Santa Teresa When the Tram Sways Through the Hills

Santa Teresa When the Tram Sways Through the Hills

Santa Teresa clings to a hill above Lapa in Rio de Janeiro, and its cobblestoned streets, colonial mansions, and artist studios make it the neighborhood that Rio shows you when it wants to prove it's more than beaches and samba — though the samba is here too, drifting from bars on Largo do Guimarães with the casual authority of a rhythm that has been rehearsing for a century.

The bondinho (the yellow tram) sways up the hill from the Arcos da Lapa — the 18th-century aqueduct arches that double as the tram's viaduct — and the ride is equal parts transportation and performance. The tram leans into the curves, the tracks are narrow, and the view that opens as you climb includes Guanabara Bay, Sugarloaf, and the favelas on the adjacent hills in a panorama that is both beautiful and honest about its own contradictions.

Bar do Mineiro on Largo do Guimarães serves feijoada (black bean and pork stew) with farofa and rice in a room with tile floors and ceiling fans and the convivial noise of a bar that treats lunch as a social institution. Café do Alto down the street does tapioca crepes — crispy-edged, filled with cheese or coconut or both — at wooden tables overlooking the valley.

Insider tip: Walk down the Escadaria Selarón — the mosaic staircase created by Chilean artist Jorge Selarón, who covered 250 steps in tiles from 60 countries over 20 years. It's crowded by noon. Come at eight in the morning when the light hits the tiles at a low angle and the colors pop against the shadows and the only other people are the joggers who use it as a stair-climber, which is the most Rio use of public art imaginable.