Continuing our adventure through South America, from Foz do Iguacu, we headed to Rio. And just like the song (and the title of the post) says: Rio de Janeiro is still beautiful. ❤️

Note: Rio de Janeiro is both the state and the city name (Like Quebec).

We flew from Foz to Galeão airport and from there took a previously arranged shuttle to Paraty from Paraty Tours.

It’s a long way. About 4 hours in the van, but we made two stops for food and washroom which made it easy.

The view also helps. Rio (the state) has a very privileged geography, combining ocean and mountains all over. It’s stunning.

Paraty

We stayed at the pousada Villa Tie Paraty. A super cute bed and breakfast, walking distance to the beach with super nice and helpful staff.

The breakfast was delicious (forgot to take pics because I was busy eating it).

I did not have time to enjoy the beach, mostly because we were travelling and working, but we were able to see the sunrise and also have lunch at a barraca by the beach called La Luna Bistro.

The next day we went on a walking tour throughout the old town. In the tour you learn a lot about the town’s history. For example, long before Portuguese colonizers arrived, the region was inhabited by the Guaianás indigenous people. In their Tupi language, Paraty means “River of Fish” (specifically referring to the local mullet fish that swim up the local rivers to spawn). In the beginning it was just a fishing village.

During the 18th-century Gold Rush, Paraty was the vital port town connecting the gold mines of Minas Gerais with Portugal. Enslaved Africans and indigenous labourers paved a 1,200 km stone road (Caminho do Ouro) over the steep coastal rainforest mountains to transport gold and gems by mule train down to Paraty’s harbour.

However, the coves and islands around Paraty were notorious hideouts for French and British pirates waiting to ambush Portuguese gold ships. Pirate attacks eventually forced the Portuguese Crown to redirect shipments to Rio de Janeiro (city) via an inland route, leading to Paraty’s initial economic decline.

Paraty survived five major economic cycles: Gold -> Sugarcane & Cachaça (the local sugarcane spirit was once so famous that parati became a synonym for cachaça across Brazil) -> Coffee -> Decay/Isolation (when railways bypassed the town in the late 1800s, turning it into a semi-abandoned ghost town for nearly a century) -> Tourism (rediscovered in the 1970s when the Rio–Santos coastal highway opened).

Because the town was forgotten for decades, its colonial architecture remained pristine and untouched by modern development, earning it UNESCO World Heritage status.

We ended the tour by visiting the Casa da Cultura de Paraty (Culture house) and having Bobo de Camarao for dinner. A (in my opinion) delicious shrimp stew made with dende oil and thickened with mashed cassava.

Rio

From there we went back to Rio (the city) where we stayed at the Jo & Joe Hotel/Hostel.

While we very quickly noticed we might have made a mistake in picking this place just because the vibe is… well, a little younger than what I’m used to, and by younger I mean NOISY TEENAGERS, everything else was amazing.

The staff was amazing, awesome breakfast plus an interesting location.

is set within the historic Largo do Boticário complex, nestled in the Cosme Velho neighbourhood at the base of Corcovado (near the Christ the Redeemer train station).

The Origins of “Apothecary’s Square”

The square’s name dates back to 1831, when Joaquim Luís da Silva Souto, a wealthy military sergeant and boticário (apothecary/pharmacist), bought the land. He ran a prominent pharmacy on Downtown Rio’s Rua Direita, serving high-society clients—including the Brazilian Imperial Family. High-society figures and members of the Imperial Court regularly gathered at his estate in Cosme Velho.

The iconic look of the square was created in the 1920s and 1930s by Edmundo Bittencourt (founder of the newspaper Correio da Manhã) and later his family and diplomat Rodolfo da Siqueira. To preserve authentic 18th-century aesthetics, the architects salvaged colonial Portuguese tiles, doors, stone columns, and wrought-iron balconies from historic downtown Rio mansions that were being demolished at the time, integrating them directly into these facades.

Fun Fact: In the 1940s, Walt Disney visited the Bittencourt family mansion in Largo do Boticário on a World War II Good Neighbour diplomatic trip. The culture and atmosphere he experienced there inspired the creation of the famous Disney character José Carioca.

Decay and the Accor Restoration

Following decades of glory, the area fell into severe neglect during the late 1990s and 2000s, leading to abandoned, deteriorating ruins. In the late 2010s, hotel group Accor acquired six historic buildings across the 4,000 m² site, undertaking a painstaking 5-year heritage restoration project before opening as the JO&JOE hostel in 2022.

The night view from the hotel was something else.

We didn’t have a lot of time in Rio, plus it’s a big city with insane traffic, so moving around took a lot of time. We ended up going to see the Christ and Parque Lage, which was really close, and ended the night walking around Copacabana and Leme beaches while we waited for our friend Edu to meet us at the Joaquina.

The train station to get to the Corcovado was a 4-min walk from our hotel. You can buy the tickets here. You need to be there 30 min before your train. Everything went really well. But again, if you are afraid of heights, think twice.

The idea of placing a large Christian monument on top of Corcovado Mountain was first suggested in the mid-1850s by a Catholic priest, Pedro Maria Boss, to honour Princess Isabel. However, the project was dismissed when Brazil became a republic in 1889 and officially separated church and state.

In 1920, the Catholic Circle of Rio revived the proposal to combat what they saw as a growing “godlessness” in society 😒😒. They organized a massive fundraising campaign called Semana do Monumento (“Monument Week”) to collect donations primarily from Brazilian Catholics.

Design & Global Collaboration

The original winning design by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa depicted Christ holding a cross in one hand and a terrestrial globe in the other. However, local artist Carlos Oswald simplified it to the iconic standing statue with open arms, symbolizing both a cross and a welcoming embrace for the city.

After that, the French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski was commissioned to design the head and hands in Paris. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida crafted Christ’s face, which became famous for its soft, serene expression.

Silva Costa then selected reinforced concrete for structural integrity against high winds and extreme weather. To make the statue visually appealing and weatherproof, the outer layer was covered in a mosaic of over 6 million tiny soapstone tiles (pedra-sabão). Local women glued these triangular tiles onto mesh sheets before they were applied to the statue. Legend has it that many workers wrote the names of loved ones on the back of the tiles before placing them.

The statue was officially dedicated on October 12, 1931.

Everyone talks about how majestic and amazing it is. If I’m being honest, I think the whole package is what makes it incredible. The view, Rio’s amazing hills and ocean, the Bahia de Guanabara, and the Sugarloaf Mountain. It makes the whole scenario amazing.

As for the statue, David is a million times more impressive.

In 2007, Christ the Redeemer was named one of the New 7 Wonders of the World.

I wish we had more time in Rio. There’s plenty I did not get to see. Maybe next time.