Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Mar 8, 2013 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Wow. Rio! Despite the later than expected arrival time of the Carnival Splendor, the cloudy skies, and the muggy climate, I genuinely enjoyed the day in Rio de Janeiro, and I feel lucky to have the chance to visit this city even if it was just for a day.

Most of the passengers on the cruise ship arranged to visit Christ the Redeemer at Corcovado, and see Sugar Loaf. Our group also had lunch in Copacabana at a local restaurant/barbeque, and I saw some sad faces now that Rio is enforcing a 'no nudity law'.

The peak of famous Corcovado stands 2,300 ft high! We discovered that Corcovado means hunchback in Portuguese. At the top is the famous monument is the pinnacle of entire whole trip for some: Christ the Redeemer statue which was placed there in 1921. We learned that people have been taking train rides to the top of this mountain since 1885, before the statue even existed. The train that brings guests to the top has been refurbished since then, but with 2 hour waits for the train, we took a van to the top in the hot and humid weather of 33 Celcius and 38 when you consider the humidity.The clouds had formed by afternoon and we had peek-a-boo looks of the statue. Patience was necessary to wait until the clouds blew away to get a picture or part picture. Visitors in the morning had much clearer pictures.

From the ship, after dinner we could see Christ the Redeemer high on the mountain. And more pictures were taken.

It was a great day.