Jesus won't take Mastercard

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Day Six-11th September

Woke up and faffed around and snoozed for a while as Liz was blogging away, luckily the Hostel guys got that bloomin’ air con fixed so we slept a bit better, when i got up i added to Liz’s blog, we were both very touched by what we had seen in the Favela the day before so took our time in writing that entry... so much so that we missed brekkie!... doh!

We decided to go for a wander and see if we could find some decent grub and get some cash out as my swimming shorts got trashed and needed replacing and also we wanted to get some cheap blankets or something as the Hostel can be a bit chilly at night and we only have a crappy thin sheet.

We found a sandwich bar type thing and went in, I got a couple of tuna sarnies and Liz got a pastry thing, unfortunately the pastry had onions in so I gave Liz one of my sandwiches and we went on a hunt for some fresh garms, we didn’t have much luck finding any shorts and Liz still won’t buy a Brazilian style Bikini, I said I’d wear speedo’s if she liked but for some bizarre reason even this has not swayed her!?!, i am contemplating hiding the one she brought with her so she has to get a new one... anyway i digress... so we went back up to our favourite caiparinias place on the beach and bought some beach blankets from one of the street vendors, we got ripped off as we paid R$15 each for them and they are blatantly only worth 5 but even so it’s hardly going to break the bank and after seeing the favela first hand where he was obviously from I was happy to give the guy a bit more than they are worth plus being uptight and English i don’t do haggling, if I don’t think it’s worth what you’re asking i simply won’t buy it so i got a Brazilian flag one and Liz got a sort of landscape one with pictures of various spots in Rio on it... the Christ the Redeemer picture is freekin’ hilarious it looks just like the edge from U2 I’d have paid twenty quid just to see it let alone take it home, so now our bed is hardly the mayor of snuggletown’s house but it’s a bit warmer than it was and gives me a giggle when i look at it.
When we got back we discussed what to do in the afternoon, we decided that a trip to see Edge... i mean Christ the Redeemer was the way forward and as we are gaining confidence in the city we would attempt to do it without going on a guided tour but actually getting there ourselves etc, Liz looked it up on t’interweb and before you could say “Bloody Sunday Service” we were hailing a cab.

The Taxi cost about R$18 to get there and I managed to get a couple of shots of the statue from inside the cab as we approached, they aren’t as clear as I’d hoped because they were through the window and dangling an SLR “out” of the window of a car in Rio isn’t a smart move, nevertheless I’m pretty happy with them.

When we got to the train station at the bottom of the mountain it was pure carnage, tourists and police and vendors everywhere, we weren’t too shocked though as it was a beautiful day and was to be expected, by then it was about 15:30, I was very keen to get a picture of the Edge... I mean Christ at sunset but Liz wanted to see him during the day, we made a compromise to go up as soon as we could and hang around till it got dark so that we both would be happy.

We went to the ticket booth only to find out that Jesus won’t take MasterCard! Cash or Visa only, and not only that but there were no available spaces till the 17:40 train... well we’d got all the way there and were certainly not about to turn back so we paid in cash and waited, unfortunately we did not have a great deal of cash left on us by then and still needed to get home so we had to share a strawberry slush puppy drink and sit twiddling our thumbs for a bit, I’m terrible at being bored and being hypoglycaemic was already running low on sugar by then after only eating a sandwich but Liz was very sweet and patient with me and kept me entertained... bearing in mind we hadn’t even got up there yet and couldn’t even afford a sandwich to tide me over.

FINALLY after what felt like an age it was our turn to get up the mountain and meet the big J himself timing wise it was looking like i was going to get my wish of a sunset photo opportunity with the statue but it gets dark very quickly here, you have about 15 mins in total as opposed to England where it can take up to an hour for the sun to set. I felt a bit bad for Liz as she really wanted to see it in daylight but again she was fine about it, the train on the other hand took what felt like for EVAAAAR! To get to the top, it was light when we were at the bottom and by the time we got to the top the sunset was practically gone i was fuming by then and really disappointed as we were getting off the train and Liz was finally beginning to run out of patience with me whining about it all the way up.

We stepped off the train just as the sun was disappearing on the horizon and as we looked out across Rio we both gasped at the beauty of it, i have never seen such an amazing view in all my life and yes we both would have liked to get up their sooner but we were both so struck with the beauty of it all it didn’t really matter anymore.

I gave Liz a quick squeeze and said sorry for being such a twit and got the camera out to get some shots in quickly before the sun disappeared entirely as I knew we only had around two or three minutes before it would be gone, the photo’s are amazing but can only give you an idea, i can only recommend that anyone reading this goes to Rio one day to see it for yourself as i cannot put it into words and a photo can only capture one little pixel of the big picture.

We went up the stairs... well i bounded and skipped up the steps like an over exited schoolboy and Liz took her time a little more and told me that *puff* she *puff* hates *puff* stairs.

We got to the top and by now it was full darkness but the streetlights of Rio were incredible not to mention the main reason we were there... Christo Redentor is a sight to behold an artistic, spiritual and engineering wonder that again cannot truly be described in words, you have to see it to truly believe it, I hope that he provides some respite for those poor people down below and on the mountains who truly need some support, love and positive influence and that he can guide the richer people of Rio to a more just, caring and fair way of life one day. Thank you Lesley, Jason and Philippa for that fantastic wedding present!!

We took a whole bunch of photos... i unfortunately misjudged how close we would be to the statue and only brought the zoom lens so we were unable to get any full body shots of him *sorry Liz* she says it’s ok but I still feel bad, this was the highlight of Rio for her so I hope the pictures are ok.
Once we’d been there for half an hour or so we started working our way back down the stairs toward the train to get back down the mountain, the queuing system was bonkers and Liz was cold so I gave her my shirt to wear and we queued for an hour and a half just to get back on the poxy thing.
By the time we got back to the hostel it was about 9pm and we were both ravenous and only had about R$15 left in cash which is about five quid so needed to get money and food, we dropped the camera off, donned hoodies and went right back out the door.

We found the only cash point it seems in Rio that will take our English card and went to an all you can eat restaurant... OMG we scoffed ourselves silly and got quite giggly at the mere thought of eating, the food wasn’t amazing in retrospect but at the time it felt like the Edge’s last supper with rice and fish and bread and cauliflower cheese and well just about as much food as two people can eat in half an hour it was most excellent.

When we got back to the hostel we went upstairs to the bar and met Ben, Matt and a couple of young English girls they were busy chatting up *sorry for cramping your style guys* had a beer and offloaded the day’s events amongst stories of our childhood and embarrassing tales.

Then we went to bed at about 1am which I believe is the latest night we’ve had yet!

May the Edge be with you all

Ellz xxx

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Photos

Edgeus christ
seriously it looks like the edge from u2

Edge
can you spot the difference?

Christ the redeemer
from the cab on the way there

in the train station
while we were waiting to go up and drinking our slush puppy i passd the time by taking some shots of the original tram used to get up to the redeemer statue

all abard toot toot
the train driver

all aboard toot toot
the train driver

the irst view from the top
when we got off the train for the redeemer this is what we were greeted with, it took my breath away

from the top
when we got off the train to see christ the redeemer

from the top
when we got off the train to see christ the redeemer

finally there
and here he is

Comments

[Ralph & Fiona]

Blogs
You get us hooked on your wonderful blogs and then, all of a sudden.....nothing! We're suffering awful withdrawal symptoms. The empty days stretch ahead with nothing to enliven our dull existence. Get blogging you two!! But really ... enjoying your stuff enormously....both gifted travel writers. Great... keep it up.