Arcos de Lapa

   With the sun setting fast, we soon turned away from the wild, brightly crimson colored mosaic, and reentered Evandro's vermilion vehicle. As we quickly sped away from Selaron's masterpiece, Evandro commented on the tight streets we had just crossed, just to give us a more vivid picture of  Rio de Janiero.
        "These narrow streets. We are in the heart of the city, now. We are in Lapa. Where all the nightclubs are, and the bars, and where the people come to enjoy the nightlife."
       I smiled at this. Now, I knew where all the best clubs were located. Time to party. I'm only joking of course. We were in Rio de Janiero to explore all of its main attractions, and its bars and nightclubs were not on the itinerary.
        After several minutes had passed, we soon hit the center of the city, which was pulsing with energy and  life. The streets were lined with prosperous restaurants, each promising authentic Brazilian cuisine and serving dozens of couples and families. Outside these stood rugged street performers, who wistfully strummed their guitars for money. I looked on, not daring to miss a second of the culture powerhouse that was Lapa. Adjacent to the various delis and restaurants stood the bustling bars, where the sound of the karaoke machines could be heard even from across the street.
         Upon seeing my mom and dad point in another direction out the window, I quickly followed their gaze. There they were, the Arcos da Lapa. Although we couldn't afford to stop, seeing that it was already six o'clock, Evandro fed us a bit of history while we passed the impressive structure.
     Apparently, it once served as a monumental aqueduct, which was constructed by colonial authorities amidst the 18th century. I clung onto the evanescent seconds, as we were passing the ancient aqueduct with tremendous speed.
     I stared at it pensively for a few more seconds, before I tried to describe how it looked.  It was a lot like a starched, white, and perfectly rectangular sheet of paper, that was ridden with numerous arch-shaped holes. In fact, most of the monument appeared to consist more of negative space than positive, much like an elegantly fashioned wedge of Swiss cheese. But, here we finally were, the Arcos of Lapa. At least for a few more seconds.