Christ the Redeemer Statue

Today, we went up a cog train to view the Christ the Redeemer Statue on top of Corcovado Mountain at 2,300 feet (30 m) elevation.

Christ the Redeemer Statue

The Christ the Redeemer Statue can be seen from almost everywhere in Rio. It is the Rio’s most famous landmark and is a symbol of Brazilian Christianity. It opened to the public in 1931. The statue is 98 feet (8 m) tall and its pedestal is 26 feet (8 m) tall. It is located in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking Rio.

The statue is one of the Seven New Wonders of the World. It is no. 10, after the Taj Mahal, the Giza Pyramids in Egypt (honorary as it is the only remaining Wonder of the Ancient World), Petra, the Colosseum, Chichen Itza, Machu Picchu, and the Great Wall of China. (I have seen five of them. Still have Petra and Machu Picchu to go.)

Christ the King Statue

The Christ the King statue is located in Lisbon, Portugal. Its inspiration was from the Christ the Redeemer statue, which was seen by a Portuguese cardinal when he visited Rio in 1834. But the statue was not finished until 1959 and it is located on a cliff rather than on a mountain.

It is not an exact copy and is 92 feet (28 m) tall, six feet fewer than the Christ the Redeemer statue. But its pedestal is 269 feet (82 m) tall, 66 feet taller. The Christ the Redeemer statue is so very impressive as it can be seen almost throughout Rio, whereas the Christ the King statue has a more limited view. However, the Christ the King statue, in my opinion and also in the opinion of other tour members who have seen it, is more awesome, actually giving more of a spiritual experience, as you look up at it from many feet below.

You should see them both.

Christ the King Statue

Close–up of the Christ the King statue.

Views of Rio

The views from the top of Corcovado are incomparable. Here is one of Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance.

A great website to go to for helicopter views of Rio de Janeiro (three videos) is

http://www.airpano.ru/files/Brasil–Rio–de–Janeiro/2–2

(Antarctica will come up on the site. Just delete it.)

Music at the Top of Corcovado Mountain–MOVIE

This group was performing “Ave Maria” at the base of the pedestal of the Christ the Redeemer statue.

San Conrado Beach

After taking the cog train down the mountain and getting back on our bus, we drove to San Conrado Beach to have coconut milk in split coconuts. This was the same beach that we went to after the favela tour.

Paragliders–MOVIE

This was the beach that the paragliders land on. I took a movie of them. If you go to Rio, you can take one of these flights with an instructor.

Ipanema

Next, we visited a gem store in Ipanema––no photos allowed. Ipanema is more upscale than is Copacabana and has designer stores. We had an option of eating lunch here and then going back to our hotel on the gem store van. We had a bit over an hour to eat, but we had to wait about 45 minutes for our food to arrive and that was after asking the waiter many times about it. I had the same wait at another restaurant in Ipanema and at another one in Chile. Maybe that is the Latin America way of doing things, though it wasn’t so at all restaurants?

Ipanema Beach

We drove along Ipanema Beach on the way to our hotel. Very crowded today as it was a Saturday.

I have put my photos of our day’s adventures on a slide show. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/rio–corcovado–mountain/

(Slide Show, South America, Brazil, “Rio: Corcovado Mountain”).

Rio at Night

This evening I went on a Rio at Night tour with some of my tourmates. Many buildings and areas were lit up. This is a photo of the Theatro Municipal.

Rio at Night

A photo of the Town Hall lit up in blue.

Rio at Night

We didn’t realize that part of our Rio at Night tour was a 1 1/2–hour stop in the Lapa area of Rio, the center of Rio’s night life. Somehow that wasn’t pointed out in the tour description. But we made the best of it and joined the young crowd in Rio in celebrating Saturday night. Toni, one of my tourmates, convinced our tour guide to stay with us as we weren’t sure about how to get into a nightclub.

But we did get into one, chosen by its music, after paying a $7 cover charge each and showing identification. We had wrist bands put on with numbers put on that the drinks waiter would write down. We paid for our drinks before leaving. I think the five of us in our group all had a very good time here––I know that I did.

This club did not have dancing. People just sat or stood around drinking and talking and listening to the music. Photo: the club scene.

I put our Rio at Night tour on a slideshow. Go directly to

http://www.peggysphotos.com/rio–at–night/

(Slide Shows, South America, Brazil, “Rio: At Night).

I took movies of the band and they follow.

Rio Band-1. MOVIE

The band at our nightclub. It was American and I think they were mainly playing Rockabilly.

Rio Band-2. MOVIE

More of the band.

Rio Band-3. MOVIE

And the best movie for last. That is Toni having a very good time!!!!!