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Published: January 28th 2008
View from Corcovado
It was a bit overcast but still fun to look out over the cityWe sailed out of Rio just about an hr ago and can still see some of it in the distance though it has been cloudy and overcast most of the day with rain a good part of the afternoon. I had a full day tour of Rio that left a 8 this morning. There were quite a few people I’d met already on the same bus (a couple from Indianapolis who I met on the plane, RuthC and Adele from the cc board, and Thersa & Joanne from my Dining Table that live in the Cincinnati area) so that was nice. Our guide’s name was Rosarita and she is a native Brazilian. She was pretty good at giving us information about the sites and city but a bit pushy in getting us to do what she wanted (a few nicknamed her Hitler etc).
The tour started with a drive thru the old part of the city. You can see where they’re putting up stages and grandstands for next week’s Carnivale. We made our way to the Train (I guess that’s what you call it) to go to the top of Corcovado and the Christ Redeemer
Statue of Christ the Redeemer
It was difficult to get a photo of the statue from up top with the way the sun was and the crowds so this is the best I could do. Gives you the idea though! Statue. This is one of the new 7 wonders of the world. We had to wait about 30 mins for our train but it was an interesting ride thru the jungle to the top of the mountain. It stopped a few times to let locals that live in the mountains on/off or to make way for the one coming down. They had statues throughout of the various animals but we didn’t see any wildlife. Once at the top we took an elevator up to the next level (or you had the choice to climb about 250 stairs) and then several escalators to get to the statue level itself. The statue is 90 feet high (I think that’s right). I think she said it was built around 1912 and was brought up the hill on the train in sections and assembled. The views were pretty good from there even though it was a bit misty at that point. We hadn’t been able to see it at all from the City on Sat because of clouds and got a brief glimpse yesterday before it clouded over so were glad it was ok while we were there. We weren’t up there for too
View from top of Corcovado
Here's another view from the top long then headed down to the bottom again.
We then drove by the famous beaches (Ipanema, Copacabana, and LeBlanc) again (those of us who had been here early had seen them to and from the hotel over the weekend) and finally to the restaurant for lunch. It was listed in the tour description as a fish restaurant but turned out to be much better than that. There was a salad bar type area in the middle but it was a bit crowded and no line (you’re just supposed to make your way in somehow) but they said the meat would be brought to the table so I grabbed a couple of rolls and headed back to our table. They then brought the meat around the way they do in Brazil. It’s on skewers and they carve it onto your plate. These guys are running around with the meat and very large knives so a bit odd. But there was sausage, beef, pork, lamb, and chicken. They also brought fish around. And they brought bowls of rice, fried bananas, French fries, and potato puffs around too. And dessert was ice cream with fruit (chocolate or vanilla I’m sure you can
View of Sugarloaf
View of Sugarloaf from Corcovado. We'll be heading there later today guess what I had). The lunch was included but the drinks (even water) were extra but only $2 US so not too bad. We were definitely full after that.
After lunch we headed to Sugar Loaf. We took a cable car up to one mountain and then another to Sugar Loaf. The view was good but it started to rain while we were there so we didn’t stay long and made our way back down on the cable cars. Because of the rain and clouds the temperature was much cooler than I’d expected (maybe mid 80’s) so that was good.
We then drove thru the city and made one last stop at the Cathedral. It’s a rather odd one almost in the shape of a cone. One person counted the sides and said there were 12 so we figured it was for the 12 apostles. There were 4 sides with Stained glass windows that you could only really see from the inside. Anyway, after that we headed back to the ship. Had a few minutes to drop things off in the cabin and get the life jacket on for the Life Boat Drill before we sailed away.
Flowers
The flowers on the train ride up to Corcovado were very pretty Well as I’m writing this we’ve moved out of the bay and can definitely tell we’re on the ocean. It’s rolling a bit and funny to see everyone try to walk down the hall here in the Explorations Café. So think I’ll get this posted and go get ready for dinner.
Talk to you all soon.
Sharon
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Janet
non-member comment
HI
HI Sharon, Sounds like you are having fun. I have been sending comments but they aren't showing up.