Brahh-zeeall

---

Welcome to Brahzeeeall!! Listen, if you haven’t seen Fast and Furious 5, you can’t appreciate Brazil. Okay, that’s not true but go watch that movie because it’s good! Today was our first day off the boat exploring and we were READY! As per usual, I was awake before sunrise and enjoyed watching the sun come out on the balcony. I took a shower early, spent a good hour putting on my makeup and curling my hair, and then headed to breakfast at 7:30am with Kamie. We stayed on our balcony watching our ship float into Rio and by the time we left our cabin, all the curls had fell from my hair and we were almost sweating. Most of my makeup was gone within an hour of being outside this morning. It was not hot today and we never felt hot but the humidity was 87%. That’s the actual forecasted humidity number but I think it was higher. It was so odd because we would be dripping with sweat but we would feel great. I know my face looks red in the photos but I didn't feel hot. It was odd. Nothing like Missouri. We were in a group tour today and our tour guide did speak English even though we were told he would not. We never had to worry about not knowing what time to meet the bus or where to go. We did miss out on some of the history/stories he was telling in Spanish on the bus so that was a disappointment especially for history-buff Kamie.

Our first stop today was Sugarloaf Mountain. Sugarloaf Mountain looks over the famous Copacabana Beach and the rest of Rio. It is a cable car system. You ride the first cable car up a smaller mountain… wait for another cable care and ride it across to the Sugarloaf Mountain. Neither of us can recall previously riding in a cable car. It felt like an amusement ride at first. It was packed with people and a little sticky until it got moving and a nice breeze came through the windows. Kamie said he was okay until he looked down and then he decided to not do that anymore. None of it bothered me. I thought it was cool. I didn’t take any pictures of the ride up because I just want to enjoy the moments this trip. I’m more about enjoying my vacation than taking pictures of my vacation. I took plenty once we were at the top of Sugarloaf Mountain and on the way back down. See how that works? We all win.

We got back to the tour bus after Sugarloaf mountain and our guide said we were going to lunch. I knew a typical “churrascaria” lunch was included but I didn’t know what that meant. It meant we were taken to an elegant, waterside Brazilian steakhouse and treated like Queens and Kings. Not only was it the best meal we’ve had in a long time but it was almost a performance the way the men worked the room with the skewers of meats and the constant refills of “cervesa” (beer) or Coke Zero or whatever you wanted… I could have taken a video of them walking around the tables serving us and played Thunderstruck by ACDC in the background to it because it was a masterpiece. Who know men serving meat could be so enticing. Some of their physiques did help the masterpiece a bit. Seriously though.. we were told to enjoy a freshly laid-out salad/buffet bar and I thought this would be our lunch… cheese/salami/breads/salads/rice/carrots… but then we sit down and Kamie says “now the meats are coming” and I didn’t know what he was talking about but I quickly learned… sausages… chicken… steaks of different cuts…lamb….spare ribs…you name it, they brought it out. They put baskets of fried onion rings, french fries, and breads on our table. They brought out hot garlic knot breads fresh from the oven. Everything was steaming hot, fresh, and fantastic. We had to tell them no, no, no… because they just kept bringing the meats. These Brazilian guys can really deliver. Regardless, we were the first tour group to the restaurant and by the time we left, there were at least two other buses that had arrived. I’m glad my first time to have a Brazilian steakhouse meal was in an actual Brazilian steakhouse. It was delicious. It also felt like dinner and a show.

The sun decided to hide behind clouds and it had cooled down by the time lunch ended. We traveled to the Corcovado Mountain and took a steep train ride up to see the Jesus Christ the Redeemer statue. Do you know what this used to be called? The Pinnacle of Temptation. Temptation Mountain. It alludes to the biblical account of the temptation of Christ. It was renamed in the 18^th century. There is a long history as to why this statue is on the top of this mountain that is interesting. I was mostly intrigued with the heart carved on his chest. I hope it comes through in the pictures. It is so high in the sky that clouds would just drift by why you were up there. I liked this and just couldn’t really believe it. I kept wondering about science and how we were actually breathing okay this high up? I don’t know. Just some things that crossed my mind while we were up there watching clouds float in front of our face.

We came back down the mountain, drove to the Copacabana beach, and then finally made our way back to the port. It was dark by the time we got back to our ship. We grabbed a pizza from the “authentic Italian pizzeria” (it really is) onboard and watched the ship leave Rio from our balcony. You could see Christ the Redeemer lit-up and looming over the city from our balcony. It doesn’t sound like we did much today but the things we saw and heard and the little facts we learned have left my mind with an explosion of information I feel can be shared best with pictures today. Enjoy!

---

Photos

Leaving Rio
Sugarloaf Mountain is on the left You can see the lit-up Jesus the Christ Redeemer statue on the right at night. "Watching over the city" is what they say

The Story of Our Life
I'm dressed and ready to go. He's still sleeping.

Cable car "air conditioning"
Sweat was just pouring off us but we weren't really hot, thank goodness

Comments

[Stacy]

Re Rico
There is a Brazilian restaurant in Springfield called Re Rico. They keep bringing the meat until you turn a card on your table to "off". I've heard it's good. Also, I'd be eating authentic Italian pizza every night!

[Eeda and Jahn]

It was only okay
We ate the pizza 2 nights. I always had the margherita. I eat like a third grader. This may sound crazy but we were almost never ever ever hungry. If we didn't have dinner at a certain time and didn't enjoy our waiters and the staff there, we probably would not have ate dinner or skipped more meals than we did. It must be the atmosphere or something because we just never wanted to eat and had to force ourselves to eat when it was time or if we hadn't ate in a long time.