My new favorite city in the world

Ever since I went to London in 2018 to study abroad in my final semester of college, the city has been my favorite in the world by far. Aside from all the tangible items that make it a wonderful place - history, food, transportation, culture, the British people - it has an intangible for me that give it a magical element. I believe another life of mine was spent there during the Victorian era, and thus my connection to the city on the Thames runs deep.

But I have to be fair when another exceptional city comes into my life, as has just happened. I expected to like Rio de Janeiro, arguably the most famous city in Latin America - but I did not expect to love it as deeply as I did.

There’s the most obvious and objective feature - Rio is near inarguably the most naturally beautiful city in the world. A tropical paradise on the Atlantic Ocean, with an assortment of small, black rock mountains, dotted up and down the entire coastline. Filled with beaches in all corners, I see it as a level beyond even the often renowned Cape Town (I’ve been to both).

It’s history has made for an abundance of Portuguese era colonial architecture all around the city, but especially in the oldest neighborhoods. The infrastructure may not rise to the elite level of cities like Dubai or Beijing, but it works well enough to not introduce any obstruction on day to day life.

Easy to get around with cheap Ubers and an effective underground metro network, access is simple.

The food it offers is all anyone could ask for - tasty Brazilian cuisine, international restaurants, and stores and markets full of fresh, affordable groceries to prepare your own meals.

Activities are vast as well - the party scene of the city is famous, but not one that I felt in my movings. I noticed a large amount of fit people resistance training, running, cycling, walking, and surfing. What comes with a city that prioritizes health? Attractive people - and what a delight they were to behold. Beyond the city itself are dozens perimeter activities - hiking, paragliding, and rock climbing.

The locals, known as “cariocas”, are lovely. A city that receives copious amounts of international tourists can often become jaded to their presence, but I never felt that in Rio. All the locals I had dealing with were pleasant at worst, vibrant at best. As comes with an international city, it is well equipped in goods and services, and features a high percentage of locals that speak English - important for making connections.

On the subject of connections, Rio is accessible to the world - most flights route through Sao Paulo, less than an hour flight away. Even for such a large city, it feels local and warm in a way that a city of its size normally wouldn’t. Maybe that’s in part to do with the fact that it is a city full of dogs. A great indicator of a place’s morality is how they treat animals, and Rio ranks high.

Natural beauty, architecture, activities, beautiful women, delicious good, affordability, English speakers…

Why then do I make it a tie with London as my favorite city in the world? While London may lag behind in several of the above mentioned categories, it holds a magical quality for me that I cherish regardless of its physical form. No city, no matter how great, can outdo the capital of England, in my heart.

I could see myself living in Rio - let’s see where the next year or so takes me.

Sincerely,

Jacob

P.S. I saw a jaguar on a evening boat tour in the Pantanal - worth the entire investment of time and money to be here.