Sadly it is the last day of our tour, and we head off for the main sights of Rio before the onslaught of carnival and the arrival of thousands of tourists tomorrow!! Rio is classed as the 5th most "beautiful" city, with the world by the world heritage site with is stunning landscape of mountains, bays and beaches and stunning views. I certainly wouldn't say that at street level but have to agree that the view from the mountain sides is spectacular.
We start by heading to a view point for seeing the city, and the Christ Redeemer statue then head to the statue itself. Today is a day for lots of pictures, taking in every aspect of the city. And of course classic tourist pics, skwish the redeemer, put your hands up to Jesus! You get the idea...
The statue is emense, so much so, you have to lie down to truly fit it in a picture... I read about this in the Brazil book by Michael Palin where he talks about what plans were and how they were adapted to give the end result today which has the statue looking down over the city. As long as the day is clear and sunny it can be seen quite clearly from most places in Rio. It is truly and iconic image and now you know you are in Rio!
Next stop Santa Theresa to view selaron's stairs, an artist in Chile who moved to Brazil for the woman he loved and fell in love with the city. It is sad news to find out he recently died and here we hear that the artist set himself on fire on the steps he dedicated years to creating with colourful tiles as a mark of his love for Brazil. The steps evolved when people from all over the world were inspired and started to send him tiles, which he would then use and replace on the stairs. It is a truly beautiful work of art and sad knowing that this now will no longer continue to evolve.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/10/artist-found-dead-rio-mosaic
We continue with our city tour, visiting cathedrals and various beautiful buildings... We have lunch in Colombo cafe which is a beautiful old building, then more city touring before we head back to the hotel. Sadly no time today for much more as the traffic in Rio slows you down.
So its our last night and we were hoping for a group dinner, however 1/2 the group don't come, personally I think that's just rude but what can you do with youngsters these days...! I won't start a middle aged rant, but needless to say I'm not heartbroken!
Thomas takes us to a local place which is pretty good... However, I have to say right now I would give my right arm for some green vegetables.... ! Thomas gets a local dish of black bean soup, with chilli... A few of us give it a try and it's actually pretty good! We soon notice Rio is a bit more pricey than we have been used to, but even so... I'm not actually breaking my bank out here by any stretch of the imagination.
After food we decide to try and find a night spot., sadly this isn't a success. After the recent fire in a Rio nightclub resulting in a number of deaths it looks like some of the clubs are shut to get their certificate of safety updated and to ensure they meet fire regulations... So after walking around for 90 mins we realise it's a lost cause... off to bed!
Oh well, it's carnival tomorrow so can't really complain as its not like there won't be much partying!!!!
Posted with Blogsy
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