Last part of our trip - finally!
Been having trouble getting a signal recently but really want to get this posted as it won't be long now before we're off again!!!
Been having trouble getting a signal recently but really want to get this posted as it won't be long now before we're off again!!!
Our flight here got in very late and I had asked if we could be met at the airport. As it turned out the owner of the pousada we had booked met us himself and we took a standard taxi to the hotel!! We were a little puzzled but later realised that Wanderson/Anderson/Paulista’s (he went by many names!) pousada was largely a one-man show!! The place was definitely different to the last hotel, tucked away in a gated mews but had everything we needed and we were made very very welcome. Wanderson told us that breakfast was served between 8 and 10 but would be there any time we wanted! Sure enough next morning we were up quite late but breakfast was served up on the roof terrace and his English-speaking young assistant, Brenda from Argentina, was there to help translate. |
The next day we were up early again as our guide for the day, Vicente, was there to pick us up at 8.00 o‘clock.
Our first stop on the tour was Cristo Redentor which is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado Mountain. We drove most of the way up but the last part can only be walked, cycled or in the tour buses – we took the latter option of course! When we got there the statue itself was being surveyed by a remote controlled flying bug!! They obviously had started very early in the day to be able to get clear access! The statue was created by French sculptor Paul Landowski and built by the Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with the French engineer Albert Caquot. The face was created by the Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida. The statue is made of re-inforced concrete covered with soapstone and SO impressive. It is 30 metres (98 ft) tall, not including its 8-metre (26 ft) pedestal and its arms stretch 28 metres (92 ft) wide and weighs 635 metric tons. It was started in 1922 and finished in 1931 and cost the equivalent of 3.3 million US dollars today. I was able to take photos quite easily as we were early & there were not too many people there– we heard from others that it can be fairly impossible later in the day. From the view point there, you could see all round Rio including the Maracana football stadium (mean to be the biggest in the world) and the bays of Rio – Incredible. Vicente pointed out that it is an unusual statue as, although Christ is standing with arms outstretched, he is smiling not suffering as in many images. I felt it was a really powerful image and was quite overcome at one stage. |
Back to our car and we drove through the Tijuca Forest. This was an area that had been completely de-forested by coffee growing in the 19century but had been re-planted when the coffee crops were unsuccessful and it as realised that it was changing the climate around Rio. Unfortunately, to my mind anyway, it had been planted with trees and plants from all over the world rather than being taken back to its more natural state as perhaps it would have been today. A very interesting winding journeywith some lovely scenery and waterfalls.
We stopped at one of Vicente’s favourite places – a wonderful viewing spot with a pagoda seat for those more energetic than us who were walking through the forest!!!
Back to the city and our next stop was the modern cathedral, Cathedral of St. Sebastian of Rio de Janeiro which was built between 1964 and 1979. Pretty ugly I thought from the outside but quite amazing in!
It was based on the Mayan style of pyramids (4-sided) and the ‘ceiling’ was a cross with the arms of the cross stretching 64 metres (210ft) from floor to ceiling with amazing stained glass in green, blue, yellow and red – Magnificent! These provided masses of light and in fact there was no artificial light in it at all! It has an overall height of 75 metres (246 ft) and the inside area measures 8,000 square meters and sufficient 5,000 seats or it has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people.
It was based on the Mayan style of pyramids (4-sided) and the ‘ceiling’ was a cross with the arms of the cross stretching 64 metres (210ft) from floor to ceiling with amazing stained glass in green, blue, yellow and red – Magnificent! These provided masses of light and in fact there was no artificial light in it at all! It has an overall height of 75 metres (246 ft) and the inside area measures 8,000 square meters and sufficient 5,000 seats or it has a standing-room capacity of 20,000 people.
The other fascinating feature was that due to its shape and construction no air conditioning was needed but it kept cool as the air was circled continuously as hot air rose and escaped through open areas between the bricks pulling in cooler air below. SO clever and effective.
On again passing through the area of Saint Therese with wonderful colonial buildings ad houses on one side and one of the favelas in Rio on the other. The favela was huge with no roads and few discernable pathways through and we are not sure how they cope for electricity and water. Vicente pointed out that the people from the favelas were in fact the back bone of the the city as majority of them were the lower paid manual workers - street cleaners, road maintenance etc.- who keep the city going. |
Then to Selaron Steps, the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selarón who claimed it as "my tribute to the Brazilian people" In 1990, Selarón began renovating dilapidated steps that ran along the front of his house. At first, neighbours mocked him for his choice of colours as he covered the steps in fragments of blue, green and yellow tiles – the colours of the Brazilian flag. It became an obsession and eventually he covered the entire set of steps in tiles, ceramics and mirrors. The steps straddle both the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighbourhoods and there are 250 steps measuring 125 metres long which are covered in over 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries around the world.[1] No sooner than one section of the steps were 'finished', he started work on another section, constantly changing it so that it was an ever evolving piece of art. Selarón considered the work as "never complete"[3] and claimed that "This crazy and unique dream will only end on the day of my death". Ironically, he was found dead one day on the steps. |
Of the 2000+ tiles, 300-odd are hand painted by him depicting a pregnant African woman he would not comment on this except to say that it was a "Personal problem from my past"
In fact Vicente had worked with him on the steps for a while and said he could be quite a difficult character – a typical artist perhaps!!.
Overall, quite incredible but I would have wanted to walk up them in the rain!
In fact Vicente had worked with him on the steps for a while and said he could be quite a difficult character – a typical artist perhaps!!.
Overall, quite incredible but I would have wanted to walk up them in the rain!
That was about it for the day and Vicente drove us back to the pousada along the infamous beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema.
Another incredible day!
Unfortunately, the next day we were flying out (I should really have given us another day there) and so we had a leisurely breakfast and chatted to Wanderson. Most of the other guests were in their twenties and we realised that Wanderson would take them to the ever-present Ipanema beach parties and keep an eye on them while they partied. We thought was a really great way of doing things and he was so astounded to hear that we had sailed across the Atlantic, he offered us free accommodation at his own house next time we were in Rio!!
Another incredible day!
Unfortunately, the next day we were flying out (I should really have given us another day there) and so we had a leisurely breakfast and chatted to Wanderson. Most of the other guests were in their twenties and we realised that Wanderson would take them to the ever-present Ipanema beach parties and keep an eye on them while they partied. We thought was a really great way of doing things and he was so astounded to hear that we had sailed across the Atlantic, he offered us free accommodation at his own house next time we were in Rio!!
Off to the airport and fight back to Joao Pessoa, taxi from airport and arriving safely back on Moontide at about 1.00 in the morning. All was well on board and after a round trip of roughly nearly 8000 kilometres (5000 miles) as the crow flies we just collapsed!
What an amazing 23 days!!!
What an amazing 23 days!!!