Monday January 1 – We were up at 6AM to witness the sailing entry into the majestic harbour of Rio de Janeiro. What an amazing sight passing by Sugar Loaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar), seeing the Christ Statue (Cristo Redentore on Corcovado) the planes taking off from the downtown Santos Dumont airport passing just over the top of the ship, the federal island and finally docking in the Gamboa / Saúde area, near the Niteroi bridge and close to downtown Rio. A new very modern structured art museum was close to the ship, but we decided to skip that.
This was the first of a few ports where we are able to spend two days, which is terrific as one can return to the ship at any time on the first day or even find a hotel ashore. We took full advantage of the opportunity to visit Rio. Through a friend of Tachy’s we made contact with a local driver who met us at the ship and took us all around which was amazing. Luis Antonio Olivera basically only speaks Portuguese, but understands a little Spanish, (fortunately I am still able to speak Portuguese even though it has basically been some 20 years since I was here and working in Portuguese). He met us at the ship at 9 AM and we went straight to the train / funicular that takes you to the top of Corcovado mountain to see the statue of Christ The Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) that is the iconic symbol of Rio and dominates the landscape from almost every vantage point in this the second largest city in Brazil. The earliest we could get on was the 1:30 PM trip. So after purchasing the tickets, we contacted the driver who came by for us and we went to the beaches, visiting first the beach he thinks is the best – São Conrado, then back past the Sheraton Hotel, where I spent many days and nights over the many years I used to travel to Brazil. Our travels then took us to the sections of town and particularly the famed beaches of Leblon, Ipanema, Copacabana, Botafogo and Flamengo. Being Segunda Fera (Monday), the beaches were relatively unused. Here the days of the week are numbered, so Monday is Segunda fera (Second Day), Tuesday is Terca Fera (third) etc until Friday (sexta Fera) then Sábado and Domingo for the week-end. (Spelling may be off a bit). The beaches are all that one expects from this fabulous place – wide, great sand, 30-40 beach volleyball courts, Soccer pitches and other forms of recreation as well as gentle waves from the warm ocean. A wide pavement with wavy black and white cobbles separates the beaches from the road giving pedestrians plenty of space. I will post some pictures separately, but they hardly do the expanse justice. One can’t leave the discussion of Beaches in Rio without talking about the “garotas” (girls) with bathing costumes that look to be (and in some cases are actually) made from gentleman’s unused ties!!!
By this time it was the appointed hour to drag ourselves away from the beaches and return to the 20 minute funicular ride, followed by an approximately 8 floor elevator ride and two sets of escalators, to get to the top of Corcovado. What an amazing vast statue of Christ with arms outstretched. I have been told that the arms are big enough for a bus / coach to drive inside. The view of the entire expanse of Rio was spectacular from that high vantage point. One could easily make out the Jockey Club horse racing oval, the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon and indeed all the beaches and many other ponts of interest. At the bottom of the statue inside the rear of the base is a small 20 seat chapel which prevents photography and seems to be for prayer and meditation. By this point we needed a drink as the heat was oppressive. We found out later that at that point in the day, they had a record 50 degree C (122F) ambient, humid temperature. Being at the top of the mountain it was only 44C (111F), but the beer and Guarana drinks felt really great. We carried water, but that had long gone. The car had really terrific air conditioning which was very welcome. Again, in a separate post I will put pictures but they pale in comparison with the 360 degree view.
Returning by the same funicular, Luis was waiting to take us to a restaurant high in the hills, going through residential zones, that had been recomended. The place looked amazing and the views would have been spectacular, had it been open on Mondays, but alas, it was fechado (closed). So we found a good Rodizio Churascaria near our next destination, where we were served in the traditional style. This consisted of an extensive salad bar and a variety of meats – Beef, Pork, Lamb, Chicken (Frango), Turkey (Peru), sausages, Chicken Hearts etc, with my favourite being Picaña (Sirloin) – all served on long swords and slices cut onto your plate directly from the sword. This was accompanied with Yucca, Farofa (Manioc Root made into flower and sprinkled over food), cooked banana, rice, beans, vegetables etc. A delicious meal at 3:30PM.
