Nuts about Brazil

I had planned to spend all day soaking up, if not the film culture, then at least the soundtrack to it - there seemed to be a super invasion of bossa nova beats, with people like Bebel Gilberto suddenly becoming incredibly cool.

However, when I arrived, I was struck by a kind of shopping fever. Remember a decade ago, when people used to take weekend breaks to New York because the currency exchange rates were in Britain’s favour and it was a way to get bizarre, avant garde gifts - before the rate changed and America stopped being exotic because it had been too easy? Well, Rio has arrived.

It’s the perfect moment for it. The place is still exotic without being alienating or frightening and, with a new government led by Lula da Silva, it’s poised on the brink of a new era - it’s becoming more international and cosmopolitan. Brazil will soon be keeping up the same beat as the rest of the world. So get there now.

My first shopping sortie was to a kind of antique market just off the Copacabana, called Shopping de Antiguidades da Rua Siqueira Campos. Rio had its heyday in the 1950s, when very rich families were learning how to be extravagant. Today’s hard times mean that those ladies with their poodles are selling their family treasures to this market, and that means there are hugely collectible things going very cheap - such as the lamp made of glass cherries which I snapped up.

Then there’s local bag designer and couture genius Gilson Martins. He has two shops, boutiquey in feel, that sell exceptional products at a fraction of the usual price. Handbags shaped like corsets, miniature baguettes in bright patterned colours are one range; another incorporates monuments of Rio - the famous crucifixion and Sugarloaf mountain, all made to look super cool. And there’s a huge range of Brazilian football colours in handbags, suitcases and shiny aprons, one of which now hangs in my kitchen.

Perhaps best of all was the star of the recent Brazilian fashion week, Silvia, and her emporium Casa de Noca. She is a tiny spicy girl with a tattoo of Coco Chanel across her back. Chanel was her heroine: "Yes, I’m inspired by her and I call myself Casa House as a joke because it’s really nothing like a fashion house. It’s not organised. It’s not so expensive but it has similar aspirations."

The fashion house is in fact a boudoir-esque pink and red little offshoot in her own home. This not only cuts down on overheads but makes shopping feel intimate, exclusive and supremely girlie. Most of her designs use a forgotten fabric, a kind of pre-Lycra, semi-stretchy, shiny nylon.

"I wanted to be sensual, not vulgar and not use a mainstream material, but this forgotten material is slinky," she explained.

"In Rio, we have a style that we call ‘dog’. This fabric doesn’t make you look like a dog because it works very well with the body."

What she meant was that it wasn’t so tight as to be tarty, I discovered. To ensure a perfect fit, she opened what seemed to be a cupboard with a window to reveal a woman busily sewing. She comes out and hand-tailors clothes to suit. At the end of the day, you can have a garment delivered, unique and personal to you, which costs little more than you’d pay to have a dress dry-cleaned.

Pinned to the wall of Silvia’s boutique was a catalogue of 1950s ladies looking super elegant and starlet-ish, and that’s the spirit of the clothes. The rediscovered fabric is really clever and I was able to buy a dress in a kind of mock 1950s ruched look, tailored specially, and another more bossa nova-inspired top in vibrant turquoise.

By this time, the shopping had gathered such momentum that it just wouldn’t stop. In the shopping mall, Rio Sul, the fashions are similar to those found all over the world, just cheaper.

The Manolo Blahnik of Brazil is a designer called Constanca Basto. You can buy their delicate sexiness in the UK, but from 200 upwards. Here, you can pick one up for as little as 40. On Saturday and Sunday there are outdoor markets, where a huge selection of Christmas gifts can be found. Bracelets of semi-precious stones are 1 each. Other more exciting ones that look like rosaries with Brazilian saints dripping from them are around 2, which makes the price of the airfare more than worth it for a pre-Christmas shopping trip.

And don’t forget, it’s not every year you get to do your Christmas shopping in temperatures of 90 degrees.

SUN, SAND AND SHOPPING

Getting there

Flights from Scotland to Rio de Janeiro start at 474 return. Check out www.cheapflights.co.uk for the best prices and routes. Rio has two modern airports: international and domestic flights use the Aeroporto Galeao, which is 15 minutes from downtown. The Aeroporto Santos Dumont is used to link Rio de Janeiro to So Paulo.

When to go

Rio has a tropical climate so expect some rain. The summer (December to March) is hot with temperatures ranging from 25C (77F) to 40C (104F). It can also be humid with occasional showers. Winter temperatures range from 20C (68 F) to 30C (86F) with plenty of good beach days.

What to eat

As in most of Brazil, restaurants in Rio are abundant and cheap. The plates at the many lanchonetes are big enough for two and cost a handful of Reals. For something lighter, you can eat at a suco bar. Most have sandwiches and fruit salads. Make a habit of asking for an embal-agem (doggie bag) when you don’t finish your food, and don’t forget to order a strong, black coffee - a Brazilian speciality.

What to see and do

Shopping aside, Rio is perhaps best-known for its carnival, which starts next year on 1 March, and lasts five days and nights. Dancing, parades, head-dresses and bare breasts are all part of this wild, heady spectacle, which attracts tourists and locals alike. A must-see is the Samba Parade, downtown at the Sambodrome, which is broadcast to several dozen countries. Tickets are expensive so if your budget doesn’t stretch this far, check out the Street Carnival, which is free, and happens all over the city.

Other festivals throughout the year add to Rio’s colourful street scene. The Festas Juninas in June, one of the most important folkloric festivals in Brazil, is celebrated in public squares throughout the month. Music, stalls and a street procession mark the Festa de NS da Glria do Outerio on August 15, and the year always ends with a bang with tons of fireworks at the Festa de lemanj.

Going to the beach is a way of life for the Carioca, and Copacabana, one of the world’s most famous beaches, is everyone’s favourite spot. Backed by steep hills, this stretch of sand is crowded with sun-worshippers : a people-watching paradise, whatever the time of day or night. But for a quieter day out, head to Ipanema, Rio’s most chic beach.

Po de Acar (the Sugar Loaf) is beautiful, particularly at sunset on a clear day. Here, two cable cars lift you 396m (1299ft) above Rio and the Baa de Guanabara for a spectacular view of the city. There are also 50 established hiking routes around the back of the mountain.

For another great panorama of the city, the Corcovado (hunchback) mountain rises straight up to a height of 701m (2300ft). Its most prominent feature is the statue Cristo Redentor, which is brilliantly illuminated at night and visible from all over the city.