h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Barnacle and Hell are working together on entries for other parts of Brasil. Any thoughts are welcome here for and entry on Rio.

City or state?

City I think, out as far as the airports?

Rio de Janeiro (River of January)

Lat: 22°54'66S
Lon: 43°11'53W
Alt: 10m (avg.)

Brainstorming... Tourist-things to see there.

The city of Rio de Janeiro is situated on the Guanabara Bay

Ponte Rio-Niterói

Pão de Açúcar & Morro da Urca

Corcovado (The Mountain) with the Cristo Redentor (The statue of J.C.) which Like the Liberty statue was a donation from the French

The Paquetá Island

The football stadium and the carnival of course...local markets, the opera house

Oh yea, Maracanã (the biggest football stadium in the world)

And carnival (I hate the rio carnival... but anyway it is sort of important) but I would not get deep into carnival, that would be almost another entry.

I'm coming soon with some historical background...

How about:

Street parties as opposed to the main carnival, like Carmelitas, Christ's Armpit etc.

Not stopping at traffic lights after 10 PM.

How not to get ripped off by taxi drivers or (much worse) accidentally taking a taxi with no air conditioning.

Hey great Leo. How did you get here?

Been to Rio lately?

One important thing to watch out for on Avenida Atlantica is the shoe-shine boy. If he thinks he can get away with it, he will surreptitiously decorate one of your shoes (including the laces, and maybe even the edge of your trousers) with a mixture of engine oil and dog- or pigeon excrement.

He then moves round to in front of you and points alternately to the gubbins and his shoe-shine tools.


Although it's difficult, the best reaction is to refuse; if enough people do that, this art-form will, hopefully, die out.

Of course, if your shoes haven't been decorated, go ahead and have a shine. He really needs it...