A Very Sweet View...

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This evening I was feeling even braver than normal and I did something that I didn´t think I would be able to do. No, it wasn´t anything stupidly dramatic like sky diving or hang gliding or any other crazy life endangering adrenaline thrill, but seriously it was a big challenge for me. I went up to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain in the cable car.

Now this is a big deal for me, and I can´t deny how nervous I was but with the help of some new friends I went for it and how glad I am that I did. I say ´friends´ but the Guide felt she could reassure me by telling me that nothing had gone wrong with the cars for at least a few years..and that even when it did break last time, everyone was rescued by the helicopter so it was all ok. I have to say I didn´t feel particularly comforted by this but she was really lovely and was trying to be nice so I behaved as any polite British person would and I smiled gratefully, well I think I did but my face does have a habit of working without me sometimes!

The Sugarloaf or Pão de Açúcar as it is known here, stands pretty much 400m above the ground, which when compared with some of the heights that I have visited in Peru or even with the Christ seems relatively small however somehow it doesn´t feel that tiny at all on your way up! To reach the top you take two cable cars, transferring to the second at the top of the neighbouring hill, Morro da Urca. So far those of you whom have not yet visited this site may have been impressed by my courage. Alas I have to admit that the cable car journey between each stop is only 3 minutes long, so really even I am not impressed my by own courage! The distance between the first two points is a little over 500m and there is just over 700m to cover on the second part, I won´t tell you what speed we were going at as I am sure I will use it in future Maths lessons!

So after the drama of me sitting in an enclosed glass egg for a staggering total of 6 minutes, I was on firm ground again and was rewarded with some of the most beautiful city views that I have seen. Luckily we had beautiful weather again and we left the cable car just as the Sun was beginning to set. Sat on top of the mountain, I watched the sky change through a spectrum of intriguing colours, and with each colour change more and more lights flickered into life in the city below. Looking out from the top of the monolith you could see the whole of Rio, it was even more impressive than the views from the Christ the Redeemer as from Sugarloaf you could see the Christ itself dominating the skyline and as night fell, the statue too became illuminated. Shining bright, white and pure your eye was drawn to it from whichever viewpoint on the peak that you chose.

Coming back down the hills, I was still a bit scared but was more distracted by the beauty of the twinkling lights from the ground. Once night had fallen completely, it was less frightening as the view was more like a blank page with pretty dots of colour decorating the black. The view on the descent felt less real than it had on the ascent, perhaps because I was still trying to convince myself that the picture perfect views I had already seen were in fact the real thing. I am still not sure if I have done this yet.

So another landmark of Rio visited and another James Bond backdrop ticked off of the list. This one stood the test of the real life experience too and again I am feel so lucky to have been able to witness it first hand.

Well, with less than a day to go before my departure there are still so many things to see and in turn to tell you about so I had better sign off for now.

Speak to you soon,

Tasha

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