Column: Celina Penteado
The United Kingdom of Ipanema
February
The beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro has an unique charm that’s rarely seen and felt. For those who come from abroad, the summer adds even more energy and beauty to the landscape. The heat of these sunny days seem to warm the mind and the heart of all who live here or are just passing by.
The light of the summer season is blinding and beautiful. The heat, most of the times, unbearable. No doubt that a summer in Rio can be unforgotten, attractive and vibrant. It’s when the emotions are loose in the air, in the skin and in the smile of every afternoon in the sea of Ipanema.
Listen to a carioca mingled with so many different accents and races, applaud a beautiful sunset in the sands of Arpoador...can be an extremely sensitive, delicious experience!
Of all the South Zone neighborhoods of the city, Ipanema is, in my opinion (along with the beeautiful Lagoa, where I live), the nicest place in Rio. It’s exactly the place to be explored and lived, if you happen to be passing through or if you live here and desire to have a pleasurable day. Ipanema is definitely a very nice “outing”. And, in my opinion, Sundays are even better.
On Sundays, the silence catch attention to other sounds. Sea waves hitting the shore, after the beach crowd are gone. Birds still capable of singing in a city unfortunately so polluted, in the Plaza Nossa Senhora da Paz. This plaza is home to ducks and fishes that insists on reproducting, defying nature itself. Where future citizens of this wonderful Kingdom walk their first steps. And scream full of life and happiness. And, of course, dogs, of the most diverse breeds and ages walking around with complete happiness and tranquility.
Ipanema dictates fashion, reverences fashion and observe without limits.
Bookstores appear along the Visconde de Pirajá Street, where, under heavy rain during the summer afternoons, seem to be from London. It’s funny to run away from the rain and enter the silent and quiet feel of a bookstore in Ipanema, to observe people choosing books and cds totally distant from the noisy, hot and frenetic feel that emanates from the hot ground, recently wet.
Coffee Houses. This appears to be the word of order in the last years:
— Open an attractive coffee-house, one after the other.
And how delicious are the sweet and (salgados) creations, the wine glasses, not owing anything to a “petit café du coin” from the distant Paris.
Beautiful women, blonde and brunettes, show their Manolo Blahniks and their Fendi bags between Maria Quitéria and Garcia D’Avila streets, observed closely by the men on their way to surfing in the beach, where they go in search for the best wave. And what’s better, to unite all tribes, than a juice of any tropical fruit in the hotter corner of town? Corner where you cross with your best friend on her way to the gym and your best gay pal on his way to a drink alongside his Australian boyfriend. Everything is possible. Everything happens.
Eat in good restaurant, appreciate good wines, check the latest creations of the Brazilian and foreign fashion stylists...always a happening in Ipanema.
The Barão da Torre Street offers, in little more than 200 meters, a variety of choices for all pockets. Eat deliciously at the Gourmet restaurant, drink or buy a fabulous wine at Expand, taste a sandwich while buying a book at the Bistrô do Livro, or even dance your heart out at Baronnetti...if the money isn’t too much, you can always sit at Itahy to drink cold beer while time passes.
Well, that’s my declaration of love to Ipanema. From the window of my apartment I can see your streets end up in Lagoa while I imagine the sea. The seagulls announce the abundancy of fish, what reminds me that I haven’t eaten lunch yet. I will open a bottle of Sancerre wine that a dear friend recently brought to me from Paris, while I cook a shrimp with arugula risotto, listening to Keith Jarret’s divine piano, and thanking São Sebastião, patron of this city, for one more summer in Rio.
Celina Penteado is a Brazilian publicist and journalist. She currently works for the celebrated Brazilian chef José Hugo Celidônio. Her passions in life include gastronomy, wines, and traveling... the art of living well. After living in Europe for many years, she returned to Rio de Janeiro, the place she considers the best in the world to live...Well!COPYRIGHT © 2003-1997 BRZ GROUP
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