The sun came out today and so did Rio.
Cariocas, as Rio’s natives are known, like the beach, and who could blame them in a city that is blessed with the most incredible beaches and backdrop in the world. It is truly, mind-blowing, stunning, and today we got to see Rio at its finest.
I have a Smörgåsbord of photos to share, so here goes…
We set off by foot at Ipanema beach.
Eli had got himself a new horn, and was using it.
Our destination was Sugarloaf Mountain, which is at the other end of the city. After a decent stroll, we jumped in a cab.
It was Saturday so there were lots of people about.
Our cab driver was insane and literally drove like the singing madman he is.
We were lucky to make it out alive, and relieved to get out of his vehicle with all limbs intact.
Eli seemed to be amusing the locals.
And we were contemplating our journey to the summit.
To get to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain you take two cable cars. Semma was a little afraid!
It’s not cheap ($25 for each adult), and the cable car was full of tourists.
Before long we were whizzing up the mountain…
The Sugarloaf Mountain is basically two peaks for the price of one – the first (Morro da Urca) represents the half-way point to the actual Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar). At the top of the first peak there is a large area to walk around and take pictures. There is a delightful statue of one of the former cable car conductors who died in 2002. I think it’s a lovely idea to memorialize a staff member like this.
Everyone was of course taking photos, of the mind blowing views
So we did the same
At one point we came across some… puppeteers
Strange occupation.
With the boats in the harbour, the view reminded us of the south of France. On the left, and in the distance, you can just about make out the famous Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor) statue. God knows (literally) how you get to that peak. (We’ll find out soon enough).
We took a cool panorama with the iphone.
We could easily have stayed, staring at the view for hours, but there was literally another mountain to climb… and another cable car ride to ascend. It was all beginning to feel very James Bond. (Actually that is a James Bond movie).
At the top we treated ourselves to an ice cream and Eli found a small friend.
The lizard seemed to enjoy the view…
The sun was about to set, and I tried (like everyone else in the free world) to get the perfect Facebook selfie.
And if you look very carefully, just above and to the right of my… hair, you can see what looks like a paraglider, only it’s not actually a paraglider, it’s a gigantic TV screen set up on Copacabana beach for people to watch the World Cup games. This just happened to be our next port of call… for the England v Italy game that was soon to start.
On the cable car journey down, and despite an errant… finger, we were treated to a wowzer of a sunset.
With the cable car ride done, and our feet back on the ground, we jumped a cab (about the only cheap thing in this city so far) and bonus – the cab driver was showing the Uruguay Costa Rica game in his cab! Take that Uber.
Basically I’ve watched football games on TV all around the world, and had nightmares trying to find places to watch games. Nowhere has it been so easy as in Brazil. 🙂
Before long we were at Copacabana beach, along with bazillions of other football fans of all nationalities and colours
We had a bit of trouble getting in to watch the game. FIFA has banned ‘noisemakers’ because of Vuvuzelas drowning out games at the last World Cup, and the security wanted to take Eli’s new horn away. He was devastated, I was a bit annoyed, and we tried several attempts to get the horn past security.
In the end, with a security guard holding Semma and the horn literally, I leaned across, grabbed the horn, and made a run for it. I was convinced someone would come after Eli and I, or hold Semma hostage until we returned, but they didn’t. Semma ambled over to us soon after.
Inside it was a like a festival…
Eli wanted his face painted as an England flag.
And was pleased with the result!
We found a huge crowd of other Brits, who took to Eli in a second
The place was raucous, in particular the “crazy” England fans (as everyone here keeps calling them/us). Here’s a quick video to get a flavour of the event…
Unfortunately nobody was sitting down in the sand, and after holding Eli aloft in my arms for 45 mins, we escaped to a cafe across the street to watch the second half, and for me to order some new arms.
It was not a good result unfortunately – England lost 2-1.
I was more depressed than Eli, as we set off for home…
Now England has a mountain to climb…