Brazilian homes

We have been lucky to spend at least some nights with family and friends and have been able to see family homes.

I talked a little about the chacara in St Jose de Rio Preto and some of the similarity with homes and gardens in Africa.

City homes are quite different and the common theme is that the exterior or street view has little indication of the interiors.

One evening we visited Candida’s niece and family and the outside entrance looked like a garage or entrance to an industrial building, but once inside we went down some steps and in to a very nice (not large) home. Candida’s sisters home is the same with an electric gate at the street that gives access to three homes and parking for all cars. 

Entrance to Margaret's home in Sao Paulo

Again an ordinary entrance to homes with tiled or marble flooring and large kitchens and multiple bathrooms. All very nice.

Silvera’s home in Niteroi deserves special mention. I believe the family has owned the property for a long time and Silvera has been working on the new home for several years. It is on a hillside and the new home had to be built in front of the home they were living in and then some further excavation had to take place for the completion. The home is beautiful and when we arrived I looked out of the bedroom window and said to myself “wow, look at the big yard and very fancy grill his neighbor has!” It turned out that it was actually HIS yard with a huge patio and built in grill and shelter. 

Silvera at work at the grill

Huge patio and seating area close to the grill

Silvera's grill and pizza oven. I am jealous!

All his own design and a fantastic place to enjoy the cool evenings after a brutally hot day. The attention to detail is amazing.

Enjoying a few cold ones (geladinias)

Rooftop view from above Silvera's patio

The front of the house

Some photos to enjoy

Rio. A dramatic city to say the least.!

We are actually staying in Niteroi, which is across the bay from Rio de Janeiro with friends of Candida’s from way back. Silvera is an airline mechanic, who used to work for the now defunct Trans Brasil airline, and he and several others were assigned duty in Miami for a month at a time to do the overnight checks on the 3 or so flights that came in and out. Candida had these guys as paying house guests. This worked well for both parties. The mechanics had a nice place to stay that was not a hotel (nor did it challenge their per-diem like a hotel) and they got good Brazilian food while Candida made a little extra money.

Several long-term friendships developed from this including that with Silvera and his family. He now works for Trip an internal airline in Brazil that operates ATR 42 and 72s and Embraer 175s of which they now have 16. They have a fantastic house in Niteroi and he has gradually replaced the old house with the new and his attention to detail shows in everything.

It is about 15km from the house to the Niteroi shore and Silvera took us down to the new fast ferry to cross the bay. I had not appreciated the distance between the “old” ferry terminal that is right downtown and the new one which must be at least 5 km closer but more than that in time saved.

The ferry was about $8 and landed at the main ferry terminal in Rio. I was a little disappointed as it is totally enclosed and air conditioned, but the side windows are Plexiglas and significantly degrade the view as you cross. 

We headed to one of the two significant mountains called locally “Christo” as it is the one with the giant statue on it. 

Looking down on Sugarloaf and Rio

Even for a Monday with kids in school there were LOTS of people in a small space, but the views are spectacular. Ii is 710m above sea level and it is possible to see all of Rio and over to Niteroi. We spent about an hour and a half there and then headed on the city bus to Sugarloaf Mountain, which is actually two mountains with an aerial ropeway connecting them with mother earth.

 



  I think the views from Sugarloaf, (at 396m) while not as high as Christo are more dramatic and certainly less crowded. 

Sugarloaf from sea level

Looking up at Christo from Sugarloaf

Santo Dumont airport in downtown Rio. Short runways with the Niterio bridge in the background

There is a great view of Santo Dumont airport which is essentially downtown and is used for domestic traffic. It looks like it was built on dredged fill and the runways are only about a meter or so above the water. The runways also look short,(and they are for jets)  at 4341 feet 
An approach landing towards the bridge would give a dramatic look at the city and would have to be a visual approach only given the terrain and small area.

Old ferry across the bay

GOL (airline) taxiing at Santo Dumont. Elevation 11 ft (~3m)

It was very hot at about 38C (100+F) and we headed back around 5pm. We decided to take the “old” ferry for $1.50 each but then discovered that we had to navigate by bus back close to the other ferry where Silvera met us and drove us home.
We saw some evidence of the landslides that have plagued Rio.They have impacted the favelas (unplanned slum areas) particularly but this one had slid on to a major road in Niteroi.

An expensive repair according to the sign. Not sure where all the money is going!

Sunset over Rio