Four places in Rio you have never seen

Olympic Boulevard

Since Rio 2016 organisers broke the tradition by opening the Games in Maracana instead of the slightly smaller Olympic Stadium, they directly went one step further and transported the Olympic Cauldron to yet another location. This lets everybody get a close look at this curiously engineered constantly moving 3D sculpture in the heart of the Boulevard, right in front of the Ingreja de Nossa Senhora de Candelaria. Here you can also make new inflatable friends...

 

...watch some sports...

...and round up the tour by visiting the impressive Rio 2016 Lavatories (TM).

Leblon

Although not quite as famous as the Girl from Ipanema or the Pickpocket from Copacabana, here's their cousin Danny from Leblon celebrating Polish canoe medals with some delicious agua de coco.

Perhaps not entirely incidentally, somewhere between the lake, the beach, and the nearby Italian House I found this little gem:

Barra Olympic Park

A dozen arenas (some will remain, but e.g. the one hosting handball will be taken apart and converted into new schools), two big screens, thousands of colourful fans, some famous journalists...

...and a helluva lighter in case you smoke!

Alto da Boa Vista

I'm staying atop of a mountain pass so high you have to pop your ears every time a taxi drops you off just like you do when your plane is landing or taking off. Yup, it's big. Vincenzo Nibali agrees. Better still, facing both sides you see the same crazy rock formations that make countless tourists flock to the famous Sugar Loaf and Cristo Retendor. My window on the right:

Noticed the garden? It's a treat. Anything from banana trees, to orchids, to peppers. The family consists of two humans, two dogs, and these three fellas: