My friends Fahd (from Paris) and Arnulf (from Berlin) came to Brazil in July 2017. After visiting some historical cities in Minas Gerais state (there is a related folder) we drove from Ouro Preto to Rio de Janeiro. It was the first time Fahd came to Brazil and we could not miss this amazing town.
However, our first day in Rio was rainy. Therefore, impossible to visit the Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf) mountain or/and the Corcovado. Then, we decided to walk in Rio de Janeiro downtown and ... we were right on doing so. With the 2016 J.O. games, Rio was enforced to promote important improvements in downtown. The Cinelândia area and surroundings is now very nice. Also, the harbor area was totally renewed and Rio downtown is now a place to be visited. The Confeitaria Colombo (from the 19th Century) is beautiful with the decoration from that time. It is one of main attractions in Rio. At the end of this rainy day, we walked to Lapa (not far from downtwon) and we took a small tramway called 'bondinho' to Santa Tereza neighborhood. It is also a very typical and traditional place in Rio. The 'bondinho' goes to Largo dos Guimarães; it is the old Rio, with colored houses, restaurants, etc..
Luckily, the next day was sunny. Then, we decided to visit the Corcovado Mountain, with its impressive Jesus Crist monument. It is very crowed with a large number of tourists from many different countries places but, in spite of some inconveniences, the scenery is wonderful and worthy to be seen.