This place is Rio de Janeiro.
This is a place that is beyond words.
The city is magnificent; it is a mix of art deco, Brutalism and modern architecture. The white stone buildings from the 1930s don't seem out of place beside the updated ones from last year. The beaches stretch on forever. They are never crowded and always welcoming. The people are kind and friendly. Nobody seems to have the body hang ups we do; men and women of all ages, all shapes and sizes walk around the beach areas wearing whatever they feel.
Copacabana at night.
There are favelas here, very poor areas. They are colourful as anything and densely packed. The houses are generally unfinished and made of scraps. The common understanding is that living in a favela isn't permanent; it is a place to live while you're moving up, so you don't need a proper roof. A proper roof shows that you've resigned to this fate and are done living.
The favelas are numerous and scattered all around Rio. They are serviced by the city including public transportation. I did not go on a favela tour because it really felt like exploiting poverty to me. I was uncomfortable with this idea and instead went on a city tour. More on that in a bit.
On our first half day in Rio, I tried to catch up on some sleep. This plan was foiled, however, when there was construction right outside my hotel window. I should mention that Rio is a construction site. All of it is under construction. It is 30 degrees so people are literally sleeping on the sites instead of working - except on the site right outside of my window which seems to be the only active site in the entire city. Ugh. So instead, I did some updating on here.
The second day in Rio, I wandered the city with one of the people on my tour. As with all of my adventures, I had a how is this my life? moment.
We were sitting on Copacabana beach, drinking coconut water out of a coconut.
James enjoyed it too.
We had to say goodbye to Santi, our fantastic tour guide.
Santi tells us that Santiago (his full name) means James.
Santi and James have a moment.
As a last group thing, we go on a city tour. First stop: Cristo Redentor, aka Giant Jesus (thanks, Steve).
It is impossible to take a bad picture of Giant Jesus Christ the Redeemer.
Seriously impossible.
Fun fact: Giant Jesus Cristo Redentor has escalators that go up and down the side of the mountain.
We were looking forward to taking the tram that runs along a track, but it wasn't available for reasons that weren't explained. Oh well.
Along with Giant Jesus Christ the Redeemer, there are gobs and gobs of tourists. Each of them is doing the Jesus Pose. When asked by a coworker if James too would be doing the Jesus Pose, my answer was "Why do you think I'm going to Rio de Janeiro?"
Pretty much what the whole trip was for.
The views from Corcovado are stunning. There was some low lying cloud, which made the pictures even better, I think.
Are you ready for some futboll?
After Giant Jesus Christ the Redeemer, we visited the Metropolitan Cathedral of Saint Sebastian.
I am quite fond of churches, as regular readers (Mom and Nana) know. I'm not very religious but I appreciate beautiful things and history, two things churches of various denominations are chock full of.
The Catholic church is unlike any I've seen.
It is modern, for one. On the inside it is entirely circular. There is seating for 5,000 people.
There are three doors to the church, all of equal width and importance. Our guide told us that initially it was intended as one door for Catholics, one door for Protestants and one for "voodoo", as he called it. They all empty in to the main cathedral, intending for everyone to feel welcome.
There are four magnificent stained glass windows that meet above the nave. The nave is fairly simple, given the scale of the church.
Reflected in the PetroBras building. Also, nuns!
Next up: Escadaria Selarón and Pão de Açúcar.
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