Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

 Day 3 flying to Rio De Janeiro

We woke up at 3:35am today to catch our first flight to Brazil. It was early and a long day. If you remember how when we went to see Machu Picchu there was an issue with the driver, so later that day the tour company said they would offer us a free airport transfer that we accepted. Yay free rides to the airport. We flew back to Lima from Cuzco and then to Rio.

By the time we got into Rio de Janeiro the sun was already going down. We had to fly over all of Brazil and so it was about a 5 hour flight. Its a big country. The Airport is out of town so we grabbed an Uber to take us to our hotel. 

On our way to the hotel our Uber drove by the Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf mountain. Both we will go see better tomorrow on our tour!

Checking in at the hotel. We showered the night before in Cusco before getting up and were traveling all day. I felt and looked like yuck. It was kinda a fancy hotel so I felt even more out of place with men walking around in suits and women in heels. Surprisingly I wasn’t too tired. Probably from all the Inca kola I’d been drinking! We stocked up before leaving the Lima airport. haha

When booking the first hotel Logan had picked it hadn't worked out so he decided to switch to the Windsor Leme and it didn’t disappoint! It’s right across from the beach and this is the view from our room on the 11th floor!

Thats Leme beach and part of the famous Copacabana beach you always see in pictures of Rio. Fun fact the next day during our tour we learned that a lot of the Rio coastline is reclaimed land (meaning they took dirt and sand from other places and filled it in to add more usable land). I even found a picture series on the internet showing you what I mean. So technically it is a man made beach but it was really nice. 

Inside our room. 

We walked down the street for some dinner and accidentally ordered far too much! We just got two things but apparently it was one of those places that each dish is to be shared. It was all good but my creamy cheesy shrimp dish was probably the best shrimp I ever had!! (I didn't get it in the picture but my dish came in a like la creuset dutch oven and was probably enough for 4 people alone!). It went with a raisin risotto that I didn't think I would like but it was delicious! We were so full and all our meals are already planned for tomorrow so we gave our leftover pizza to a homeless guy.

Then we went and got waters and a few snacks for the next day.

Back at the hotel we did 4 sinks of laundry (each did a white and colored load). I had planned this into the trip and we super lucked out to have a big bathroom with two sinks to work out of and an extra room with a separate thermostat to hang them in. Logan was a super helper and rinsed while I washed. 

I can’t believe how dirty the water got!

After wringing them over the sink we laid the clothes in a single layer between two bath towels, rolled it all up and then twisted until it wouldn’t go anymore. Then you twist the other way. I was really impressed at how much more water came out. When the towels were soaked I had the great idea to use the hotel towel robes and they worked like a charm too!

Our hotel had two rooms so we hung it all in the other one with the fan on high. We could have put them in the bathroom but I thought they would dry faster with more airflow. Don't worry, I'm not airing all my dirty laundry because in this picture it is all clean. Har har har.

I know this is a lot to write about laundry but I spent a long time figuring out how we were going to do it because we both only packed in backpacks. I loved packing super light but I also wanted to make sure we didn't stink. Mission accomplished. 

Day 4 Rio de Janeiro

We pretty much spent the whole day doing one tour but it was great! We got up early and were picked up in a van with one other couple. We found out they were from Malta!

First stop was Corcovado Mount that is what the Christ the Redeemer sits on top. I loved our guide because she was really familiar with all the places and knew that to get us good pictures we would want to be the first ones there. She made sure she was first in line for tickets, we were in the first van up the hill and that we took our best pictures before everyone else and all our "best friends" as she called them arrived. She said she would call us her family for the day and always gave us lots of info and then time to ourselves to take everything in. She was great. 

 

I learned that the Christ the Redeemer was in a national park that is considered the largest urban park in the world as it is surrounded by several million people. The statue was a lot like the nauvoo temple in that the catholic people all were involved with raising the money and building it. The statue is in art deco style and actually made of lots and lots of soap stone triangles the women shaped. 

 

 

Everyone else up there 10 minutes after us. If you look back at our first picture you can see we were the first up there and if we would have been later that group below is what we would have been standing in. 

It also has a chapel inside of the base you can access from the back. 

One thing I completely did not expect was the view of out over the Guanabara Bay from Corcovado Mount! It also happens to be one of the 7 natural wonders of the world. It was beautiful! The humidity from the atlantic air gave everything a misty look. 

