Walls of Selfishness

I had heard of the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem and the Great Wall of China, who hasn't? But, according to Roberto Burle Marx (who was quoting a friend of his), there's also something called "la muraille des égoïstes," the wall of the selfish of Rio. That's what people were building on the Copacabana beachfront crescent at the time they were having this conversation. As you can see from this photograph, the French guy was right. If you live on the back streets, that lovely view might as well not be there. Unless you arrive one day and climb up the side of one of the many hills and build your makeshift home there (but this was much afterwards). These days though, how ironic, you may also be looking at prostitutes and crime from your floor-to-ceiling windows on Avenida Atlântica. Am I exaggerating? No, I just read the local papers (with a heart that gets heavier every month).

Brazilians have built these walls of egoism everywhere: a good, or I should say, bad example is Boa Viagem beach in Recife. I remember when I used to send my daughter off back into the sunshine after 3 p.m. Now you probably won't need a beach umbrella in the afternoon; the buildings provide the shade. You can google it for pictures and see what I mean.


Fortunately, there's still enough of unspoilt, undeveloped coast to last me to the end of my days. I don't mind sharing one of my favorite secret places in the Northeast: the tiny colonial gem called Penedo, near the mouth of the São Francisco River. There you can visit one of the most gorgeous (if not THE most beautiful) church in Brazil, Nossa Senhora da Corrente. Rent a boat with a square sail (you'll only see these here) and lose yourself in one of the deserted beaches where the mighty "Velho Chico" meets the ocean.

According to the papers that I insist on reading, in spite of what they do to my blood pressure, the number of favelas in Rio is nearing the astonishing one thousand mark! And, if you have the millions it takes, Urca, Leblon, Ipanema, and Lagoa are the places to look for that pied-à-terre in this tropical madhouse. As for me, and I keep repeating myself, I'll be picking the next as-remote-as-possible spot to visit.