GoldenBeeTours

Rio’s beauty dazzles visitors much before they land at Galeao airport. Even from the air, this Brazilian city of 8 million people looks spectacular: the blue waters of the Atlantic shining under the intense tropical sun, the white sands of its coastline against the lush green mountains, and - on top the the highest peak - a colossal statue of Christ, the Corcovado, blessing the city with open arms. The word dramatic doesn’t begin to describe this view.

No city I know matches the scale and the exuberance of Rio’s landscape, or displays such a colorful, musical and electric culture. Its natives, the cariocas, are warm, laidback, lively and fun. Rio is the city of samba, and its contagious beat is everywhere. On top of that, Rio’s Carnaval - the four days of hedonistic revelry right before Lent - is a feast to the eyes and Brazil’s biggest party.

Rio is not only blessed by its geography; its people are also drop-dead gorgeous. The city worships beauty in all its shapes and forms, and the sexiness of their women is well known. It was probably made famous by the song ‘The Girl from Ipanema’, a bossa nova tune talking about a regular girl walking to the beach. ‘Tall and tanned and lovely’, as the song goes, she was far from an isolated case: some of the best looking creatures anywhere are seen on Rio’s beaches everyday, showing off perfect and barely covered bodies. It was in Rio that the tanga - a tiny biquini that leaves very little to the imagination - was first spotted.

This general genetic good fortune might be attributed to Brazil’s notorious mix of races, but cariocas also put a lot of effort into health and beauty. At day break, the sidewalks of Ipanema and Copacabana beaches start getting crowded with joggers and walkers of all ages, a morning routine that’s part of life in Rio. And they not only take good care of themselves - they also love to talk about it. As soon as I arrive in Rio I hear about the latest workout fads or nutrition programs ‘guaranteed’ to prolong youth. Every friend seems to have a special vitamin mix, a cream to keep wrinkles off their tanned faces, a formula to make their skin shine or the hair grow stronger. Judging from their looks, these efforts are perfectly rewarded: it’s not uncommon for women over 50 to look like mid -’30s elsewhere. So much so that a friend of mine jokes that “Rio doesn’t know what a 50 year old woman looks like”.

While the aesthetic standards are very high , they are quite different from the ones in the Northern Hemisphere: round shapes and feminine curves are a must, ‘noticeable’ butts considered a blessing. Being skinny is associated with illness, not with elegance. Brazilians definitely have their own beauty guideliness, and they are proud of it. Not surprisingly, plastic surgery flourishes - Rio has some of the world’s best surgeons, and are they busy! More surgeries of this kind are performed there than anywhere else in the world.

With all this attention to beauty, one may be inclined to think that Rio is a superficial and frivolous society. Not at all. Life is not easy for a big part of the population; people work hard for their money, poverty is a reality in many areas, and crime a real problem in this metropolis of huge gaps between the haves and have-nots.

Yet, even the poorest of the poor is high on life and exudes a contagious joie de vivre. People with modest incomes save the whole year to buy a costly costume and be part of the Carnaval parade. Visit a favela, as the slums are called, and you will see broad smiles on every face, happy kids playing soccer on the streets, and crowded parties where on the weekends the samba beat goes on until the morning.

Rio, in spite of its problems, is a happy place; it lives by its own standards and moves to its own rhythm. One has to be able to step ‘out of the box’, so to speak, to understand the different set of values they seem to live by.

I think we can only attempt to do that by being there and getting immersed in their fun-loving culture. And once we understand it, we will love Rio forever.