 

Short tangent. There are 2 lists- one for the man made wonders and one for natural wonders of the world. Between those two lists there are many versions including ones for the ancient world and new. There are also different ones for different years so there are lots of lists and they change year to year but a lot of the places we saw on this list that have been on a list at least once. 

The next place we visited is called Sugarloaf Mountain - a mountain with two cable cars that apparently resembles a container called a sugar loaf. Its one of the big places to visit there because of the amazing views it gives of the city.

 

 

 

 

  

After we got to go to a real brazilian steakhouse! annnddd honestly I think I prefer Tucanos in the states. The meat was all a little more well done than I liked and it was just ok. Still I ate too much and it was fun to try out their buffet side dishes. We had a lot of time to sit around with the couple from malta and honestly we couldn't really understand their english half the time. haha but they were finishing up a month long vacation to South America themselves. 

After lunch we went to see the São Bento Monastery a Catholic church that work began in 1633. It is on the site of an all boys school thats supposed to have graduated some very important people past and present. On the outside is very unassuming. 

But walking in you are hit in the face with crazy gold leaf and baroque style wood work! Apparently the monks spent years carving and praying and working on it. It was amazing. A second floor for Portuguese royalty to sit apart for mass. Lots of Saints have shines and it is still used for service every week to this day. 

Our guide told us that the two chandeliers were made by a man named Mestre Valentim was fathered by a wealthy portuguese man and his african slave. The father decided to give his son an education and he turned out to be a famous carver and architect. She said it was a great example of the potential of a person when given a chance. His iron work was amazing especially for a woodworker. 

My favorite part may have been the wood ceiling it looked painted because of all the colors but it turned out that it was just all different colored woods. It was beautiful.

In one of the side rooms we were shown where they still do infant baptisms, confessionals and the patron saint of travelers.

 

I also really liked this place where a monk carved his face as a cherub baby.

For a complete change in scene they also took us to the Metropolitan Cathedral. This was built in the 1960's and 70's. Unlike the intricate gold leaf of the first church this one was 180 and more reliant on stained glass. But it was huge and so dark. I can't say that I appreciated the Metropolitan Cathedral. But I did like that it was in the downtown section and the buildings right in front of it had the shape of a cross between them so you could tell where the church was. 

After that they went to show us the big cool stadium where all the hug Brazilian soccer players have played as well as hosted games in the 2016 Olympics. Going inside was a separate two hour tour we were told so we just got to drive around the outside. Neither of us are really into soccer but it was fun to see. 

 

Next stop was the stands for Rio's famous Carnival. Honestly I still don't know why or what it celebrates because it is supposed to have stemmed from a Catholic holiday of abstaining from meat and alcohol. We got to see some of the costumes and a video of a very naked girl only wearing glitter dancing. I don't get it.

The stands looked sad and empty but in the videos you could tell the whole place was really transformed for the performance and some of the floats were amazing! Our tour guide said that even the old people get up in the stands and dance all night.

Our last stop were the Selaron Steps made by Jorge Selarón. He was a starving artist from Chile that just started working on renovating the steps outside his house. He made them in the Brazilian flag colors and then added lots of red because it was his favorite color. Then he sent out requests all over the world for tiles. Turns out he got a huge return of tiles from all over the world and he continued to add to his greatest work until he died in 2013.

 

 

We drove down a tiny road to get to them with lots of tourists all over. Our tour guide told us that we probably didn't want to wander too far up the steps because if someone tried to rob us at gunpoint there was nothing she could do. eeesh.

We got back to the hotel and went for a walk out on the beach. It was beautiful with families all playing in the water and groups playing soccer, frescobol (like paddleball without a net) and foot volleyball. The whole beach is lined with volleyball nets and small fields. The sun setting was beautiful too. I can see why it is such a popular beach (other than the sewer smell).

Back at the hotel. 

 

The next morning we had planned to play on the beach until we had to fly out but it was cool and rainy. So instead we thought we would go see Copacabana Fort on the other end of the beach but when our ride dropped us off we learned it required tickets and we didn't really want to figure out how to get them or to pay for it so instead walked all the way back to our hotel on the sidewalk in front of the beach. It was fun to see the elaborate sandcastles (but you had to pay to take pictures of them) and people watch. A lot of people use the wavy stone sidewalk to run or walk in the morning.

I'm so glad we got to see some of the fun and rich culture of Rio de Janeiro but I don't think it will be a place we ever try and go back to. I have zero interest in ever being there for carnival and I feel like I got to see the best sights in the city. Plus it was a lot harder because Logan doesn't know the language.