Rio! It’ll Just Rock Yer Socks Off
Now that all the karnaval kraziness is behind us for the year, this time out I thought I’d focus a bit on Brazil’s incomparável city of Rio de Janeiro and surrounding areas. For my money, cosmopolitan Rio’s one of the most spectacularly located big cities in the world hands down — right up there with Hong Kong and Cape Town, its highrises, legendary beaches, and iconic Sugar Loaf hill backing up against leading from quaint, cobblestone-paved neighborhoods like Santa Teresa into the dense, way atmospheric Tijuca Forest.
Beaches first, of course — all 23 of ‘em. Ever heard of Ipanema and Copacabana? No? Hahaha, well, the world-famous C-span, along Avenida Atlântica in the eponymous Copacabana neighborhood, is of course the centerpiece here. Just south of it, Ipanema’s a close second, a notch above, and of greater relevance to Our Crowd because of a couple of gay-popular sections called Posto 9 and especially Farme (the latter so named because it lies at the end of a street called Rua Farme de Amoedo). After ogling all the barbies (muscleboys) stop by for a pick-me-up — that, who knows, could even turn into a pick-up — at a gay-popular joint on Farme de Amoedo calle Bar Bofetada (a perhaps slightly S&M-ish name, meaning “slap”).
Other highlights: Centro (downtown) with its cathedral, museums, and a variety of archecture dating back to the 17th century; taking the cable car up to Corcovado and Sugar Loaf for the wowsa views; going on an eye-opening organized tour of one of the favelas (hillside slums); watching a samba school practice its moves for the next Carnaval; the samba and bossa nova music clubs; fabulous dining including lots of all-you-can-eat Brazilian-style barbecue joints; hiking in lush Tijuca Forest; wandering the picturesque colonial streets of Santa Teresa; hopping a ferry out to Paquirá island, which is kind of like Santa Teresa surrounded by water. Oh, and mustn’t forget the Carmen Miranda museum! Boom-chicka-boom, baby…
Rio’s gay scene, meanwhile, is one of the kickiest in Latin America — probably the best once you factor in the beach (having said that, I should add that it doesn’t necessarily cater to the more baroque tendencies — leather, fetish, etc.). Apart from the circuit-party extravaganzas, there are dozens of venues from intimate bars (the Copa Café’s a fave) to big-box dance clubs (the long-running Le Boy is still a reliable choice, and has its own bath house in the basement). Speaking of bath houses, there are more than a dozen others; another of the better ones is Gayligola downtown).
By the way, there are lots of neat side-trip options, too — for example to the fetching mountain town of Petrópolis, once the capital of the empire that Brazil was for 67 years more than a century ago (you can still visit the imperial palace). Then of course there’s the string of funky-to-chic beach towns along the coast — especially Búzios, a two-hour drive from Rio (way farther south on the coast is Florianópolis, which has turned into something of a gay-friendly beach hotspot — more on that in an upcoming post).
Finally, don’t forget The Gay Translator and Hot! International/Lesbian — with all the Portuguese you’ll need to pick up that special boy (or girl) from Ipanema. Olha, que coisa mais linda!
For more info, start at the Riotur web site; good sites to start at for gay-specific details include RioGayGuide.com and RioGayLife.com.
Yours truly,
Dave