MARCH 12 - mARCH 18, 2015 • TIMES 25 victoria’s secrets VICTORIA SCHNEPS-YUNIS [email protected] tweet me @vschneps To South America and back My flight home on an American Airlines’ 767-300 plane was as terrific as I could wish for and the final 10 hours coming home were made comfortable after a 13-day visit to Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil on the Oceania cruise line. What I love about a cruise is that I unpack once and get to visit 10 cities. And then there is the pampering factor that I had on this one. The food and staff couldn’t have been better but I wish the des t inations were as good as the cruise company. A l t h o u g h there were 10 stops, I had my favorites and surprises. I thought Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro would be the highlights of my South A Carnival costumed dancer American journey but a small city in Uruguay, Punta Del Este, stole my heart and mind. It is the home to the unique Ralli Museum, a private institution in the center of a beautiful park in the Beverly Hills neighborhood. The founders have five museums located around the world, all with collections of contemporary Latin-American art by living artists and world-class artists. What’s so special beyond the remarkable collections is that the museums are totally funded by founders Harry and Martinez Recanati. They custom-built the location in Uruguay and don’t accept donations or subsidies, and have no commercial enterprises like a gift store or dining room. Admission is free and they invite guests to take photos or videos of the works. Most unique! And what a delight it was to walk through their intimate galleries and gardens. The Dali works made me smile and the wonderful bronze sculptures captured my heart as I took photos from every angle of my favorite works. From there, the bus took our group of 30 cruise clients to the sprawling complex, CasaPueblo, created by famed Uruguayan artist Carlos Paez Vilaro. His home is perched on a bluff overlooking the ocean. It’s a unique, blinding white concrete complex that includes a museum and hotel that took the renowned artist 36 years to complete. It was hard to pull myself away from the views of the sparkling ocean and galleries filled with joyous works of art. The Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio The town is also known for its many long stretches of beaches and on one is an acclaimed sculpture known as the Monument of the Fingers, which is comprised of giant concrete fingers rising from the sand. What a strange sight! After a short lunch in town and a walk down mostly touristy shops, it was back to the ship. It was so hot I was delighted to get back and jump into the pool and recover from a busy day. Later in the week I visited the Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro designed by the world-famous Oscar Niemayer. His circular building sits on a lagoon with an outdoor reflecting pool and was a stunning stop on the ride to see the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. They are miles of sparkling, blinding, wide white sand beaches with a sprinkling of little cafés along the multi-mile stretch. But, of course, the highlight of Rio is the dramatic, stunning Christ the Redeemer statue perched on one of the highest mountains in the city. It’s the largest Art Deco statue in the world, taking nine years of construction, and completed in 1931. To get to the top, there is a two-car railroad with tracks that were cut through the forest in 1884 and run 2.5 miles through the Tijuca National Park. The 20-minute train ride is just the beginning. From there, I took an elevator up and then took two Otis escalators to finally reach the top. But was it worth it! The sights of the city are breathtakingly beautiful and I was lucky enough to be there on a clear day. As the song says, “On a clear day you can see forever,” and I did! The last night of the cruise was great fun. I bought tickets to the “Samba Sounds and Glitter” show which turned out to be my ticket to the infamous wild Carnival in Rio. The show featured a dozen dancers dressed in feathered, sequined, spectacular gowns that were worn in Carnival. They got thunderous applause, as did the hypnotic sounds of the talented dancers and drummers. That night, I felt the exuberance and spirit of the joie de vivre of the Brazilian people. It was a foot-stomping, joyous end to a wonderful visit to Brazil. “The Hand” sculpture locally known as the Monument of the Fingers on Brava Beach, in Punta Del Este, Uruguay The Contemporary Art Museum in Rio de Janeiro For all the News 24 Hours, 7 Days a Week go to www.timesnewsweekly.com
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