Friday March 6, 2015 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Friday March 6, 2015 – Rio de Janeiro

We got up at 5 am and went up on deck to watch the sun rise and the sail-in to Rio past SugarLoaf.  It was spectacular.  The full moon was behind the city as we started the sail-in.  As we got into the harbor we saw the sun rising while the full moon was setting.  Great pictures.

This was the sun setting over Buzios the night before

Gorgeous full moon setting over Buzios

Another full moon over Buzios

Putu in Horizons Bar - Fremakasi (Please), Sama-Sama (Thank You) in Balinese

The full moon over Rio with Sugarloaf to the left, Christ the Redeemer in the middle distance

 

Full moon over Rio - Christ the Redeemer on the left

Sunrise to the east as we sail into Rio

Moon setting in the west and sun rising in the east as we sail into Rio

Moon setting in Rio with the sun already up

Christ the Redeemer lit up in the distance

 

We went back to bed and then got up and dressed for our tour.  We met our group and got on a bus with others and headed off for the “Best of Rio” tour.  The traffic was unbelievable.  They just opened a new tunnel but along with that they reversed the direction of many streets and made others one way.  No one seems to know how to get around now.  There were traffic coordinators at many intersections but they let people stuff the box and it just made it worse.  It was bad.

Our first stop was the funicular to go up to the top of Sugar Loaf.  We had to wait in several lines but it was worth it.  The views were spectacular.  It was so hot on top and in the cars since they packed the people in.  We ran into Sue, Mike, Jenny, and Joe on top but they were on a private tour.  The views of the city and Copacabana were great.  We met Al the tour guide and went back down and onto the bus.

The viewing stands for Carnival in downtown Rio

Statues throughout the city

Approach to Sugarloaf

The cable car that goes to the half way point on Sugarloaf

Teleferico - cable car

View of Sugarloaf from inside the cable car

Final approach to the peak of Sugarloaf

Christ the Redeemer as seen from Sugarloaf

The tall peak where the Christ the Redeemer statue is situated in the distance

One of the many beaches as seen from Sugarloaf

Selfie on top of Sugarloaf - I have my "Brazil t-shirt" on!

Copacabana Beach as seen from Sugarloaf

Our "buddies" from Regata - they live in Naples on the West Coast - they were fun!

 

Next was a drive-by Copacabana Beach with a photo stop.  And then to Ipanema Beach.  We saw many things along the way including the fresh water lake where many of the Olympic water events will occur – except they have discovered a flesh-eating organism in the lake.  Uh Oh!

We drove by the equestrian center and soccer stadiums.  Al told us that many of the Olympic events will be spread all over Rio so everyone doesn’t have to be in the same place at the same time.

Selfie on Copacabana Beach

Beautiful massive Copacabana Beach

The tram that will take us to the top to see Christ the Redeemer statue

 

Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio

Selfie with the statue

Panorama from the top of the mountain at the statue

Christ the Redeemer statue

Beautiful vistas from all sides of the statue

More vistas

Sugarloaf as seen from Christ the Redeemer

More beautiful vistas

 

We then headed to lunch – another meat buffet – mediocre at best. 

We got back on the bus and went to the clog-wheeled train station to go to the Christ the Redeemer statue.  It was an interesting ride up and the views from on top were even more spectacular.  Lots of people.

We met Al and headed back down and onto the bus.  He told us it would be a 30 minute ride back to the ship but it was over an hour due to traffic.  Our 8 hour tour had turned into more than 10 hours and we were exhausted.

We got back to our cabin and packed in a rush as we have dinner reservations at Toscana at 8:30.  We had just enough time for a glass of champagne with Putu in the Lounge and then went to the restaurant.  We gave Putu a “thank you” and Daniel at the coffee bar a “thank you” as well.  Great service.

Mr. Santos met us in Toscana and an Indian man from Goa served us.  He was fun.  We had way to much to eat but it was good.  I told Alvy (?) that Mr. Santos knew it was Tim’s birthday but we didn’t want a cake and absolutely NO SINGING.  So Mr. Santos brought a cake with a candle and sang the happy birthday song in a very low voice.  It was funny.

We had cake and coffee.  Mr Santos told us that he had the most expensive cup of coffee today.  He left the ship and took a taxi to a new Starbucks in Copacabana.  He had the taxi wait, had his coffee and came back.  The taxi ride was $60 making it the most expensive cup of coffee he’s ever had but he loved Starbucks.

We went to Horizons and had a last drink with Putu.  Helen and Stan joined us.  We left about 11:30 and went to bed as we need to leave early tomorrow.