venturing outside comfort zone

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Rio De Janiero is not the safest city in the world to travel solo, of the six million people in this city, much of them are thieves. Graffiti is the art of choice and unlimited amounts of crime are evident everywhere you go so I thought I'd just stay in today, but when I woke up at 6:30am and looked outside, I thought what the hell, you only live once, just go for it! I called the front desk and booked one of their tours even though I knew it was overpriced. It was scheduled to leave at 9am so I had time for breakfast. I strolled down at 8am, stopped at the front desk to pay for the tour only to find out that since I was using a credit card a 10% surcharge applied on top of the already high priced tour. I refused and the clerk gave me directions to the closest ATM machine down the street a couple of blocks. After walking about one block, I turned back around taking quick long strides back to the hotel in fear of my life. When I got back, the clerk must have either felt sorry for me or thought I was extremely brave to venture outside the hotel as the tour I had booked all of sudden sold out and another one exactly the same was a 1/3 less and had no surcharge. This is my lucky day!!!
We set out for the full day tour beginning with downtown Rio De Janiero. My first observation is the architecture as it is nothing like the UK. The buildings are beat up and run down and far from beautiful. Our first stop was the most unusual Cathedral I have ever seen as it looks like a sports stadium from the outside. Since it was Sunday, a service was being held and the second I walked in the energy was so overwhelming that I had to hold back the tears.
We then headed up to Sugarloaf Mountain to ride the cable car to the top. This mountain is 1300 feet high and the largest mountain in Brazil. You can see the entire city of Rio from the top and the views are spectacular. After lunch we headed to Corcovado through the Tijuaca National Forest to see one of the new 7 wonders of the modern world, the Christ the Redeemer statue. We rode a tram through the rainforest to the top. I could not believe the size of this thing. It is by far the largest statue ever created and the views of the city were even more incredible than the ones at Sugarloaf. This truly has to be on everyone's bucket list of things to see in this lifetime. I am so glad I decided to leave the hotel today. What an amazing day....

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Photos

climbing sugarloaf
That's me climbing sugarloaf mountain, not ;- )

The resident of Brazil President
This beautiful place is not reflective of any other architecture in Rio de Janiero except of course Copacabana Palace Hotel where the celebrities stay when visiting Rio. It is the next door from my hotel. I had to walk in and take a peek. If only I was a celebrity, even for a day!

Comments

[Lisa Manlick]

HAVING THE TIME OF YOUR LIFE!!
Sherri, love reading all about your trip. Can't wait to hear all about your cruise!! You are going to have such a great time. Miss you!!