Memories and hints of a travelling IT professional.
The Saint-Sava-Church (Hram Svetog Save) is located south-east on Vračar hill. It is a huge and impressive christian-orthodox church in Beograd, the capital of Serbia. While the massive building looks like it is finished from the outside, the inside is work in progress.
Continue reading “Saint-Sava-Church”
As always in big cities like Rio de Janeiro, the place for building houses and having residential neighborhoods is limited. That is why on the other side of the bay of Rio, directly opposite to the city center at a place called Niterói, people started to settle down and to commute into the city by ferry boat.
Continue reading “Crossing the Baía de Guanabara”
A lot of songs have been sung about these two beaches in the Zona Sul de Rio de Janeiro, both only divided by the Forte do Copacabana. Remember The Girl from Ipanema? The areas are in the rich south of Rio and are touristic zones secured by the police. If you don’t have your hotel here (might be better, cause the prices in the area are a bad joke) – the metro is running all along Copacabana and for Ipanema you can go to the terminus General Orsório.
The Sugarloaf mountain is a place I’ve seen first in the James Bond movie Moonraker (1979). And it is quite an unreal scenery: Two stone needles in the bay of Guanabara, connected by a cablecar. It’s kind of a strange feeling to stand upon this 396 m high peak, but it gives you really nice views on Rio de Janeiro.
Continue reading “Pão de Açúcar”
It’s the work of a man with a vision. While roaming through the neighborhood of Lapa, you will definitly find a strange but beautiful staircase. It is covered in tiles of all colours and with themes from around the globe. Jorge Selarón, an artist from Chile, decided to renovate the steps in front of his house – and never stopped until his death.
If you’re going southbound from Rio de Janeiro city center you come to a part of Rio called Lapa – a district which you might visit especially for nightlife. If you do so you should better take a taxi. If you come by daylight, you can see a really nice aqueduct: the Arcos da Lapa.
Going to Cristo Redentor on Corcovado hill is a hard trip if you don’t have booked a tour. You’ll have to go by bus to Cosme Velho and from there a train (with quite long waiting times at the station) goes up on Corcovado hill. On the top you’ll have to take an elevator or walk some steps up to the largest Christ redeemer statue in the world.
Continue reading “The Big Dude”
I’m a big fan of the 1000 places to see before you die calendar. Every day I’m turning the page seeing places I’ve been to, places I’m going to in the near future. And sometimes I just memorize beautiful places. This is true for the Praia do Aventureiro and its famous L-shaped palm. I went there and then remembered that I’ve already seen it.
The history of Ilha Grande – an island 150 km west of Rio de Janeiro – is somehow dark and contrasts heavily to its current beauty. First, the island was the Brazilian equivalent to Ellis Island; European emigrants had to stay on the island before coming into the country. Later the island became a sick bay in time of Leprosy and until 20 years ago: A high security prison.
Continue reading “Nature wonderland”
Well, Angra dos Reis is no beauty. The town 150 km west of Rio de Janeiro is mostly known for being an important port for travellers going to Ilha Grande. When I arrived I had to give back my rental car at the agency Localiza. My GPS system was directing me to a strange place where no rental company was to be suspected.
Continue reading “Gateway to paradise”