Rio was gorgeous! We stayed at an amazing pousada (similar to bed and breakfasts in the states). It was the top floor of an apartment complex with a beautiful balcony that overlooked Copacabana beach. It was amazing, just beautiful. I had no idea how mountainous and rocky Rio was, it was inspiring. The first night, we went to the best churrascaria in town, which is like a buffet where they have all kinds and cuts of meat they grill and they offer it to you at the table and cut you a slice, fantastic. We walked around Ipanema, Copacabana, the Hippie market and went to mass. The highlights however are Pão de Açúcar (sugar loaf), and Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer).
The day started off with breakfast with all the people staying at the pousada. All of them were American, and really friendly. It was great getting to meet different people traveling around. We had a driver drive us around Rio and make our way to the Cristo Redentor. He was great, and spoke a lot of English, I even had my Portuguese come in handy! He played a cd full of Brazilian music, including the wonderful “Girl from Ipanema”. I learned how my grandpa Aubrey loved that song and would sing it all the time when my mom was growing up. The Christ was phenomenal. It is of course one of the symbols of the city and of Brazil in general and when seeing it up close I know why. I always thought it was just a big concrete statue but it’s actually hundreds of tiny triangular and odd shaped tiles. It was beautiful. Next we made our way into the downtown, saw an amazing church, and ate at a famous coffee place in downtown. Then we went to Sugarloaf. Pão de Açúcar is the name of the mountain that sticks up from the bay and from the top gives you a view of the whole city. You can only get there by cable car, which was an adventure in itself. Mom was super nervous but “had to do it”. Well it consists of two separate rides, the first one is to a shorter Ucra mountain and second up to Pão de Açúcar. Well after the first, Dad wasn’t so sure about the second, but I managed to get my parents on them, a little fear helps keep the adrenaline pumping. Of course it was foggy when we got up there but it cleared in time for us to see the colors fade on the beautiful city. It was the perfect way to end a wonderful day.
Even after leaving Rio I still think about the Cristo Redentor. It’s amazing to see this figure with its arms out stretched to a city so full of crime, poverty, corruption, and fear. This city however has hope spilling out of it. I keep reading about all the crime in Rio and in the next sentence all the churches. After being there I understand completely. Hope is what drives Rio even for most of the people in the favelas that cover the town (there is over 300 different favelas) put there faith in Christ. It was amazing to see so much poverty living with so many rich. Favelas would be directly beside the nicest neighborhoods in Rio. The poor, rich, powerful, homeless all share this city equally and all the culture, beauty, and crime under Christ’s watchful eye on top of Corcovado. As heartbreaking as the city can be, I have that same hope for it and a desire to go back and explore more of the majestic Rio de Janeiro.
In the photos: 1. sunset from our balcony over copacabana, 2. views of the crist, 3. on the balcony with our wonderful host, 4. dad and I walking along copacaban, 5. ,6., 7. the christ, 8.the view from the crist, 9. the really awesome church, 10. the sun setting from sugarloaf! It cleared for a little while!
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