Central Markets and "The Selarón Stairs"

After teaching yesterday there was no more work for the day so I decided to go and check out the "Museu de Arte Moderna" (Museum of Modern Art).   However, there was a strike in Rio DJ yesterday and pretty much all the 'attractions' were closed so I wandered around town until I found the "Mercados do Centro" and did a little gift shopping.  Cidade do Centro is full of Portuguese Colonial style and wire spaghetti.  

 Feeling a little footsore I decided perhaps I'd had enough so I returned to the hostel knowing I had plans to go to a samba club later that night with a couple of the girls from the hostel.  However, due to the strike and general unrest, we were warned against going to the place we had planned and instead went to a live concert somewhere else.  I had no idea this was a hip hop artist famous with the teens and young adults.   

 

My first real night club experience I have to say!  Crushed!  Although I was glad to be going out and not stuck in the hostel alone, I definitely preferred the samba club we had been to previously.  Well, I did want to get out of my comfort zone, didn't I?!  At least I had friends from the hostel with me.  Sharing an Uber ride in Rio makes travelling cheap and safe here.  It works well because of the sheer number of people and proximity of everything here.  

A more enjoyable experience today was visiting the area called Santa Tereza, enjoying the Parque de Ruinas, with beautiful views over the city and the Escadeiras Selarón.  Esther and Denise, from Germany, and Cris, from Holland, joined me for this exploration.

 

These colourful stairs were made as a gift to RDJ by an artist by the name of Selarón and include authentic tiles from all over the world.  The place is buzzing with visitors.  I love the fact that art like this gives so much pleasure to people.  This particular area of Rio has a lot of traditional Portuguese colonial buildings and is generally full of colour (including graffiti, although the graffiti here seems a little more artistic).  There's plenty of exercise to be had in a city like Rio, which I hope will make up for all the bread and cheese I seem to be eating!  Bread and cheese (and meat) seem to be staple breakfast, lunch and dinner foods here.