February 17, 2015 Rio de Janeiro

Today was Rio de Janeiro.  Our tour took us to Christ the Redeemer statue.  We took  the train up the steep mountain, so steep that we had to fight to stay in our downward facing seats.  It’s about a 20 minute trip, with 2 stops to let the other trains pass by.  The statue is absolutely amazing.  It was pretty crowded, so it’s hard to imagine what it would be like with only a few people there, but “mystical” comes to mind.  And the views are fabulous.  The morning was a little overcast and hazy, which tempered the views somewhat, but also made the temperature a little better, which was much appreciated.  On the return down the mountain we sat facing upward so we were nearly lying in our seats.  I didn’t realize how much forest there is in Rio, but the entire train trip was through thick forest.

Next stop was at a “churrascaria” which is a  Brazilian all you can eat restaurant.  You help yourself to various cold salads at a buffet, and then they come around to your table with all kinds of barbecued meats of all kinds on huge skewers and they cut some off for you.  They’ll keep doing this until you turn your green card over to show the red side, which means “no more”.  The meats were fabulous, each better than the last.

Next, and final stop, was Sugar Loaf mountain.  To get to the top you take two trams that are not for the feint of heart.  But, again the views were absolutely wonderful.  The air had cleared some by then, which was great for viewing, but not so great if you couldn’t get into the shade.  I think it was about 95 degrees with 78% humidity.  We were drenched and so looking forward to a nice cool shower back at the ship.  This tour lasted over 7 hours for several reasons.  Rio is a huge city, so just getting from one place to another takes a long time, but then it was also the last day of Carnival (a holiday) so traffic was even worse than usual.  But we didn’t mind, we were seeing the sights in a comfortable air conditioned bus.  While there are no formal parades tonight, there is still a big party in the city and it seemed most everyone under 40 was dressed in some crazy costume which included very little clothing.  Apparently, the men here love to cross dress for the occasion.

We stay overnight here and we don’t have serious plans for tomorrow.  As I write this, I’m sitting on our balcony listening to the sounds of Carnival (music, horns honking, drums), gazing at Christ the Redeemer in the far distance, although lighted up so it stands out in the darkness, and watching a lightning show.  It’s still about 85 degrees, but it’s night so it feels OK.  This is the first place on our trip which we thought really had something to offer.