Although Brazil is a wonderful place, food is so expensive here! After eating our first home-cooked meal since we got here, lovingly prepared in the hostel kitchen, we realized that we had still spent 15 dollars on dinner! I began to worry that my budget of 20 dollars a day for food would be nowhere near enough for my travels. Fortunately, I don’t have the time to worry about that now, as our stay in Brazil is nearly over.
Peter and I felt that today would be the perfect day to visit some of the many museums and art galleries scattered around Rio de Janeiro. We took a bus to a suburb near the centre of town, Cinelandia, where many of these attractions were clustered.
We began our culture fix at the Museum of Fine Art. It was really interesting to note how late in history art began to be an important topic to be taken seriously in Brazil. Earlier paintings in the gallery were by unknown artists, while a rise in French-inspired art seemed to increase the popularity of the genre. This new found popularity could be seen in an increased use of European styles, copied amateurishly by Brazilian artists. We also visited the national history museum which provided a decent overview of Brazil’s heritage.
Peter and I did get a bit lost looking for what we thought was the Cinelandia Gallery of Contemporary Art, however, we stumbled across the actual gallery eventually – it was an industrial style building which held lots of interesting pieces. A lot of our time in these museums and art galleries was spent taking photographs of the actual buildings themselves, as my boyfriend Peter is an architectural student and was in the process of researching a future project to design a gallery. This side project was relatively successful,and possibly made up slightly for Peter missing the first week of university due to our vacation.
On the way home from the galleries, we stumbled upon some GIANT ants and preceded to get in everybody’s way on the footpath trying to get a closer look. It was pretty exciting! Apparently, these giant ants are called Tiger Ants.
The photograph is of me on a beautifully designed staircase in the neighborhood of Lapa
Until next time,
Erika xx
THE ONLY ERIKA IN THE VILLAGE 