Wednesday 17 September, 2014

Morning tour to Christ the Redeemer statue and train ride through more rainforest to get there. Very overcast morning but we were extremely lucky when we arrived for the train ride. From the bottom of the hill, the mist was moving over the statue so I didn't think we would have a hope of seeing anything but the good Lord smiled on us and the misty rain stopped and we could see the statue and the sights around! Stunning. The statue is 100 metres tall, made of soapstone mosaics that were put together by all the women in the parishes of Rio de Janeiro. Each parish made a mosaic and then they were used to cover the statue. The statue is 1000 metres above the ground and is hollow as they were going to have people able to go up into the statue but they decided it was not practical.
There was even a bride and groom having their photos taken at the top. You could see all around Rio. I can't believe how many apartment complexes are near the beach and they start at 15 million US $ up to 30 million. And the average wage is $800 US per month?? The famous beach strip has wavy patterns in the footpaths with all the stones brought from Portugal in the very early days.
We saw the one kilometre stretch where the Carnivale is held. Grandstands that are there year round and hold 100,000 people.
On the bus, we saw some amazing sand sculptures...I only wish we could have gotten out and had a look!
We had a tour of H. Stern's, an international jewelry store that specializes in Brazilian gems, Aquamarine, Amethyst, Blue Topaz and other amazing stones. I love watching jewelers working on stones, it is so interesting to watch. Alas, couldn't find a stone and setting that I liked!
We walked back to the hotel, exercise for the day about 4 kilometres.
Tonight is a Brazilian BarBQue dinner and a Samba show!