May 2012 Today we ventured to one of the sights I was most excited to see: the Christ the Redeemer statue. It’s located atop ‘Corcovado’ and has been recently designated as one of the New 7 Wonders of the World. It was crazy how long it felt to get up to the top. We were driving upwards for what seemed like a half hour before getting off and transferring to a smaller van. It felt like forever until we were off the smaller van after going up who knows how higher, and walked a little bit more to finally reach the top.
Not only was the sheer size of the monument amazing, but also the incredible view of Rio in its entirety. Now this spot was packed with tourists, all edging their way in to the centre trying to get a good photo of them and the statue. It was pretty tricky getting a good photo of me with the statue. The person trying to take your photo has to kneel down and almost lay flat on the ground in order for the photo to include everything. After I checked a photo of me taken by a random, the Redeemer statue wasn’t at all in sight and a woman was breathing down my neck and giving the camera a disgusted look. “Oh wow, great photo,” she said as she handed my camera back to me. Seriously? I asked a bunch of different people to take photos of me in hopes for an even better one. Eventually I got some pretty decent ones, and after being satisfied with my photos, I leaned over the railings and just admired the sight below me. Looking down over Rio was a spectacular sight, especially seeing Sugarloaf Mountain in the distance.
As the sun started to set, we headed all the way back down to the city and drove for a while away from Christ the Redeemer. Our last visit for the day was Sugarloaf Mountain. We climbed up 1299 feet in a glass-paneled cable car to the top for more astounding views of the city and its beaches. During the break from the first car to the second, we saw some tiny monkeys. We couldn’t watch them for very long – they were so rambunctious – jumping, swinging, and bouncing here to there eccentrically.
By the time we reached the summit, the sun had fully set. The view was one of those moments you can’t put into words at all because of how stunning and awe striking it is. The sky was dark blue velvet with soft strokes of pink. The sparkling lights below traced all along the shoreline, making it glow next to the dark water. The boats in the harbour twinkled and there were some grey clouds softly hanging above. Now opposite Christ the Redeemer, the statue glowed white and blurred like a ghost way out in the distance. I spent so long up there admiring the beauty and wrapping my head around how lucky I felt to be right where I was.
Filed under: Brazil Tagged: Brazil, Christ the Redeemer, Photography, Rio, Rio de Janeiro, Sugarloaf Mountain, Travel
