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Rio from top of the Christ the Redeemer monument, Sugarloaf Mountain on the right. |
I've always wanted to go to Rio de Janeiro. This was definitely a highlight of our trip and it was just as every bit beautiful as I imagined it would be. We stayed on the Copa Cabana beach and walked along the beach ever single night. Despite how dangerous some areas of Rio are and how big the city is, I could see myself living there. I will be back one day.
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| Houses on top of houses, the favelas are tucked into the mountains and hillsides. Opposite to America, where the rich usually live in the hills. |
To get to the top, you take a train ride up to the Christ statue. It's an older train with two cars and the track is SO STEEP. It's literally like a roller coaster going up before it goes down. Rio is one of the most unique cities because the environment is not only beautiful but it's sprawled across such a large area. It spans hills and mountains and white sand beaches. It's just so big. We also stopped at the National Cathedral, a crazy dark pyramid-looking church with four gigantic glass mosaic windows on each side.
The day we had our city tour (when I took the most pictures) it was overcast and cloudy. It was a bit chilly because technically it was Spring while we there, even though we were able to enjoy the beach the day before with full sun. The views were no less stunning.
| You have to take two cable cars to get to the top. This is one of the original cable cars--imagine going up 1,300 ft in that! |
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| If you look closely, you can see the Christ statue on the highest peak in this picture. |
So you know the Disney movie, Rio? When the main character gets to Rio and
the monkey things are mean? The little marmosets at the top of
Sugarloaf are real, and they are
mean. They steal tourists things
and literally run down the mountain or jump into the tree tops. (I
swear they laugh as they get away.) Cute, but evil.
We also saw the Sambadrome, Maracan stadium, a Samba show with a lot of butt hanging out
of the costumes, Capoiera, and ate a lot of delicious Feijoada. We don't
really have any pictures from the beach because we didn't take any
valuables with us when we'd go. Just trust me that it was beautiful and
relaxing, and yes, all the women wear string/thong bikinis. No big deal.
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| Sigh. |
This is so awesome! I am embarrassed to admit it, but most of what I know about Rio comes from the little cartoon bird movie of the same name! =0
I hope you don't mind, I'll definitely be sharing this post on a travel link list post I do on Fridays!