By this time it was decided that we should venture to Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) mountain, as the best time to go is just before dusk. Nelson and Tachy decided to brave the 3 minute cable car ride to the intermediary stop followed by the 5 minute second gondola ride to the top. They were able to see the bay and a similar view of the city that we saw from the top for Corcovado from a different direction, but the magical time was seeing the sunset and then the lights of the city coming on and twinkling over the entire bay. A truly magical sight. Diana and Roger decided to remain at the bottom and found a fabulous place in the Urca district to watch the sunset with the Christ Statue looming overhead and the Botafogo bay with its many yachts in front of us. An amazing sight. We then went on a tour of the surroundings seeing the modern cathedral of São Sebastião, the amazing Flamengo park with its many football fields, tennis courts, basketball and skateboard areas etc, A public park for anyone to use and kept immaculately. We also passed under the aqueduct before returning to Sugar Loaf to pick up Nelson and Tachy.
We then were planning to see if we could get into a Samba School to experience that, but the heat had done us all in, so we returned to the ship and got in just in time to see the 8:45PM Brazilian show which emulated a Scola de Samba (Smaba School) with its fancy costumes, the “mulatas” (dark skinned black women) scantily clad and a percussion 10 piece band, sounding out the rhythm for the dance. Carnival starts this Thursday and goes through next Wednesday. Many of the locals opt now to leave town and head for the hills and the lake region some 200Km from Rio. However, there is a large influx of tourists to take their place.
Tuesday January 2 – The driver Luis picked us up at 9AM and we headed straight to the Niteroi bridge – a 6-7 Km long bridge over the bay joining Niteroi (a separate town and “bedroom” community of Rio). Many residents live in Niteroi and work in Rio. Even though we knew that the destination was a closed museum undergoing renovations, the purpose was to see the view both from the toll bridge as well as the view from the raised round “space-ship” shaped museum. Both views were spectacular. Certainly the traffic infested area we drove through seemed like a poorer residential neighbourhood although some high rise buildings were definitely middle class. Pictures were taken and another smaller beach viewed before the return over the bridge, white hats were given to us at the tollbooth promoting “don’t drink and drive” over carnival and thus back to Rio and to the next destination.
This was the world famous Maracanã football stadium (actually called Estadio Mario Filio). After a brief photo stop at the front entrance, we went around the rear, and entered, parked and did the tour. This was a brief explanation of the place with some interesting facts – Maximum attendance for a football game was to watch a Brazil Vs Uruguay World Cup match in July 1950 and was 199,500 people. They have had 230,000 people in the stadium for concerts. The stadium is sold out for a Rolling Stones concert next week and a “Coldplay” concert the week after. The stadium is only open to the public through the end of this month (February 2016) as then it will be handed over to the Olympic Committee organisers in preparation for the August Olympic Games. After visiting the area with statues to the famous players – Pele, Zico, Garrinchas and to dignitaries that have attended games – Queen Elizabeth II, Pope John Paul II etc, we then were able to go through one of the changing rooms where all the great players prepared for games, finally through the tunnel and out onto the pitch. Wow – it was amazing to feel what it would be like walking into the stadium with thousands yelling and for a fleeting moment we were under the false illusion of being famous football players. After the mandatory pictures of the entrance, the pitch and area where the reserve players sit during a game (dug-out in baseball), we wandered in awe, to the goal end and one could kick the ball attempting to score a goal. My two attempts were stopped by the goalkeeper, but it was fun attempting the feat! The heat again was oppressive but still cooler at 45C (112F) than the day before. The temperature at the pitch level with no breeze and surrounded by the oval stadium with seats going as far as the eye could see, was certainly hotter than outside. An amazing experience. As we exited, we spent a little time at the souvenir shop and then off to the Santos Dumont Airport.
No we were not flying out, we had been told of certain specialty shops in the airport and were anxious to support the local economy, so we did just that!!!! Due to the congestion / traffic it was slow going and it being already about 2 PM, we opted to not continue with the other places we had hoped to see (Cathederal, Olympic stadium etc.) but went to an out of the way old and amazing seafood restaurant – Restaurante Porto Novo in the Center of town. An amazing, albeit expensive, spread was presented and consumed with gusto. By the time we finished, it was time to get back to the ship as we had to be on board by 5PM. We were sad to leave as we had a terrific time in Rio and bid good bye to Luis.
On board ship we were ready on the top deck to see the magnificent bay during the sail away at 5:30 PM, but there was a problem with the engines / propulsion mechanism (one of the 4 pods) that delayed the departure, so dinner and for the boys – one of the funniest vaudeville type acts we have ever seen on the ship. The girls decided to retire for the night as we were all tired. Richard Gauntlett, a star on the West End (London theatre) had us all in stitches for 45 minutes with his singing, jokes and general carrying on. He is on again tonight – Thursday Feb 6 – so we are all planning on going. The ship eventually left port 6 hours late at 11:30PM, all but Nelson were fast asleep by then.
Roger & Anne Travels 