Things Take a MASSIVE Turn...For the Better.

jill
Jun 13, 2022
4 min read

Updated: Jul 20, 2022

5 June 2022

Slept pretty well until about 7am or so. Felt a lot better and my bruise doesn't look too bad yet. Got ready for today's tour and headed downstairs to meet the tour guide at 820. He wasn't there. I waited 10 minutes then went back to my room to use the wifi to find out what happened, and they told me he was there. I went back downstairs and finally found him. I was the first to be picked up.

We picked up about 12-15 people--a full van--most of whom spoke Portuguese. When the guide, Campos, spoke, he mostly spoke in Portuguese, throwing in the occasional English, but I was definitely not getting the full spiel. Thankfully, no rain today, and not many clouds, so I can finally see things. First spotted the Cristo from the van--and it is impressive.

After picking everyone up, we went by Maracana stadium--their huge futbol stadium that holds over 100,000 people. We also drove past the Sambadrome where they practice and perform for Carnaval. Santos says "without Africans, there would be no Carnaval. Africans bring the percussion, and there is no samba without percussion...and without samba, there is no Carnaval."

Then we started our trek up into the mountains through a favela, headed for Corcovado Mountain (Portuguese for "hunchback") and the Christ the Redeemer statue (Cristo). You get to the visitor center first (good for a break from those twisty roads that make me feel nauseous), then get into another van (you can also take a train) to get to the top. Thankfully, in addition to some stairs, they have an elevator to the statue so you don't have to climb a ton.

WOW.

I'm not religious, but like the cathedrals in Rome, this is impressive. The statue was constructed between 1922 and 1931 and is 98 feet tall (92 feet between fingertips). It was a gift from France (apparently, they give all the good gifts...I'm looking at you, Statue of Liberty). It is also one of the new Seven Wonders of the Modern World (voted on in 2000 to replace the originals--only one of which still survives--the pyramids in Egypt) and is the largest Art Deco statue in the world. There is even a small chapel in the base.

that's Sugarloaf in the background, where we are heading later

But it isn't just the statue. It is the view from that vantage point.

We headed back down (getting even more nauseous this time) and stopped at the Metropolitan Cathedral de San Sebastiao (where I took a small detour to the side and almost threw up). It was inspired by the Mayan pyramids and was inaugurated in 1979 as the new location for a church that has been in Rio since 1676. It holds about 20,000 and has some amazing stained glass inside.

statue of Christ as homeless outside the church

By now I had actually had some conversations with some of the others on my tour--the ones who spoke English--a girl from India who lives in the US and another girl from China (TanTan) who also lives in Boston. I had a long conversation with her at lunch about teaching.

Headed next to the Selaron steps. Jorge Selaron was a Chilean artist who realized the staircase outside his house was in bad condition so he started renovating in 1999 by adding ceramic tiles--initially green, yellow, and blue, the colors of the Brazilian flag. Eventually, he ran out of money to buy more tiles, but people started sending some to him from all over the world...there are now more than 2000 tiles from around 60 different countries (including several from the US).

The staircase is much longer than I thought it would be! Campos also showed me a bee's nest (it looks like a straw) sticking out of a wall next to it with those tiny honey-making bees. The stairs lead up into the Santa Teresa neighborhood. Also: Snoop Dogg made a video here :-)

We finally made a stop for lunch...but the first place we went to had a really long line, so we went to a different Brazilian buffet. I couldn't tell what a lot of things were, so I mainly stuck to potatoes and salad stuff. I still had a bit of a weak stomach anyway, so no problem.

Finally, off to Sugarloaf. People were actually CLIMBING the damn thing! I don't mean up a trail...I mean up the sheer rock face of it! You take a sky bucket (they call them cable cars) to the top of the first mountain--Urca--then another one up to Sugarloaf. When we got to the top of Urca, we saw some great views, and also an actual Brasil tree which is what the country is named after, and which have become quite rare.

at the base of Urca before getting in the cable car

Then, the second cable car ride up to the top of Sugarloaf--a 400meter peak named after its resemblance to the traditional shape of refined loaf sugar. The cable cars were inaugurated in 1912 and renovated in the 70s. AMAZING views from there. There are all kinds of shops up there--even a fancy jewelry store. I saw birds and airplanes fly BELOW us.

We came back down and they started dropping us off at our hotels. I changed into flip flops and walked across the street to Copacabana beach. Went into the first bar (they are all open air) and got a caipirinha (the national drink, made from fermented sugar cane, sugar, and limes), and walked on the beach a bit to get my toes in the water.