Casablanca in Vidigal (July 23-30)

Our first post-vacation home in Rio was "Casablanca" in Vidigal, just north of Leblon off of Av. Neimeyer.  As we rode in the taxi from the airport, we gave the full address to the taxi driver.  Jim had thought we were in Leblon, but the address was actually located in Vidigal, and this became a bit complicated for all of us.  The driver insisted that he would not go into Vidigal and we'd have to get out and take a mini-van into the neighborhood.  We were totally confused, but managed to get him to call the owner of the house to get the exact address.  He drove up a very narrow street on the edge of a slope.  Debbie thought this was the reason he didn't want to drive to the house.  Later we found out it's because Vidigal is one of the large, low-income neighborhoods in Rio (known as favelas) and many taxi drivers won't go into the area.  In part, it's from a history of police actions years ago in the area; in part, it's fear that has been created and replicated since that time.  We had no issues and loved our little casita, whose owners lived right in front of us and we available at any time.  Both had ties to Italy and were connected to the arts.

To get to the house, we had to walk about 200 steps!  Debbie kept thinking of Grandma Gatewood as she climbed the stairs. The house at the top is the owners' house. 

The inside of our casita.  Diego had the cool loft area. 

The steps to "nowhere"... no, actually to a very cool porch on the roof. 

Diego on the roof porch.  We loved to come up here to write, read and just think about how to start the day.  The beach below is Praia Vidigal.  We could see bodysurfers and boogie boarders from the rooftop.

A beautiful morning sunrise view... from the bathroom!

The city is filled with parks and public exercise areas.  This is one in Leblon, where Diego was putting his "walker" skills into practice. 

And all that exercise, walking up steps and playing in parks, so that we could have petit gateau (hot fudge cake) at the end of the day!