Rio de Janeiro 2 – 5 March 2012

Arrived in Rio about 6 pm to a temp of 37 deg and 90% humidity. Whilst there are a few must sees in Rio there is not really a lot of culture left as most of the old buildings have been torn down and replaced with modern high rises.

We stayed in a hotel directly across from Copacabana Beach and surprisingly we had a full beach view so here are some pictures taken from our room.We had to cross the main road to the beach which was always fairly busy but interestingly on Sundays one side of the road is closed to traffic so people can walk on it.

Copocabana Beach from the Hotel

View from our hotel

Must see No1 is the Corcovado and statue of Christ the Redeemer, the Corcovado Mountain towers 710 meters over the city and offers a breathtaking view luckily it was a fine day and we were able to see the city and beaches very clearly. The height of the statue is 38metres and the span from finger to finger is 28metres.

No2 on the list of things to see is Sugar Loaf Mountain which is a cone shaped rock that rises 394metres again providing great views. The mountain is named because of its appearance being similar to the utensil that was used to measure grains and sugar.

The clouds came over while we were on the top of the mountain and it was quite eerie to see the cable car appearing out of the mist

Rio is in the process of preparing for the World Cup (Soccer) in 2014 and the Olympic Games in 2016 – we drove past the soccer stadium but were unable to stop because of construction but we saw little evidence of any other preparations.

We were also taken to the Cathedral very modern built in 1984– this would have to be the ugliest cathedral I have ever seen although there were beautiful lead light panels inside

 
 We did eat some wonderful food including a thickened black bean stew with rice, which was wonderful and also drank Caipirinha, which I think, is the Brazilian version of a Pisco Sour.

Grilled Chicken and Onions with Gorgonzola Cheese and Chips
a cholesterol fix

How close is this Oil Platform

It could take a few years to clean the beach

 

Of course there are the beaches – what can I say we live on the most pristine beaches in the world and Rio with a population of close to 16million can’t come close. The beaches are not the cleanest, and I definitely wouldn’t swim in the water. We did see a couple of people trying to rake up the rubbish (why they don’t use a sand sifting tractor is beyond me)

An unusual tout

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