Journey Through...: Rio de Janeiro

My month in Brazil is now over, it is unbelievable that the time has passed so quickly. There are still several blog entries that I need to post from my time away, it is strange writing them while not in Brazil!

My last stop in Brazil was in Rio de Janeiro! Rio was the most touristy city and experience I had while in Brazil.

Corcovado mountain is 2,316 feet high, and has one of the most iconic sites of Rio de Janeiro, Cristo Redentor, which towers over the city. In 1931 it was officially inaugurated to honor the centenary of Brazil's independence. Chirst arms are open to represent the warmth of the Brazilian people. It is possible to see the Christ from many areas in Rio, my hotel window looked out on it. The Christ is lighted at night, so it is possible to see it at all hours.

View of Sugar Loaf from Christ the Redeemer.

Becomes a very busy tourist attraction, with people taking pictures with their arms stretched out.

People will lay on the ground to take pictures.

View of Copacabana Beach from the Christ.

View from the tram as it passes through the Parque Nacional da Tijuca rainforest on the way to the top!

Finally was able to get a picture of the small monkeys (Marmoset)that are about the size of a large squirrel as I was leaving Corcovado! More pictures of them later.

Next we were off to Selaron Stairs in the Lapa area. Jorge Selaron from Chile, began creating this in 1990 using the colors of Brazil (green, yellow and blue) as a tribute to the country. He would purchase tiles, and others would bring him tiles from places they visited. This was an ongoing project, where he would constantly add and change tiles. Selaron was found dead on the steps earlier this year. In 2005 the staircase was considered a city landmark, and Selaron became an honorary Rio resident. The staircase is incredible beautiful, unfortunately there are several police officers at the base of the stairs.

San Francisco tiles on the stairs.

Sugar Loaf was the last touristy spot visited for the day! This is 1,300 feet above the water and consists of two mountains, Morro do Urca and Pao de Acucar (Sugar Loaf). There are 2 cable cars, the first is taken from the ground to Morro do Urca, then then 2nd is to the top of Sugar Loaf. The views while on the cable car and on top of the mountains are beautiful, especially at sunset while I was there.

View from inside the the lower cable car.

Sugar Loaf from Morro do Urca (lower mountain).

View of the Guanabara Bay as the sun is beginning to set.

Atlantic Ocean and areas along the beaches.

Sugar Loaf from across the bay.

The night was ended in Lapa at Rio Scenarium where we listened to some Samba, drank a caipirinha, and had some dinner. It was a nice ending to the day!

Drinking the caipirinha!

Here are some pictures of Copacabana Beach - it is like no beach I have ever seen. There are vendors with chair and umbrella rentals, snack bars that sell coconut water and beer. The beach became so crowded on Sunday afternoon, but people were not running around and kicking sand up as I have seen at many other beaches. There were entire families, couples, and groups and friends at the beach.