Tag: brazil

RIO DE JANEIRO (Part 2)

A lot of people think that the capital of Brazil (population about 218 million 2023)is Rio De Janeiro (6.12 million) or even Sao Paolo (11.45 million) which is incorrect. Brasilia is seat of government of the country and is considered the third most populous city. It is located high in the Brazilian Highlands in the Central-Western area of the country.

Contrasting photo of a favela and Rio’s modern skyline.

There are over 100 favelas in Rio. Favelas are slums, ghettos or shantytown located in the outskirts of Rio and Sao Paolo. They have been a chronic social and inequality problem of the country since the average life span in the favelas is 48 years old. Crime is rampant that sometimes law enforcement refuse to go into them. Despite these problems, Rio is a wonderful place to visit, just know where to avoid at night and be constantly vigilant.

After a so-so buffet lunch, the tour guide announced what everybody had been waiting for -a last stop to Christ the Redeemer. This Art Deco sculpture was created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa between 1922 and 1931. The total height is 124 feet including the base with the arms stretching 92 feet wide. A symbol of Christianity around the world, the statue has also become a cultural icon of both Rio de Janeiro and Brazil and was voted one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. (Wikipedia)

By this time around 3:00 pm, the clouds have formed but fortunately the wind would carry them away from the statue. It was a hit or miss photo session but the clouds added some aura to the statue as some of the photos will show. After the guide handed us our entrance tickets, he showed us where the elevator going to the statue level is. He also informed us that you can take the stairs – I opted for the latter!

One of the items in my bucket list is to see The Severn Modern Wonders of the World! After our visit to Rio to see Christ the Redeemer, there is only one left in my list – Taj Majal. The following is a list of the Seven Modern Wonders and the year we visited them:

  1. CHICHEN ITZA, Mexico – 1992
  2. GREAT WALLS OF CHINA – 2003
  3. COLOSSEUM, Italy – 2007
  4. MACHU PICCHU, Peru – 2010
  5. PETRA, Jordan – 2018
  6. CHRIST THE REDEEMER, Brazil – 2023
  7. TAJ MAHAL, India – ?

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL (Part 1)

This exotic and very popular tourist destination has always long been in our bucket list. And it finally came to fruition! Rio de Janeiro or just plain Rio is the second most populous city in Brazil. While not the cleanest city that we’ve visited it had a lot to offer to the visitors who come just for the adventure and the unique experience, eclectic cuisine, multicultural and ethnically diverse. Brazil is also the most populous Roman Catholic country in the world! Although extremely popular because of its annual Carnival celebration it is more affordable that many of the places we’ve already visited both in Europe and the Americas.

Tommy and Oya Holgado, Trini and I woke up early to eat breakfast since our tour starts at 9:00am. You know it’s going to be a muggy day when the temperature (88F) and the humidity (88%) are the same! Not sure if the clouds helped at all but we started perspiring as soon as we were out of the tour van!

Our tour guide picked us up in our hotel – Arena Leme Hotel – just a few steps to the popular Copacabana Beach. Half of the 15 tourists were Brazilians, two were from Argentina, two English-speaking guys, and the four of us. Our guide is multi-lingual, speaking rapid Portuguese, then switching to Spanish and lastly English for our benefit and the other English-speaking tourists. It was an all-day tour with plenty of walking. We visited Sugarloaf Mountain (1,299 ft above the harbor)taking the cable car twice to get to the summit with a breath taking view of Rio and Guanabar Bay that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean.

The cable car that took us to the Sugarloaf peak.

Sugarloaf Mountain (named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated loaf sugar) as seen from Corcovado where Christ the Redeemer is located.

Soccer is extremely popular all over the world and Brazil is one of the many countries that consider this sport to be a part of their national identity. It has won the FIFA World Cup five times, the most of any teams (remember Pelé?). Therefore a visit to the Macaraña Stadium was really something to experience even if we didn’t get to see the field. I could just imagine the thundering roars of almost 200,000 soccer fans during a game.

We also stopped by the pyramid-shaped Metropolitan Cathedral with its simple but impressive interior decorated with colorful stained glasses extending to the very top of the cathedral.

Before lunch we headed to Rio’s historical center and walked Seleron Street. It was more of an alley considering how narrow it is. The entire length of the street was covered with amazing vibrant colorful tiles on both sides and the walkway each having their own messages. While there we saw a long queue in front of a street vendor waiting to order their specialty – Piña Colada! We ordered mango juice sin álcool and done manually with side shows of zooming flies all over! No matter what was in that concoction it helped refresh us and temporarily kept us cool from the heat and humidity!

Our Brazilian tour guide taking our selfie!

I will post Part 2 later as there are plenty of photos we took especially at Christ the Redeemer.

A TRIP TO BRAZIL

Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world by land area and the seventh most populous. Portuguese is the official language.

The flight to Rio Janeiro took us more than 20 hours: Los Angeles to Dallas, Dallas to Sao Paolo, and finally Sao Paolo to Rio de Janeiro! Trini and I have been to Brazil before but only in the Iguazu Falls area which is much further to the east. Weather wise Rio is similar to most Asian countries – warm and humid!

After checking into our hotel around 5:30pm – a stone’s throw away from the world-famous COPACABANA BEACH – we went to eat a sumptuous buffet dinner at MARIUS DEGUSTARE, right beside the hotel! The exterior decor was impressive but the interior nearly knocked the socks out off me – it was filled with hanging “art” if you want to call them that – old full-size convertible car, a Samurai warrior armor, church bells, and other odds and ends very colorful items hanging from the ceiling! The waiters decked with colorful apron-like garments and loose decorated white tops! They were a funny bunch of guys too, making weird sounding giggles and chuckles while serving you steaming hot plates of steaks, prawns, oysters, lobsters and other to-die for platters!

We took our time savoring the different dishes served us and eventually we had to beg them to stop bringing us any food. The price of the delicious fare was a little pricey even for an American standard but it was well worth it!!!! When we settled the bill we gave them tip in dollars, the head waiter asked us to ring the hanging bronze bell denoting that we gave “propina” or tip!

The head waiter putting our tip in the Samurai warrior armor – we were told a nightly ritual same as the pealing of the bell!

We left the restaurant sated and will cherish the fun and fine dining we had on our first night in Rio de Janeiro!

Today we signed up for a one-day tour to take us to the highlights the city has to offer….