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Friday, October 30, 2009

‘My Town’ Friday Shoot-out / Park Landscapes

DSC00771In the Ipanema / Leblon region of Rio de Janeiro the streets are lined with large trees. During the different ‘seasons’ in Rio these trees bloom, fruit and have subtle changes in leaf colors that lends a park like feeling on the very streets where you walk. There are also praças (plaza or parks) large and small, some take up complete city blocks and others fit snuggly into street crossings and unused, hidden corners. About 10 years ago, a few of the larger praças were enclosed in high fences that are closed at night keeping out the homeless and other unpleasant activities, and leaving these areas (relatively) clean and accessible to the locals for sitting in the sun, playing chess or just enjoying the feel of natural surroundings during the day.
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DSC00773 On the north side of the Lagoa is a small but interesting park called the Parque da Catacumba. Once a favela that wound itself up the hills, spilling over into Botafogo – the home of thousands that supplied labor in the expensive high-rise buildings sprouting along the beach and around the lagoa. The name of the parque comes from the Indian burial grounds that lie beneath the remnants of the favela.   
 
By tearing down the slum and moving all the families to city built housing on the outskirts of the city, the Prefecture has made the area a beautiful place to walk (easy climb) the quiet trails. [the sentence left unsaid – leaving the area nice for the rich – yes I think this drastic and unfair, but can’t help enjoying the park nonetheless.] Once you enter the park and start the climb to the top, you become surrounded by natural vegetation and only at one point can you look out and see the area of Ipanema crowding the shore on the other side of the Lagoa. 
 
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18 comments:

  1. What a gorgeous park!! I love all the lush greenery. Thanks for sharing!

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  2. wonderful parks, Ginger. I'd love to walk around your town and see them all.

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  3. Gorgeous Ginger.

    Also very much enjoy all the statues/sculptures.

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  4. I find the sculptures very intriguing. Cool stuff there.

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  5. The rugged textures and the vibrant colours, the statues and the vegetation all combine to make this an extremely beautiful park, Ginger.

    We enlarged all of your photos for a better view.

    Barry & Linda

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  6. As always your pictures are a treat and your text is honest. We have been following with interest Rio's victory as the next big Olympics destination. I hope that the solution to violence in the favelas doesn't always result in their being razed, that somehow the problems of drugs and poverty can be addressed in a more systemic way. But it's difficult, isn't it.

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  7. this is a great park! love the sculptures and the steps with all the growth and vegetation. so medieval like. beautiful!!

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  8. great shots - interesting sculptures.

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  9. What a lovely setting for the statues and sculptures! So lush!

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  10. I love sculpture gardens. And your commentary is good.

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  11. sculptors are so clever. From their hand, evolve things that last forever.

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  12. I loved all the wonderful statues--fantastic art!! My favorite, though, was the peak-through to the skyline. I thought it was interesting and beautiful.

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  13. Ginger, This is really lush scenery. In addition to enjoying all the sculptures, I really like your photo of the steps. It is a piece of art itself.

    My sister lives in Carlsbad, Ca and they have little parks tucked into corners also. They call them pocket parks because they are so small.

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  14. I am so jealous. We only have one park and it is our state park. No statues, no fountains - just camping spots. But it is a nice park located on the bay.

    On that note, I guess we have two parks - the bay is a spectacular park with beaches and picnic tables. Simple, simple, simple. But I would so love to visit your part of the world. One day, GingerV.

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  15. Beautiful green park. What an adventure it would be to wander around all day. Enjoyed the pictures.

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  16. I love statues strewn about parks...reminds me of how each persons job of designing and creating is artistic...I always wanted to take lessons in sculpting...

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  17. Yikes - those statues are crazy! It looks like a really nice place to walk, or just sit on a bench, though.

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