We arrived early this morning for our second World Wonder, Christ the Redeemer. We are just in awe and very blessed to be able to see these world wonders in our trek around the world.
Our bus and tour guide took us up the mountain about 7 miles (11 km) from the Coco cabana beach where our ship will dock tonight for the fireworks. Not all of that trip was by bus. We boarded a train for most of the trip. It was a fun ride through the forest (if you can tolerate the packed train full of people) where we spotted some jack fruit trees. They call them killer fruit because if one of them fell on your head it will kill you. They are very heavy like a bowling ball. However, the meat of the fruit is delicious. It is yellow when ripe and often described as a combination of banana, apple and mango. The younger non-ripe versions are sometimes used as meat in some vegetarian dishes. It’s a milder taste and not sweet but savory.
Before we make it to the main attraction, a little history. Rio de Janeiro, often called just Rio is one of the most visited cities in South America. The Portuguese first landed here for the first time almost exactly 522 years ago on January 1, 1502. For some reason they didn’t hang around, deciding to focus their early colonies up in the northeast harvesting pao brazil, so in 1555 the French decided to move in.
Today Rio de Janeiro, meaning River of January, also called “the marvelous city”, can be found in a picture-perfect setting between the forested mountains and sea with glorious white-sand beaches thrown into the mix. It’s good to remember though that besides the glitz of the beaches the city is also know for its shacks or shanty towns. Rio was the colonial capital of Brazil from 1763 until 1822, then the capital of the independent nation until 1960 when the capital shifted to Brasilia.
After exiting the train we walked a few set of stairs and this massive beautiful statue of Christ the Redeemer came into view. It is nothing short of amazing. It sits 2,200 ft above sea level on the top of Corcovado Mountain.
Christ the Redeemer was a French/Brazilian collaboration and it was actually a Romanian artist who created the Redeemer’s face. The statue itself is 125 ft (38 m) in height, the arms stretch 92 ft (23 m) and it weighs in at 700 tons (635 metric tons). It’s made of reinforced concrete covered with soapstone tiles to give it a more finished look. Begun in 1922 this Art Deco masterpiece took nine years to complete and is still the largest statue of its style in the world. It’s also kind of a lightning rod and it gets struck three to five times a year, occasionally sustaining damage from these strikes that has to be repaired, like a bit of thumb, or spot on the head. One of the most impressive things about Christ the Redeemer is that it was paid for completely by the people of Brazil, especially interesting when you consider it was completed during the Depression.
We pushed our way through to the front of the statue so we could get a better look and take photos. Of course this was along with thousands of our closest friends that we dont know. Everyone wants multiple pictures. We took a few but mostly tried to take in all the beauty of being here in the presence of this amazing wonder. We only had an hour at the top and had to get back to the train. Royal Caribbean is treating us to lunch at a Brazilian steakhouse. We had to go!
Arriving at the steakhouse called Assador, we were viewing another monument of sorts called Sugarloaf mountain. It is a peak situated at the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that juts out into the Atlantic Ocean. Rising 396 m above the harbor, the peak is named for its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. Our view during lunch was beautiful. What I forgot to mention was the weather was absolutely perfect. A high of 77 degrees F and the rain ended early morning. God has sure blessed us during this trip. It was expected to rain all day. If you have never been to a Brazilian steakhouse, the servers come to your table and cut the meat off a large slap of filet mignon or chicken, pork or sirloin. All you can eat or want to eat. They even had fried bananas. YUM! At the end of the meal we had some ice cream. Hard to turn down but our bellies were so full!
We wandered around outside and took a few photos of Sugarloaf mountain and watched as the tram glided across one mountain to another. Our tour didn’t have the time to hop on the tram today. It’s ok, we had a full day already.
We left the steakhouse and headed back to the ship where we indulged in some chocolates. Filled our bags with amazing white, dark and milk chocolates and then stopped at a store that sold XX flip flops. Very popular in Brazil and about a 1/3 of the price to buy them in the USA. We stood in line over an hour to pick up some as souvenirs. We officially determined we were crazy at that point! 🙂
The ship was scheduled for an early departure to get Serenade situated out in the harbor for the fireworks at midnight. We had a prime spot right in the middle of the harbor. We will be able to see the massive New Year’s Eve fireworks from the deck of a ship. The pyrotechnics will be shot off from barges anchored off of Copacabana, giving us several kilometers of viewing pleasure for around fifteen minutes or so.
The tradition is to wear white on New Year’s Eve in Brazil to honor the Goddess of the Sea, lemanjá, or Yemanjá, during this celebration that’s called RĂ©veillon locally. A few other things to know if you’re looking for some good luck in the new year based on what you wear New Year’s Eve. The white color is for peace and spiritual protection, yellow, worn below your white, as are all other colors, is supposed to bring wealth and prosperity, pink for true and everlasting love, red is for passion and green should bring you good health, just do not wear any black as it’s supposed to be unlucky.
We wore white and had the best dinner and entertainment prior to the big fireworks show. Hopefully our luck will be good all year.
Our spot for the fireworks was on the 13th floor in a corner off the forward section of the ship. Our friend Steve and his wife Cathy are really good at locating great places to sit, eat and have fun! They are the best!
All 10 of us sat and talked and played games and had a little champagne while waiting on the fireworks but when it came time for the show we were all standing at attention. It was well worth it. The fireworks were wonderfully done and amazing. 6 other ships joined us in the viewing and our ships horns honked along with others. Hugs and kisses and well wishes were passed around (to friends and spouses only of course) What a glorious night and a marvelous day!
A truly unforgettable moment in our journey. We wish you all a very happy 2024 and wish you were with us along this journey. In a few days we will be in Montevideo Uruguay.
May God bless you always!
Chuck & Lea Ann
WorldTravelReynolds 