Rio de Janiero

#riodejaniero #brazil #christtheredeemer #sugarloafmountain #Copacabana Beach

Having settled into our hotel facing the beach, we took the lift up to the roof bar for a refreshing drink.  It was a dull day, the beach nearly deserted, but looking the other way we could see the Christ the Redeemer statue standing magnificently on top of the mountain.  In the evening the statue was lit up and stood out clearly in the distance,

Early the next day, we set off to visit the statue, first boarding a train to take us to the top of the mountain. Looking with anticipation out of the window of the train, it was only on rare occasions that we caught a glimpse of our destination. After leaving the train and climbing several steps we arrived at the foot of the statue, and had the obligatory photograph taken. An impressive place although rather crowded and  it did seem that some of the tourists just came with their partners dressed especially for the Facebook/Instagram photographs and at times you even had to walk around photographers lying down trying to get that special view. 
The views from the top were equally as impressive. A super way to spend a morning, although it wasn't safe to eat food in the open, as a few people found out, with the local wildlife around!

Our next stop was to get the cable cars to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain. The queues weren't too bad although there were a lot of dignitaries also going to the top. We later found out that they were there to meet Prince William, who was there as part of the 2025 Earthshot Awards. 
I must say the mountain was more impressive on the way up rather than at the top. The views from it were stunning but the station was otherwise just food outlets and souvenir shops.  
We missed seeing the prince as he had left by the time we were coming down, but it did delay our descent as the dignitaries were let out of the carriages first.

We managed to walk along the beach a couple of times but the beach was quiet until the last morning when the weather improved and the crowds arrived. This was the Copacabana beach of the movies  and had the vibe we had expected. Aa shame we were flying home later that day.

A stunning tour although very exhausting, especially on the first few days. The sites we saw and experiences we had will stay with us for ever.