Up early, of course, because we had an appointment with Christ the Redeemer, the giant statue on top of the hill overlooking Rio.
It’s not easy getting there. You need to take a rickety old train up the mountain, stuffed with tourists. Our traveling companions consisted of a boat-load (really) of English people fresh of a cruise ship. It takes about 45min to get up there with some stops & starts. At the top there’s no mistaking where you are. One giant statue.
And the view was spectacular. However, it was jammed with tourists most of whom were lying on the ground taking selfies or getting photographed, arms outstretched. It was also getting hot.
Our guide, Christina, had a better idea and took us to a different spot where we could get great views without all the crowds. Of course this meant taking the train all the way back down the mountain, along with our English cruise ship friends. but that was OK.
From this point on we took a bit of a City tour.
We drove through the Santa Theresa district, popular with artists and the graffitti community
We climbed the Selaron Steps, created by the artist Jorge Selaron as a “tribute to the people of Brazil”
We passed by the infamous Favelas but were warned not to go in.
We saw many other things but the one I admired the most was the massive mural near the port depicting various Nationalities. This is half of it.
This City loves its graffitti! Almost every wall and building is covered in the stuff. Some good (like above & below). Most not.
By now, it was getting really, really hot and we were are getting tired from walking around. Time for lunch!
By the time we were done it was mid-afternoon and we had the rest of the day off.
We had a great dinner that night at the hotel. The MEE restaurant. Lots of sushi, tempura and Pad Thai. Yum.
The next day (January 28) was a rest day for me - lunch by the pool, relax, take a nap. Carol went with the rest of the group up Sugarloaf Mountain and had a jolly time, despite the heat. She came back looking a bit sweaty and immediately hit the shower. I took the night off as well and slept. Sometimes it just catches up on you!
Per and Astrid left that night to go back to the US. We said our goodbye’s. I was sorry to see them go but knew they would be leaving before the rest of us. We are now down to six.