Pulsating Rio, synonymous with the girl from Ipanema, the dramatic Pão d'Açucar (Sugarloaf) Mountain, and the wild and outrageous Carnaval (Carnival) celebrations, is a city of stunning architecture, good museums, and marvelous food. It's a teeming metropolis where the very rich and the very poor live in uneasy proximity and where enthusiasm is boundless -- and contagious.
As you leave the airport and head to your hotel, you'll be tossed onto a massive, chaotic, not-so-scenic urban roadway. But, by the time you reach breezy, sunny Avenida Atlântica -- flanked on one side by white beach and azure sea, and on the other by the pleasure-palace hotels that testify to the city's eternal lure -- your heart will leap with expectation. Now you're truly in Rio, where the 10 million wicked angels and shimmering devils known as cariocas dwell.
The term "carioca" comes from the country's early history, when it meant "white man's house" and was used to describe a Portuguese trading station. Today the word defines more than birthplace, race, or residence: It represents an ethos of pride, a sensuality, and a passion for life. Much of the carioca verve comes from the sheer physical splendor of a city blessed with seemingly endless beaches and sculpted promontories.
Rio was named -- or misnamed -- by the crew of a Portuguese ship that arrived in what is now the city on January 1, 1502. Thinking they had found the mouth of a river, instead of the bay that became known as the Baía de Guanabara (Guanabara Bay), they dubbed the spot Rio de Janeiro (January River). Sixty-five years later, on the feast of St. Sebastian, the city was founded with the official name of São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro.
Prepare to have your senses engaged and your inhibitions untied while in Rio. You'll be seduced by a host of images: the joyous bustle of vendors at Sunday's Feira Hippie (Hippie Fair); the tipsy babble at sidewalk cafés as patrons sip their last glass of icy beer under the stars; the blanket of lights beneath Pão d'Açucar; the bikers, joggers, strollers, and power walkers who parade along the beach each morning. Borrow the carioca spirit for your stay; you may find yourself reluctant to give it back.
