Rio de Janeiro hotels collection

The hills of Rio carry a replanted forest, the Tijuca: coffee had stripped the slopes bare, the springs were running dry, and the emperor had the mountain reforested so the city would not go short of water. A yellow tram runs over the whitewashed arches of the Lapa aqueduct, then climbs towards the houses of Santa Teresa. The former Ministry of Education covers its lower walls in blue and white azulejos where seahorses and shells drift. At the Botanical Garden, the avenue of imperial palms grew from a single tree, the Palma Mater, which the prince regent had planted with his own hands.