Rio seen from above - NICE VIDEO!
As some of you know, Rio has been going through some changes because of the World Cup and the Olympic Games that will be hosted here. They built a... special road for a tram-like thing that will take people from our international airport to Barra da Tijuca, where the Olympic Village is located. They made a video that shows the entire way, and it's really interesting, because you can see several neighbourhoods that are completely ignored by the media and unknown to foreigners. You can see my house, too!
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the "real" Rio, far from Copacabana, Ipanema, and the Sugar Loaf! :D
The video starts at Barra da Tijuca, a luxury neighborhood that is very far away from downtown (and everything else, really). You can tell the exact moment you've left this wealthy area to go into the suburb, when the tall buildings give way to small houses and favelas.
In fact, you can see a famous favela at 2:03, Cidade de Deus, from the movie City of God.
I'm not really familiar with this area. Things start getting familiar at 4:11, when we go into Madureira, a hellish commercial neighborhood.
At 5:02 you can see the subway station I have to go to when I need to go downtown or to the South Zone (i.e. the "tourist zone", with Sugar Loaf, beaches, etc).
You can see my house at 5:22. :D
From this point on, you can see Guanabara Bay in the distance. It's very fortunate that I live relatively close to it, because I get a nice sea breeze during sunset, but not close enough that I have to put up with its smell!
At 6:23 you can actually see the Sugar Loaf faaar in the distance.
At 7:46, you can see Fundão Island, where the university I graduated from is located. It occupies the whole island (you can only see a very small part of it in this video). The tall T-shaped building you see there is the university's hospital.
Rio sure has a lot of hills, though.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the "real" Rio, far from Copacabana, Ipanema, and the Sugar Loaf! :D
Click to viewThe video starts at Barra da Tijuca, a luxury neighborhood that is very far away from downtown (and everything else, really). You can tell the exact moment you've left this wealthy area to go into the suburb, when the tall buildings give way to small houses and favelas.
In fact, you can see a famous favela at 2:03, Cidade de Deus, from the movie City of God.
I'm not really familiar with this area. Things start getting familiar at 4:11, when we go into Madureira, a hellish commercial neighborhood.
At 5:02 you can see the subway station I have to go to when I need to go downtown or to the South Zone (i.e. the "tourist zone", with Sugar Loaf, beaches, etc).
You can see my house at 5:22. :D
From this point on, you can see Guanabara Bay in the distance. It's very fortunate that I live relatively close to it, because I get a nice sea breeze during sunset, but not close enough that I have to put up with its smell!
At 6:23 you can actually see the Sugar Loaf faaar in the distance.
At 7:46, you can see Fundão Island, where the university I graduated from is located. It occupies the whole island (you can only see a very small part of it in this video). The tall T-shaped building you see there is the university's hospital.
Rio sure has a lot of hills, though.