As we walked past the Teatro Municipal, we saw a crowd around the just-crowned Miss Turismo Rio.

A “Carioca” is a person from Rio, and downtown Rio was crowded with Cariocas on July 13 when we walked through the district called “Largo de Carioca.”  We heard a band playing to celebrate Miss Turismo Rio.  Her blue costume reminded me of the elaborate carnaval regalia of Mardi Gras revelers.  And that called to mind Orfeu Negro, the 1959 film that first introduced me to Rio.  In it, Orpheus falls in love with Eurydice, only to lose her to Death during the night of carnaval.

The Arcos of Lapa, at one time an aquaduct, supported the tram to Santa Teresa.

“Carioca” is also the name of a river whose waters once fed into downtown Rio by means of a monumental aquaduct, the Arcos de Lapa.  At one time a tram rode atop the aquaduct, but an accident  last year put it out of commission.  When we got to the arcos, we could see the illuminated pyramid which is the Metropolitan Cathedral.  We could also hear highly-amplified salsa music, because Friday night is party time.  We ordered beers and caipirinhas.

The pyramid-shaped cathedral changes colors every couple of seconds.

The beers arrived in a single, towering, two-liter container with a spigot.  I thought it looked excessive until David, who is really good at math, calculated that two liters is not very much when divided among four people.  We all took his word on that.  It was a good evening, and we discussed our plan the next day to go to the Sítio Roberto Burle-Marx.