198752 5 Location 556939 <p>Rio de Janeiro (commonly nicknamed 'A Cidade Maravilhosa' meaning 'The Marvellous City') is the second major city in south-eastern Brazil, behind only São Paulo. The city was once the capital of Brazil (1763–1960) and of the Portuguese Empire (1808–1821) which is why Portuguese is the most common spoken language in Brazil. Rio is famous for its Carnival celebrations, samba and other music, hotel-lined tourist beaches like the Copacabana Beach, it's famous landmarks including the Christ The Redeemer Statue (new Wonder of the World), Sugar Loaf Mountain and also the Maracanã stadium, one of the world's largest football stadiums. </p><p>My friends and I got the opportunity to go to the beautiful city via an excursion through our rep at the hotel. This included a day out to visit Sugar Loaf Mountain and a day to see Christ Redeemer with accommodation at a brand new three star hotel (Hotel Astoria Palace) along the Copacabana beach front. Prices for this excursion were higher if you wanted an extra day thrown in to look around the city of Rio or if you wanted another excursion thrown in back at Bahia with a discount. To get to Rio, we had to fly there from Salvador airport in the early hours (met at the hotel reception at 2am for pick up with a lot of alcohol in my system which wasn't the best idea!) which took about two hours and then it was another hour or so by coach to the hotel and straight into the food hall for breakfast and a low down on our itinerary for the trip. We already knew about the main trips but we were also briefed on a couple of optional trips which cost a bit extra and well worth it, including a visit to the Maracanã football stadium to watch a live match (Flamengo against Sport) and a day around Rio to visit the favelas (slums of Brazil) and a beautiful waterfall.</p><p>Our first day started with a coach trip which first stopped at a small place where they make the carnival costumes for its huge Mardi-Gras carnival that goes on for four days at the peak of summer. Here we got the opportunity to take lots of pictures and you could actually wear one of the costumes for a very small price (Paul wore a big lion suite). Just outside you could see the stands where people would sit and watch the carnival go through the streets. Our next stop was on to a church in the middle of the town. Brazilians are very religious and a big proportion of the people that lived there were Roman Catholics which partly explains the Christ Redeemer statue that we visited the next day. The church itself was huge and was a kind of pyramid shape with beautifully coloured windows and marble floor inside. </p><p>Next on the agenda was the stop off at Sugar Loaf Mountain which was breathtaking just to look up at it. The day was beautiful, sunny and hot so you could actually see the mountain clearly as you travel along the road next to the beach when you first set out. The mountain itself is situated from the mouth of Guanabara Bay on a peninsula that sticks out into the Atlantic Ocean. It's about 396 metres above the sea level and uses glass-panelled cable cars so people can travel between its two peaks (apparently there has never been any accidents either!). Its name is said to refer to its resemblance to the traditional shape of concentrated refined loaf sugar. Upon entering a small building on ground level, we received our tickets and each climbed aboard a glass cable car and travelled up to the first peak. The cable cars can hold about seventy-five people and were always crowded on the way up and down. One the first peak you can find a small cafe and a large open area where we could take pictures of the view. By this time Khandkar and I realised our friend Paul was a little scared of heights and looked a bit nervous when it came to going up to the top peak of the mountain! At the very top was a restaurant, a souvenir shop and a very terrified Paul who stayed away from the edge (I've never seen him so quiet!). We got around thirty minutes by ourselves so we hung around the top mostly before Khandkar and I headed back down with Paul eventually getting there in the end. On the way back, we were taken to a restaurant which was but a short walk from our hotel there. We started off by going up and selecting from a buffet before we were served drinks (alcohol was not included in the price so we had to pay but it was very cheap!) and waiters started coming up to the table with big helpings of meat, garlic bread and vegetables. The food was gorgeous and you're plate never had the chance empty before they came back and offered more.