Letters from Rio: Build me a Cave, Honey!

Alright, I'm sure this does not apply only to Brazilian landlords, but I picture them in a posh pad somewhere, sitting on their cozy outdoor furniture with a cocktail having completely forgotten about their rental unit. Why would one spend time thinking about a storage unit or a dank, moldy garage filled with years of accumulated, old, "but it still works, if you shove it in a bit like this" stained furniture and household junk?

We were completely deflated, literally and figuratively after our last visit to the "Wonderful" condominium, of course having convinced ourselves that with a name like that our apartment hunting days in Barra would end! Wonderful, my partly tanned a**. Maybe it's just me, but if I was showing my place for rent, I might at least hide the stack of stained, moldy mattresses, and wipe up the crusty food on the stove.

So off to Parque Lage we go! This beautiful public park sits at the base of the Corcovado mountain on top of which Christ the Redeemer sits. (Corcovado means hunchback, a perfect name for this steep granite rock 2300 feet above sea level) Rich in history, this sixteenth century sugar mill first owned by a former governor of Rio Antonio Selema, exchanged hands over the centuries until 1920, when Henrique Lage purchased it, built a perfect replica of the a palazzo romano and reconstructed the landscaping.

In honor of his beloved Italian wife, an opera singer, he built caves and towers for her to sing without disruption as well as ponds, lakes and an aquarium to please her eyes. Now that's what I call a wedding present!
In the 30's and 40's the mansion became a venue for fancy parties for artists and performers, and later, and to this day, a school for visual arts. The morning of our visit, there was an art exhibition in the halls of the mansion while families lounged on flat cushions drinking juice along the edge of the interior pool, and an unusual amount of pregnant ladies were taking belly shots in front of the facade. What I wonderful way to forget my house hunting blues, visit someone's else's mansion!