A WONDERFUL DAY STARTING IN NITEROI - MORE AUSSIE FRIENDS

We were supposed to take a lot of public transportation and walk a lot in our downtown area but the day was so sunny, wonderful and hot that I decided to show my best secret: WE WENT TO NITEROI!!! And to make things a little bit fasted I used my car. This people at the very first moment I saw them at Copacabana Palace, I thought to myself...we need more. 

At the lobby I met 4 smiley people and instantly I got 4 more wonderful friends from Perth, beautiful region in Western Australia, the Darling Range and first point in Australia when you come from Asia....Well, my super friend Jane Bell recommended my tours for these 4 intrepid travelers and we had a blast!!!!

Rio is famous for its mountains by the Sea and we just followed the Coast heading to Niteroi, visiting the Bay Side and crossing the bridge over Guanabara Bay. Right before reaching the Centro, I love to stop in a very privileged point where we have the full view of the Sugar Loaf by a very green park called Aterro do Flamengo, this is where I take some of great pictures. And we stopped in Boa Viagem beach which for me, gives us the best view of the Bay.

As you know I was raised in Niteroi, the city lives in my heart...

OHHHHHH NITEROI…it is the place where I spend some of the most important years of my life; and of course it is  the second most important city of Rio de Janeiro State that once used to be the capital of the State when Rio was the capital of Brazil. Niteroi is a fantastic city out of Rio, super quiet, with friendly people and with unknown surprises that make every visitor way more in love with this first trip to Rio. Niteroi is a must see place that should be completely explored, the city had wonderful BaySide shore and the ocean side is absolutely amazing with wild beaches like Itacoatiara and Piratininga but visiting MAC MUSEUM where everybody go to see one of the most amazing projects of this glorious Brazilian personality, I do have some interesting pictures of this construction in my blog, you can open this link - http://donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot.com.br/search?q=mac and you will see some funny pictures registering so many dear moments and finally the incredible viewpoint of PARQUE DA CIDADE who holds (and nobody knows) the most magnificent sunset in the whole state of Rio de Janeiro. This place is part of our newest national park called SERRA DA TIRIRICA, it is the city’s paragliding school where we have so many great friends, for us it is a pleasure to take you there!


I have more good pictures of Parque da Cidade in my blog, please always visit this link - http://donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot.com.br/search?q=parque+da+cidade 

In our way back we stopped in Santa Tereza. It is the most bohemian neighborhood in Rio de Janeiro, the first portuguese settlement...very charming hilly district of Rio that reminds Lisbon in Portugal with its cobbled stones streets and beautiful colonial portuguese homes...also one of the few places in Rio where you can find the best of graffitti and street arts; a place with fine cuisine because of various traditional restaurants like Marco, Portella and Bar do Mineiro. It is also the neighborhood where I like to take pictures with street arts and you took part of a gallery that you can find on my facebook, please add me there exactly how I explained you to do it. In my blog you can read more about Santa Tereza and also see the some cool pictures, here is the link - http://donrafaguestsinrio.blogspot.com.br/search?q=santa+tereza - when you open this link you will see some pictures of the tram that now no long exist; the city has plans to bring the trams back in the end of 2014.

It was also our stop to experience some of the best brazilian snack and we got to a restaurant which looks like a local's meeting and they serve excellent food, I knew it because I went there 3 times and I did not bother to memorize the name; but we have this restaurant in our best memory and stomach, hahahahaha :))))))

Our adventure continued when we visited the steps of Selaron which pictures you can see below...

Visiting the steps of Selaron is celebrating the life of a wonderful person that left an incredible legacy to my Rio. He existed and changed the whole story of an abandoned place of a bohemian neighborhood we have here. We do not have this artist among us any more, he lost him last year, but his art remained and we have to preserve because it is one of the most fascinating places to visit in Rio.

Well, my Perth Family, I am sure there will be more trips to Rio, I know it is faraway but we are very close in the hearts!

LOTS OF LOVE, 

Rafael Torres Lopes
Tour Guide and Travel Planner