Vacation officially started! We all needed a nap though, and then we treated ourselves to room service breakfast to fuel up for beach time.
We tried the pool for a bit, but the beach was SO much better. The waves were serious though, so Elena had to hold someone's hand if she wanted to go play.
We were at the Sheraton, which is in the shadow of one of the mountains, a bit outside of the main part of the city. We enjoyed being a bit off the beaten track.
Vivian LOVED the waves.
We got four complimentary drinks on check in, and when in Brazil the right thing to do is drink caipirinhas, especially when they can be delivered to you on the beach for free.
We didn't forget about responsible parenting though, and we had the girls take a sun break in the shade of our umbrella. They were perfectly happy poking around in the sand.
We enjoyed the beach until everyone started to get worn out again, and then went back to the room for room service dinner.
From our balcony we could see the glow of Rio's famous beaches across the way and enjoy the sound of the waves.
The next day, we were well rested and ready to start officially being tourists. We had booked a cruise tour which added five days of land based sightseeing to our cruise. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, since we've never done anything like that before. I was worried it was going to be a big group, but there were only 16 people in our group, including the four of us. The girls were the only kids, and Jeff and I were about 20 years younger than the rest of the adults. Everyone was really friendly though, and our tour guide was great, so we got on the bus and got ready to see Rio de Janeiro.
looks different from Copacabana.
They actually sell Copacabana t-shirts with the sidewalk wave pattern on them. Even though it was total beach weather, there was still some holiday spirit with a Sanda Claus.
Our first stop was the cable car to take us up Sugarloaf Mountain. The cars themselves were quite big, but they had lots of windows.
It's a two phase ascent, and people thought the man who designed it was crazy. When you look at the mountain, you can see why. I got this photo after the fact, but it shows the first stop and then the top of Sugarloaf Mountain.
The view at the first stop was already spectacular. You could see all around the bay.
There was a small airport in the bay as well, and it was so cool to watch the planes come in for a landing. We hung out there for a while, enjoying the breeze and the view, but then it was onward and upward.
The views were even better from the top.
The picture below shows the famous beaches on the far side of the hills, and on the closer side is the station where we started off.
There was a special walkway for taking pictures, and Elena, with zero fear of heights, made a beeline for it.
We got time to just relax and enjoy the view, and we all agreed that it ended up being one of our favorite parts of our trip to Rio. The next stop was the Metropolitan Cathedral. When we first drove up, we had some serious doubts about the architecture.
It's meant to look like a Mayan temple, but mostly it looks like ugly concrete. Once we got inside though, we changed our minds. The interior is one huge, open space with no columns and beautiful, multicolored stained glass windows.
There were also several modern statues at the various entrances.
Our final verdict was that it was one of the coolest cathedrals we've ever seen, definitely different, but very beautiful in its own way. After the cathedral, we continued through the city. It's a large city with lots of interesting architecture. I'm not going to include all the pictures we took, but there are a couple things that stood out. One was the aqueduct that now serves as tram tracks.
It connects this little neighborhood to the rest of the city.
There were also beautiful tiles all around. I managed to catch the ones on this bell tower.
We also drove past the huge concrete grandstands where the Carnaval parades take place. We don't have a picture to do it justice. Honestly, my takeaway is that it would be best to watch it on television, because I don't know how you can see from the top. Still, it was impressive and took up a huge amount of space. You can see that Carnaval is a top priority in Rio.
We were running early for lunch, so we stopped for a photo op at Copacabana beach.
Vivian's shirt for the day was a Christmas present from Aunt Dana. It says Bacteria: The only culture some people have. It was an immediate hit with the microbiologist and nurse in our tour group.
On the tour description, it said that we would have a typical grilled lunch. We told Marcia that our favorite Brazilian steakhouse was Fogo de Chao, and she said, that's where we're going for lunch! It was a great surprise. The chain actually started in Sao Paulo, and the one in Rio is fairly new, but the food was fabulous as always.
After a meaty lunch, we were off to visit Christ the Redeemer. To get up our next mountain we took a tram/train.
The view out the windows was fun, but the view from the top was even better.
In addition to the bay and the ocean, Rio also has a lagoon. For the holidays, they had a Christmas tree floating in it. It's hard to see from the photo, but we drove by it later in the bus too.
The statue itself was quite impressive.
There was a large crowd around the base, and many people were lying down on the ground to get a good angle for the shot. It seemed like a recipe for someone getting their face stepped on. Elena wanted me to lay on the ground and take a picture of her with her arms up like other people were doing. I love her a lot, but I stood and got this shot instead.
All Vivian wanted was a Guarana soda, because it was quite hot by then. I had introduced her to the soda the day before at the beach. I remembered how much I had liked it the last time I was in Brazil and thought she might too. Sure enough, she is now hooked.
After our second mountain of the day, we were all pretty much done. Back at the hotel, we washed the kids up and ordered them room service again, but Jeff and I had enough energy to go to one of the hotel restaurants for a light dinner. I ordered my favorite drink,
and enjoyed the view.
Our final verdict is that we absolutely loved Rio de Janeiro, and would be happy to go back any time. The spectacular combination of water and mountains, good food and friendly people is hard to beat. Thank you Rio!
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