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Published: April 28th 2008
Hooray! The sun has been out for a whole week. We've been making the most of it with a couple of hours of bronzing every day. No swimming though. Look at the panoramic photo above and you'll see why. Great for surfers, lousy for us! The series of pictures was on a day when we thought the waves were huge, but for a few days they were much, MUCH bigger!
We've been trying to wrap up the tourist trail here. We took a tram up to the Santa Teresa district. It was a bit disappointing up there as we expected something really touristy but you had to look hard to find the things you might want to see. The museum was tiny with a small but interesting collection of tram artefacts, memorabilia and old photos. We sat in the Parque das Ruinas to have our lunch and got a tremendous view of the Sugarloaf mountain.
After walking back down to the centre we were disappointed by the Lapa Arches viaduct. The tram line goes across it but from underneath it really needs a good coat of whitewash again. Nearby is Rio's bizarre Cathedral looking something like a Mayan pyramid!
Inside it is huge but it didn't really feel like a place of worship to us.
We have also been back to the Maracana, this time to watch a game of football. Flamengo were playing Coronel Bolognesi from Peru in the Copa Libertadores. They won 2-0 but both goals were so late that we had already left in order to beat the rush to the trains. I guess it paid off as we were first on, and when we got to the end of the line we were the only people left in our carriage! It was a strange feeling!!
Going up the Sugarloaf was a great way to spend a morning. We were lucky with the weather as it has been very hazy (when it hasn't been raining!) and we seem to have picked the best day. Half the crew of a US Aircraft Carrier seemed to be up there too!!! The views were amazing with tremendous vistas of the bay and it's long, long bridge, the statue of Christ was clearly visible, and the sweeping beaches of Copacabana glowed in the sunshine. We even saw a cute little monkey in a tree!
On Sunday we
took the bus out to Sao Cristovao hoping to see a good selection of handicrafts as we are now wanting to buy things to take home. Unfortunately this purpose built stadium hosting the market was crammed full of places to eat and loud, LOUD, music, but very few handicrafts. So much for showcasing Northeastern Brazilian culture. Still, the statue outside of the accordian player was nice!!!
So, that's it for Rio. Where has the time gone?????
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Beers on the beach
amanda the great
non-member comment
that is the cleanest subway train i have ever seen!