its rectangular but have
some holes inside. It is the Petrobras building, a petrole
compagnie. On the back, the cathedral Metropolitana,
a very modern conic cathedral. The architecture seems
very simple in comparison to Europes Churches but, it
use on the same way the sun light to impress the people
coming inside. On the top, white windows form a + (in
France we say une croix, in German ein Kreuz, in English
???)
Well lets go know to the bondinho, this charming yellow
streetcar take us from the center to Santa Teresa and
drive upper the aquaduc. This neighborhood is one of
the only one that stay on a hill in Rio. I met a guy
in Lapa who had a big house there with a pool, and he
paid a very small price. He just told me that the people
don t take care of old things here, they invest in new
buildings. The carioca don t have the feeling for old
charming homes. In fact this part of the city became
more an artist place, they preserve and restore this
houses and make some atelier inside. The houses are
lovely and have a overview of the city, the bondinho
make it more charming. The old Volkswagen Kaffer (betlle)
let you feel in a different time, far away of the modern
comfort.
At last we arrive in Lapa.
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