View from the top!
Day 284
Rio de Janeiro
Exciting news! This morning we booked with Lorenzo to go to see Christ the Redeemer!
Now the reason why this is such an adventure is because we~ve been waiting all week for perfect visibility..because it~s not uncommon for this massive statue to be covered in clouds making it become quite hidden.
Today had brilliant visibility so we booked for 4pm..
It was going to cost 35 reais each. That included a guide up there.
So we had the whole day to mooch around and wait...
First thing we had breakfast and while we were sitting at our table in the lounge cum dining room Lucas, one of the characters of the hostel, came slumbering down the spiral staircase..hair all cocked up..and looking quite the worse for wear. He had partied hard last night because today he was leaving. Greg~s become a somewhat mentor type father figure for him over the past week while he~s been searching for an apartment here in Rio..and it~ll be sad in a way to see him go. Funny how you get attached to people so quickly while you~re travelling..even the nutcases like Lucas!
Then we went for a walk around Botafoga..picked up our laundry (they did it for us at a minimal charge) and found out there is a very colourful market just behind our hostel.
Our hostel is located on a cobbly stoned street and it~s full of hostels..all gated up...(press a bell to get in and out) and so there are people wandering all over the place. At the hostel next to us there is a bay window where two little dogs lay...they~re so cute!
There~s also a little kid that is there every day...he seems to get sent outside the gate of his home by his parents for being a little devil...we see him most days wailing and begging to get back inside!
Further up the street kids are playing soccer..and when we turn left we hit the main street where the beach is..and there are street stalls all along, until you arrive at the Botafoga Praia Shopping Mall.
To the left from our street, and left again, is a street of restaurants on the street...which are open at all hours...and this is where the Favela kids trapse up and down selling anything and everthing..from peanuts to scarves to trinkets and lollies. One litte girl just had a xmas box with a slot for money and i noticed locals just gave her food instead of money which i thought was a good idea.
I get really sucked in by these kids...and the kids from Peru as well...consequently i have a range of little things they~ve given me for a small donation.
4pm came quickly, as it seems to here, and the taxi was waiting to take us up to Christ the Redeemer....
He put his metre on for some reason..and when he dropped us off there he said he~d pick us up on the nine..we thought he meant nine oclock but it turned out he meant forty five minutes...things really do get lost in translation here!!
We went up to the Corcovado mountain, which is in the Tijuca Forest National Park. The guide took off in his taxi...
The statue, which is a symbol of Christ overlooks the the whole city...and it really is massive!!!! No one would forget their faith with that overlooking in reminder!!!
Christ the Redeemer means, in Portuguese, Cristo Redentor, and it~s a stature of Jesus which stands 39.6 metres tall! It~s quite awesome really! It weighs 700 tons!
Here~s Greg! With outstretched arms...hehe
We tried to find out where it came from, thinking it was a gift, but as the guide took off and no one seemed to know, we were left to do our own research. We found out the idea had been tossed around since the the 1800~s when Pedro Maria boss (a catholic priest) wanted to erect a large monument for Rio. It got forgotten when Brasil became a republic but it the idea was reopened when the Archdiocese for Rio made a proposal and got the people of Brasil to donate by holding a ~monument week~.
The statue of jesus with open arms was chosen! Hietor da Silva designed it and Paul Landowski was the sculptor. It was made of reinforced concrete and cost $250,000.
In 1931 it was unveiled!
And it~s been a glorified and important religious monument attracting tourists to visit it ever since.
The view from the mountain is just incredible!!! We really saw how beautiful the city of Rio is from up there!
The guide, that wasn~t a guide, slash taxi driver, came to get us 45minutes later...and we noticed the metre had added another 20 rheais....
And by the time we got home..the metre read 53 reai~s...
And we owed the hostel 70 reais for the tour!!
We felt a bit ripped off..and decided TOMORROW...when we go up to Sugar Loaf Mountain we~ll just get our own taxi and walk back!
You learn as you go i guess...
