We're finally here! As we were promised, the weather was quite warm and humid. Just had to get used to feeling hot and soggy as we traveled around the city for a few days, soaking in all the beautiful sights and sounds of fabulous RIO!!!! This year, the city of Rio celebrated its 450 year anniversary. Six million people now call Rio home. On our way into the port early this morning we cruised very slowly through the lovely bay that is one mile wide in some places. We were eager to get off the ship to experience the sights and sounds of the amazing culture that we will experience over the next few days.
When we walked off the ship we were hit by a wall of heat and humidity. Thankfully, we didn't have too far to walk to catch our bus. As our bus was attempting to exit the port the driver caught the bottom of it on a curb and bent part of the step which is stored underneath when the bus is moving. Afterward, every time we went over even the tiniest little bump on the road the bottom of our bus would scrape and make a horrible sound. This went on for an hour until we arrived at our destination. Luckily, while we were on the mountain the driver changed buses and the ride back to the ship was much more pleasant and felt much safer!
Rio is an interesting city. It is extremely eclectic in its architecture, neighborhoods and people. We passed a Catholic cathedral that was extremely modern and built to look like a pyramid! Then we saw a beautiful set of arches that serve as a bridge for a railroad crossing. Our guide told us that they are known as the "arches of love" throughout the city. As we drove deeper into town we passed through an area that had sidewalks covered in trash. In addition, there were huge piles of garbage built up on many of the street corners. People were sleeping all over the sidewalk. Not really a neighborhood in which I would want to walk around alone.
We drove through a very long tunnel and when we reached the other side the neighborhood appeared much improved. We no longer saw piles of garbage and there was much less graffiti. In fact, there was a lovely large park which bordered the street. Our guide told us it was name Flamengo Park and was built in the French style. That's why it was so pretty! As we moved through the city our guide explained that since Rio is wedged between two mountains all the land is already built and there is no more room for building out so everyone has to build up if they want more space. There are many high-rise condominiums throughout the city.
We had a chance to see Ipanema Beach, which was lovely. We also saw the lagoon where the 2016 Olympic rowing competition will be held. Bob asked our guide about how the preparations were going for the upcoming games, since we have heard that there are some concerns about the city being ready in time to host them. Our guide assured him that preparations were going well and Rio would be ready in time to host a wonderful and exciting competition.
We arrived at our destination which was the Christ the Redeemer monument. We took a funicular up the mountain. The ride was itself quite remarkable. It was a 20 minute ride through the Atlantic Rain Forest. Although there are no large cats left in this area there were monkeys swinging through the trees while they munched on the jackfruit which is extremely plentiful in this forest. There are also armadillos, iguanas, snakes (yuk - thankfully we didn't see any), spiders, toads and lots of exotic birds, like parrots, toucans and macaws. Our guide explained that this is a high bio-diversity rain forest. Many large trees had epiphytes growing on their trunks. An epiphyte is a plant that grows non-parasitically on top of another plant. Orchids were growing wild on many of the trunks. There were also many spectacularly colored tropical bromeliads with bright red and pink flowers. Really a beautiful and peaceful ride through the forest.
After the funicular ride, most of us took a combination of elevators and escalators to the top of the mountain. However, my very studly husband climbed the 225 stairs to the top. No too shabby for a fellow who is 73 yeas old!!!! (plus, he's cute, too)!!!!
Once we reached the top of the mountain we were at the base of the monument. Unfortunately, when we first arrived it was completely clouded in clouds. Our guide told us to be patient and, hopefully, the sun would shine through the clouds in a few minutes. After about 30 minutes we were rewarded for our wait with a lovely sunny view of the entire monument. Absolutely incredible!!!! Although I've seen the Christ the Redeemer monument in many photos, they just can't do it justice. It is a remarkable sight. It's massive!!!! Even though this monument is nothing compared to the day when Jesus will return, just seeing this remarkable monument makes me even more excited to think about the day when Jesus returns from the heavens. The monument stands watch over the city of Rio and I must say it's very comforting to look up from anywhere in the city and see the monument of Jesus with outstretched arms. It's a constant reminder that our Heavenly Father is always watching over us, protecting, and loving us. It's a beautiful sight. After spending time on the mountain we boarded the funicular and rode back through the lovely rainforest. We returned to the ship to get ready for our big day tomorrow which includes a visit to Sugarloaf mountain and a nighttime trip to the world-famous Carnival!!!!
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We got up on this bright, sunny morning and went to Sugarloaf Mountain. We ascended to the top on a gondola built in 1912. Although the cars have been updated since then, it's still a spectacular ride up the mountain. We rode a series of two cars to reach the top. This gondola was used in a James Bond 007 movie titled "Moonraker" in which Bond and his girlfriend were being chased by the outrageous and vicious villain "Jaws." It's quite a famous scene and made a lot of people less than excited about riding a gondola in the future!
Once on top of Sugarloaf we enjoyed a magnificent view of Rio. Sine we were in the middle of the rainforest we could see marmosets, a type of monkey, playing and munching on fruit in the trees. There were also a couple of large iguanas crawling around on the ground. What an incredible sight! The wildlife is so rich and diverse in the tropics. We spent some time relaxing, browsing through the shops, and enjoying the spectacular views of the forest and city below. Afterwards, we took the funicular back down the mountain, boarded our bus and took a tour of Copacabana Beach, which was quite beautiful.
The beach was about 2-1/2 miles long and was very wide, similar to some of our beaches in Southern California. There were colorful flags flying everywhere and a sand sports court which is used for sand volleyball and soccer. Next week, Brazil will face the U.S. in women's beach volleyball on these courts. On New Year's Eve this beach hosted approximately 2 million people who rang in the new year. It was a relatively clean area with beautiful, small mosaic tiles in waves of black and white, which is the symbol for Copacabana Beach. The tiny tiles were hand laid with limestone and black basalt squares set in alternating black and white waves It was quite unique and very pretty. The streets were lined with large palm trees and tropical plants with gorgeous bright orange flowers.
Across the street there was a string of condos and hotels, although there were no elegant resort-style hotels. The area was clean and well-maintained but the structures appeared to reflect the architecture of the 1960's. There was no bellmen or large circular driveways to assist guests during the check-in process. In fact, we still aren't sure where people park when they visit Copacabana Beach. We didn't see any street parking or parking lots.
We were looking for beautiful Brazilian women (I should say BOB was looking) wearing string bikinis! The only people we saw were middle-aged men wearing what looked like the bottom of a woman's bikini with socks and tennis shoes. Not an attractive look. People are very active in Brazil. Soccer is the most important sport and the city of Rio has four different Division 1 Teams. We left the beach in the early afternoon to rest and get ready for our exciting outing to the Rio Carnival tonight!!!! Not sure exactly what to expect but know it will be a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Should be fun.
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