“Rio is a city full of contrasts all mixed up together into one really amazing, exciting city”

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. June 2023.

It feels bittersweet looking at these photos from our trip to Rio just over a month ago. This was my 7th time in Brazil, and only my second time in Rio, but this city is already one of my favorite places to visit in the world. It’s chaotically beautiful. It’s as romantic as the stereotype when it wants to be. It’s loud and energetic and in your face, sometimes a bit too much that you need to be on your toes more than you thought you’d be, but then the contrasts of the calm, the ocean, the mountains, the endless green sweeps you away. The way the sense of a city intertwines with mother nature is really incomparable here. It’s exactly how the music that was created from here sounds …. a unique blend you can only really feel in Rio.

The most surreal was being in Rio de Janeiro during the day that Astrud Gilberto passed. She was the voice of The Girl From Ipanema, one of my favorite songs ever. Her voice was what put that song on the international map, and attentions turned to magical Bossa nova. I’ve been listening to all of Astrud’s songs on repeat ever since. Her voice is airy, light, effortless, and breathy. She made the lyrics, when sung in English, sound like the most other worldly of feelings.

Rio de Janeiro is a very interesting place, with a history that one cannot ignore. I’ve always believed that when you get the chance to travel to a foreign place, it’s so important and so respectful to make sure to learn its history and roots to understand more the complexity of the place in modern times. Every time we told people we were going to Rio, or mentioned that we just traveled from there, one of the first comments we would received was about how dangerous they heard the city to be. I will always highlight the most beautiful parts of Rio, but it is true, Brazil is a country with a longtime history of violence and a huge class inequality that is a huge precursor for this history. Every trip to Brazil includes doing research on the safety precautions one should take in the area, which neighborhoods to avoid, what not to wear or carry on you to avoid theft. Number one rule is that you don’t walk around at night. The danger and level of security in Brazil is something very well known and always considered. It was something that kept us a bit on our toes when we explored the city, especially with my family in the city for the first time. This can lead us to a whole other conversation to get into on class, race and social structure that one can have about any country that still faces the leftover realities of colonization. This is true for much of Latin America. But aside this reality, no person can deny the beauty of this country and the richness of the culture that to me, observing as an outsider, completely captivates me. The history of immigration to Brazil lent to the country’s diversity that makes this melting pop of a country so interesting. European descent, Asian descent, African descent, native descent. Together they are all Brazilian. That feeling is strong here. It stands out all around. I had a completely different perspective of Rio, and Brazil in general, before getting to know it. And I am still continuing to learn. Rio is a city full of contrasts all mixed up together into one really amazing, exciting city that only sparks my curiosity more and more with time. I have completely fallen in love with this mountainous jungle city by the sea. This world is far from perfect, yet there is so much to learn if we really look around, and I just love to share these parts that I take home with me from every trip.