(But can you ever have too many pictures of monkeys?)
Yesterday I posted the other pictures from my trip, but the Statue deserves its own post, not just because we took a bunch of pictures, but because Karl FINALLY got to go there with a view (yay for no clouds!).
(If you’re curious to see other Rio pictures, you can check out my other posts on it, which admittedly it’s mostly wedding pictures, since on previous trips to Brazil, I was way too much of a slacker blogging wise…)
We got up super early to be the first few in line for the train – luckily, April is not tourist season, so it wasn’t super-crazy like our last attempt there.
To have an idea, when Karl first went to the Christ the Redeemer Statue, it was a beautiful day, with only a tiny cloud in the sky. That cloud happened to be RIGHT at the Corcovado Mountain, where the statue is located. So this was our view:
No, really, that white behind him is all clouds. We waited and waited until the clouds cleared, but it only got worse. When we left, this is all we could see…
By contrast, this was our view this time:
(Isn’t my city gorgeous?)
And let’s not forget the statue…
We took our share of pictures while we were there, of course!
In the train, going up the mountain…
The statue with all its splendor (on a clear day you can see it from most parts of the city).
One of the many views while there – the Jockey Club.
The Sugarloaf Mountain… Though the Christ Statue is a famous landmark around the world, a visit to the Sugarloaf Mountain using the cable car is a lot more fun than just the Statue. But you can’t beat this view!
And the day was so clear, you could see the beaches behind it, already outside of the city of Rio de Janeiro!
The Lagoon Rodrigo de Freitas. It’s one of the most expensive areas in the city to live in. They have a jogging path that goes all around the lagoon. In December, a HUGE lit Christmas tree goes up in the middle of it. It’s the largest one in the world (it’s a fake tree made of steel and lights, that actually moves around to different spots on the water, so regardless of where you’re standing, you’ll eventually get a close up view).
Ipanema neighborhood… (You know, from the famous Girl from Ipanema song?)
The Maracanã Stadium, the largest soccer stadium in the world…
Lucky guy…
Right before leaving, we decided to take advantage of the weather, and have a drink. While I was sipping my graviola juice, I got to see these guys…
And if that wasn’t enough, we also spotted the monkey “Prego” (looks like it’s called Capuchin in English). I love his Mister T thing going.
And if that wasn’t enough, we just missed the train back. So during our wait, we spotted some young ones, making a mess of the place!
I can’t believe it’s been 2 months already since my visit! And that I won’t get to go back for at least another 2 years… Fingers crossed we get Brazil for our next post!