First Day in Rio

Copacabana Beach at dusk

                                          Inside and outside the Metropolitan Cathedral, Rio
                                         
I've been to Rio 8 or 10 times, but I saw parts of the city today that I haven't visited before, notably the oldest part of the city, with the emperor's palace, custom's house and charming narrow streets.

We started with a visit to H. Stern, the huge jewelry house with global reach and a specialty in Brazilian gemstones--aquamarines, topaz, tourmalines, amethysts, all beautiful.  Though I've been here before, I'm always impressed by how well-done this place is, with its displays showing how the gems are mined, cut, polished, sorted and set into jewelry.

Jeweler at work at H. Stern

A number of years ago, Don and I had the delightful opportunity to meet Hans Stern, founder of this remarkable business.  At the time, he was 83, and died just a year later.  He was a Jewish emigrant from northern Germany who left as Hitler's purges started when he was just 16.  He told us his family got on a boat not knowing where they were going, but knowing they had to leave fast.

The ship stopped in Rio and the family disembarked with no money and no jobs.  Hans went to work for a company that mined gems to the north of Rio and gradually learned the business.  At night, though he didn't really speak English, he taught English, after studying the night's lesson for a few hours before class started.  Eventually, he opened his own jewelry store and expanded into a worldwide company, with stores all over the world, supplied by the factory we visited today.

Hans' collection of tourmalines--1007 different colors--is on display in a small museum along with examples of the raw bands of gemstones solidified in rock.  Well worth a visit.

After seeing excellent displays of the jewelry manufacturing process, you get your first chance to buy, in an elegant room with tables protected by glass partitions giving a semblance of privacy.  The salespeople are low key but persistent and very knowledgeable.  They know just how to get you to buy and keep buying.  Beyond this first room where you can buy the stones, there are several more sales galleries with endless jewelry choices, ending with a shop that sells everything from tiny stones to kitsch souvenirs.  All elegantly presented.

This afternoon, we walked through the old part of Rio, which used to be on a bay that formed a safe harbor.  Over the decades, much of that port has been "reclaimed" so that now there are parks and a highway between the city and the water.

four soaring stained glass windows at Metropolitan Cathedral

One stop was at the Metropolitan Cathedral, which is quite ugly on the outside and stunningly beautiful with soaring stained glass windows inside.  It almost seems as if the architect wanted to set off the beauty of the interior by making the exterior unattractive.  When Pope John Paul II came here years ago, 20,000 people crammed inside the cathedral for Mass and 1.2 million jammed all the streets outside.



emperor's palace in old part of Rio

colonial church

sculpture atop colonial building

singing and dancing in the street


 

Old Rio is full of charming colonial era buildings in varying states of disrepair and restoration, with narrow alleyways full of outdoor restaurants and shops.  We watched a street singer and her band energetically entertaining a happy audience, with middle-aged women dancing enthusiastically in the street as they sang along with her.