Rio de Janeiro (aka The Most Beautiful City)

Copa... Copacabana

Jess and I woke up after a late night on Wednesday morning around 5 a.m. to wash Carnivale off of us, grabbed our bags, thank the Lord we packed the night before, and headed to meet our group at 6 a.m. We flew to Rio and arrived to an overcast sky. Slightly disappointed that we were staying in Copacabana on the beach, and couldn´t actually lay out, we decided to take a much needed nap. As most of you know, if I go go go, I will fall flat on my face with a kidney infection, and Jess needed that nap, too, so that´s what we did. We woke up and explored the beach and, a little hesitant to wander any where on our own, we picked a nearby restaurant and ate our dinner. Communicating with the Brazilians has really not been too difficult for me! While taking taxis all over Salvador I was pretty much the communicator, using what I know of Spanish, and we got by OK. Eating meals is funny though, we just point, they laugh because they know we don´t know how to say it, and the people are very friendly and understanding of our lack of Portugese. The next day we went to one of the largest, most famous favelas (shanty towns) in Rio. This may sound scary, I admit when I found out we were doing this I was very hesitant, but the guide explained to us that in Rio in favelas, the people are poor, not muggers and they don´t want to hurt you. We went to a Samba school, and then off to Sugar Loaf mountain, where we took a cable car 1200 feet (I think feet, now I can´t remember, sometimes the guide translated measurements so we could understand, and sometimes he didn´t). Sugar Loaf mountain is a series of two mountain top cable car rides, to get to the actual peak of this mountain. The view here in Rio is fabulous! The guide explained to us that this view, while not as high as the view from Christ the Redeemer, is a great way to get to see the city from a view. We could see the Copacabana beach where our hotel was, and all of the water and little islands that surround Rio. After Sugar Loaf mountain it was off to an authentic Brazilian BBQ restaurant where they carve the meat onto your plate and have the most fantastic buffet of salads, sushi, shell fish, veggies, fruits and desserts! I told you it was the "No Carb Left Behind Tour." All day I hadn't really felt well, and this was the icing on the cake... let's just say Brazilian food and I are not meant to be. The next day was my absolute favorite and also the most beautiful day we spent in Rio. The sun was out and the beach was so lively! We rode around in 4x4 open air Jeeps that took us through the rainforest- the largest urban rainforest in the world! It was up up up, and after about an hour ride we arrived to Christ the Redeemer... that thing has a lot of steps to get to it, but well worth it. Of course the base of the statue was very crowded, everyone trying to get a good picture with Christ. They have a Chapel inside of it where you can pray, or whatever it is you'd like to do I guess. I bought Dad a rosary here, and a post card of the statue. The view was phenomenal, it was so breathtaking to be able to see all of gorgeous Rio beneath you. I actually got teary eyed standing next to one of the Seven Wonders of the World overlooking one of the most gorgeous cities I have ever seen. My descriptions, and even my pictures don't give it justice, but hopefully you are inspired to make a trip to Rio and see it yourself!! We leave tonight for Cape Town, South Africa... and you know what that means... a safari, cycyling the winelands, and hopefully some bungy jumping or sky diving. Until next time! Xoxo Marissa. PS I am currently trying to upload pics but it is SO slow... I will hopefully put some on shutterfly.com, and post the link on here! Look for pics soon!