Sunday Morning at the Parque de Madureira

I've always wanted to check out the Parque de Madureira since I heard Eduardo Paes, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro speak on TedTalk (2012) about cities, and specifically his idea about finding and opening green spaces-(2:56min) If you're driving around in this city of 6.5 million people, it becomes instantly obvious that even though the urban jungle is surrounded by lush jungl-ey mountains and lined with beaches, accessible parks and other usable green spaces are rare and overcrowded. (900 families were displaced to make space for the park) So I was curious to see this new park smack dab in the middle of the dense suburban neighborhood of Madureira.

Sunday is the best day to maneuver around the city, especially if you're having to rely on your GPS which badly blurts out the often-very-long names of the Rio streets in a weird drunk robot accent. We brought the kid's bike, some water and a camera and off we went. If was easy enough to find once off of the Linha Amarella highway and we were instantly impressed.

Madureira park is a long, 103 thousand meter square, rectangular park fenced along a train track, the landscape design is modern with winding paths, grassy areas, fountains, benches, and every outdoor activity a park could offer: basketball courts, soccer pitches, an amazing skate park, a water fountain for kids to play in, areas for exercise and weight lifting, a playground, outdoor ping pong tables, kiosks, outdoor amphitheaters, and even an internet house. It celebrates it's two year anniversary this June.

Madureira graffitti

Live music in the park

These musicians were having fun!

Teachers protesting.

The "Piraque" factory across the tracks

The kid on a very still earless horse.

An all women's samba group! They were so good!

This little blind girl stole the show!

I'm trying to dance with the kid!

The Environmental Education Center

These boys were having a ton of fun posing for their dad who was taking photos.

The skate park was awesome and full of real kids and adult kids.

Internet access

Two little girls in a pod with their pads.

Interview with Batman on the grass

This last shot of Batman being interviewed made me laugh on my way out of the park. I recommend this visit to any of my friends in Rio, but be sure to go on a breezy or "cooler" day because most of the 800 native trees have not matured yet and don't offer a lot of shade. I was super impressed by how many people were taking full advantage of all the amenities, it was secure and well-kept. Bring your kids' bikes, skateboards or soccer balls or not, you can always rent those funny "family bikes"! Madureira Park certainly highlights the Field of Dreams movie phrase, "If you build it, they will come".