</p><p>When we arrived back at the hotel after a brisk walk from the restaurant, there was little time to get ready as we were going to the Estádio Jornalista Mário Filho or better known as the Maracanã stadium. On the way up to the stadium, you could see masses of people wearing football shirts to support their team. You could buy the same shirts at the stadium itself for cheap prices. Upon entering the stadium, we grabbed some seats and waited for stadium officials to come round and serve food and drink. There were over 60,000 there to watch the game so the atmosphere was tremendous and a lot of flares were lit up. The game itself was very entertaining and the score ended 1-1 so we got to see a couple of goals too. After the game had finished, we all got back on board the coach and got back to the hotel ready for our first night in our hotel room. </p><p>The next day we popped down for a buffet breakfast in the hotel so not to leave on an empty stomach. Our coach driver picked us up a couple of hours later and we made our way to Christ Redeemer. Today was rather a foggy day so it was very hard to see the statue from a distance. Upon arrival, we climbed aboard a cable car which leads directly up, near the top of Corcovado Mountain which is surrounded by the Tijuca forest National Park that overlooks the whole city. The statue itself is around 130 feet tall in height and was built as a symbol of Christianity for the Brazilian people. After the car had stopped moving, we were required to climb a number of stairs or take a lift up but with the queue we opted otherwise. Once there we were able to marvel a majority of the statue in its greatness but unfortunately unable to get a clear view because of the fog. It was very thick because we were 2296 feet up in the air which made even the view of the city impossible to see. It was a pity because if we had gone the day before then it would have been very clear to everybody. The three of us took our pictures before heading back down towards the cable car and then down to ground level where we had our picture taken to mark the event. Paul decided to take some photos of the poster because the ones on the top of the mountain were a bit more disappointing! Then got back onto the coach and headed back to the hotel. </p><p>At this point in the afternoon, our second excursion of the day was to take place but only after a McDonalds on Copacabana beach shortly after checking out the hotel. The famous beach is 4km in length and plays host to millions of revellers every year and much more regularly around New Years Eve. The sand on the beach is very white and the sea was very clear although a little rough. There are little food places dotted around the beach and also a lot of volleyball nets. The most amazing thing I saw there was a group of around six children playing volleyball with their feet and heads. I sat there watching them for about ten minutes and it was very rare to ever see the ball touch the sand. </p><p>Eventually a few open top jeeps turned up for our excursion and we were on the way to our first stop at the favelas which is another name for shanty towns. It was a huge eye opener when we first arrived and I didn't feel very safe at first until we saw how friendly everybody was. Our guide was actually living in these particular favelas we went too and knew most of the people there so he gave us a real insight into the history of how they came about and all the daily problems they faced such as sewage, crime and many hygiene problems. I even saw a young lady carrying a rubbish bin over to a huge pile of rubbish lying next to a road and adding her rubbish on top. As we walked through the streets and took photos, we were invited to go into a tall house and went upstairs to the roof to view the whole town. I was quite thrown back at the sheer size of the town and how many people must have lived there. Moving on, you could see all the electric cables that were above us and all the houses that had no windows. It really was an educating experience to see.</p><p>Our next stop was a small forest that led up to a waterfall at the end of the walkway. Here we found some bottles of wine lying around in the forest, small flowers laid out and some cigars. Our guide indicated this was a show of voodoo worship still going on in Brazil although it is now illegal in this country today. The waterfall itself at the end was a fantastic site. Thankfully the battery in my camera had given up after we had finished taking pictures there. At this point with the end of the excursion upon us, we headed back to the hotel and spent an hour or so walking around the town at night before we had to embark the coach and head to the airport and back to Bahia. This trip was truly worth every penny we paid to visit.</p> 2007-11-04T01:40:47-08:00 1080033301 2007-09-02T17:00:00-07:00 0 16 150616 5926401 198752 0 155167 0.0 2007-08-31T17:00:00-07:00 Published 0.0 2007-11-10T04:49:39-08:00 90770 0