Our flights to Houston and Rio went without any hitches. Our friends Tony and Julie were on the same flight, and even sat next to us on the second leg from Houston to Rio. First up was the view of the Sierras! I was unfortunately on the wrong side of the plane to catch Yosemite.
We passed some interesting rock formations in Utah. I particularly liked the shadow this mountain made on the desert floor. Yes, I look out the window a lot on flights. That shadow looks a lot like Mont-Saint-Michel in France (a spot we have yet to visit).
We took a taxi from the airport in Rio to our hotel, the Fairmont on Copacabana Beach. Quick note, the taxi’s get to use these special bus lanes, so we were able to avoid a LOT of bumper to bumper traffic! If we had taken an Uber it would have taken at least another half hour to get there, likely more. Something to keep in mind if you visit. After checking in we got a cocktail by the hotel pool, overlooking Copacabana.
We splurged to get an ocean view and wow was the view worth it! The downside of being right across from the beach is the noise can be pretty bad, particularly on weekends! We took a walk on the path above the beach that first afternoon, and let’s just say the Brazilian women wear thongs no matter their body type…or age. Avert thine eyes lest you perchance vomit! Sorry, no photos to share….no way Jose! I didn’t want to chance breaking my phone!
We had a full day tour on our 2nd day with superstar guide Diogo and his driver Carlos (who happened to look a lot like Johnny Depp). Our first stop was Sugarloaf Mountain, a must see attraction in Rio. This is the view from the parking lot, with Sugarloaf on the right.
The tour to Sugarloaf involves two gondola rides. Here we are at the top of the first ride. To the right of the photo, off in the distance, is Christ the Redeemer. Looks tiny from this far away, which surprised us!
This is one of the original gondolas that was used when the cableway first opened in 1912. The statue is of engineer Augusto Ferreira Ramos, who spearheaded the project, making this only the 3rd cableway in the world!
Julie took a shot of us on the way up to the top.
The view from the top of Sugarloaf is simply spectacular!!
We had to get a group shot from the top. That’s Copacabana Beach to the right and the Carragas Islands to the left, so named as they are covered in guano (Cagadas, a closely similar word, is Portuguese for crap). Seems the Brazilians are just as literal as the Australians!
This is the view from the gondola station on Sugarloaf.
Interesting to note that this was the setting for a scene from the James Bond movie Moonraker with Roger Moore, which frankly looks pretty silly these days, but that movie was awesome back in 1979! Click on the link if you are curious. It appears I can’t embed the video of this one.
Another view of Copacabana from the gondola station.
On the way back down, at the first gondola stop, there is a Sugarloaf Museum (that happens to be very well air conditioned). Inside our guide showed us this actual “sugarloaf”,
Our next stop was the Christ the Redeemer statue, one of the “New Seven Wonders of the World”. Constructed between 1922 and 1931, the statue is 98′ high and the arms stretch 92′ wide. Our guide Diogo insisted we do this cheesy pose, which we saw replicated everywhere around the base of the statue.
Diogo also pointed out that there is a chapel inside the base of the statue, and they were actually holding mass. I guess in Brazil it’s ok to wear a hat or visor at mass?? I’m not even religious and I can’t imagine being this disrespectful.
The area around the statue was like rush hour on a Tokyo subway!! Holy crap!
The views are excellent however! I really had to fight through the crowd to get this photo.
One last look at Christ the Redeemer.
The next visit was the Selaron Steps, a staircase that has been turned into a work of art by Escadaria Selaron. It started out in 1990 as a renovation and decoration of the dilapidated steps outside of his home, but soon became an obsession where he decorated every step in the staircase with tiles from around the world.
We saw tiles depicting various places around the globe, including this sign for the Camino de Santiago in Spain.
This tile is from the Overloon Museum in The Netherlands, a spot we visited back in the spring of 2023. I thought it was obscure when we visited it, so we were surprised to see this here in Rio.
Our last stop of the day was the Rio de Janeiro Cathedral, a very unique church that was designed to look like a Mayan pyramid. It’s fairly new, being built between 1964 and 1979. That’s young for a church! Hell, I’m older! Still, it’s gorgeous inside.
I have to say, it doesn’t look much like a church from the outside. Maybe something out of a Star Wars ride at Disneyland?
Coming up, we visit Tijuca National Park, the worlds largest urban forest.