Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
1
is backed by a line of prestigious, high-rise hotels and luxury apartments that have
sprung up since the 1940s. Some fine examples of Art Deco architecture are scattered
around the
bairro
- none more impressive than the
Copacabana Palace Hotel
(see p.95).
If Copacabana is nowadays past its prime, and certainly not as exclusive as it once was,
it's still an enjoyable place to sit and watch the world go by, and at night on the floodlit
beach football is played into the early hours.
Forte de Copacabana
Praça Coronel Eugênio Franco 1, Posto 6, Copacabana • Fort: Tues-Sun 10am-8pm; museum: 10am-6pm • R$6 •
T
21 2521 1032,
W
fortedecopacabana.com •
M
Cantagalo
he
Forte de Copacabana
, built to protect the entrance to Guanabara Bay, is worth
visiting more for the impressive views towards Copacabana beach than for the
military hardware on display in the
Museu Histórico do Exército
. There's also a branch
of the
Confeitaria Colombo
café (see p.97), popular with tourists and elderly military
o
cers' wives.
Ipanema and Leblon
West of the Forte de Copacabana, the lively waters off the
Praia do Arpoador
are
popular with families and the elderly as the ocean here is slightly calmer than at
Ipanema
, which is a couple of kilometres away, with
Leblon
beyond that. he beaches
here are stupendous, and much more tranquil than Copacabana.
Ipanema beach
As with Copacabana, Ipanema's
beach
is uno
cially divided according to the supposed
interest of its users. Thus, the stretch of sand east from Rua Farme de Amoedo to Rua
Teixeira de Melo around
posto 8
is where gay men are concentrated, while the nearby
posto 9
is where artists and intellectuals ponder life. On Sunday, the seafront roads -
Avenida Vieira Souto in Ipanema and Avenida Delfim in Leblon - are closed to tra
c,
given over to strollers, skateboarders and rollerbladers.
Since the 1960s, Ipanema has developed a reputation as a
fashion centre
second to
none in Latin America. Although many in São Paulo would dispute this, certainly the
bairro
is packed with
bijou
boutiques flogging the very best Brazilian names in fine
threads. If you do go shopping here, go on a Friday and take in the large
food and
flower
market
on the Praça de Paz. For quality clothes, however, prices are quite high
compared with their European or North American equivalents.
Lagoa and Gávea
Inland from Ipanema's plush beaches lies the
Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas
, a lagoon linked
to the ocean by a narrow canal that passes through Ipanema's Jardim de Allah. The
lagoon is fringed by apartment buildings, and the
bairro
to its east, home since the
1920s to some of Rio's richest and most status-conscious citizens, is called
Lagoa
after
the lagoon. The neighbourhood on the lagoon's western side is called
Gávea
, and is
linked to Lagoa by a
bairro
that is known as
Jardim Botânico
thanks to the botanical
garden that it surrounds.
Parque Tom Jobim
Until recently, the lagoon's water was badly polluted, but a programme to clean it up
has been remarkably successful and its mangrove swamps are now steadily recovering.
The shore surrounding the lagoon forms the
Parque Tom Jobim
(named after Rio's
famed bossa-nova composer, who died in 1994), and the area comes alive each Sunday
as people walk, rollerblade, jog or cycle along the 7.5km perimeter pathway, or just
