Before telling you about our day in Rio I wanted to add
something I forgot to mention day before yesterday. We were sitting on our
balcony at sunset and the sky was
very clear with just a few little wisps of clouds. As the sun went down on the horizon we saw the illusory
“green flash!” For just a split
second the sun looked like a bright green sliver and then sunk below the
horizon. Al wasn’t fast enough to
catch it, but perhaps we’ll see it again on a future trip. We’ve seen it once before some years
ago.
Anyway, we were up by 6 AM this morning to watch our arrival
in Rio. Captain Larsen had told us
it was a very scenic harbor in which to arrive. Well, it was dawn and from our starboard side we couldn’t
see the Copacabana area. We did
get a nice view of an oil platform being constructed. When it’s finished it will be towed out to its site somewhere
off the Brazilian coast. We also
could see the Christ the Redeemer statue at the top of Corcovado. More about that later.
Oil rig being constructed. It will be towed out later |
The white light at the tip of the peak is Christ the Redeemer lit up |
When we were docked, we had an opportunity to watch the
baggage being unloaded. On the big
ships we’ve sailed on before, forklifts came to the ship and carried out large
container loads of baggage. On the
Quest, a sheet of plywood was placed between the ship and the dock with a net
underneath. Quest crew members rolled the luggage one bag at a time across and
dock workers moved them into the little terminal. We watched our bags, which are a distinctive blue, roll across
and hoped they didn’t tip over or that the ship didn’t lurch from an unexpected
gust of wind.
The luggage crew and their sheet of plywood |
After a nice breakfast we collected our carryons and were
off at 9 AM. On the dock waiting
to say goodbye and shake hands were the Captain, Cruise Director, Guest
Services Manager and other officers.
They greeted everyone by name and wished us safe travels home. We thought that was a very nice touch
Our bags were together and our guide Rachel was waiting for
us. When she saw how many bags we
had she called and had a driver, Paolo, come with a van instead of a car. He was there as we exited and we loaded
up and were off. Rachel was
fantastic! We told her we left it
to her to arrange our itinerary and she took us first to the cog railway to
visit the Christ the Redeemer statue.
Along the way we saw the permanent stands where the Sambadrome is held
during Carnival. I’m not sure we’d want to spend the evening there, but the
dancing must be incredible. When
we arrived at the station, we were able to buy our tickets and board within
five minutes. I had read about
long lines but we were lucky.
The Christ the
Redeemer statue is one of the 7 modern wonders of the world. The statue of Christ with outstretched
arms is 98 feet tall not including the 26 foot tall pedestal. It is at the top
of the 2300 foot tall Corcovado Mountain and in the middle of a
national forest. The steep ride up
goes through lush forests with lots of jackfruit trees and a tree with
silvery white leaves which the Brazilians call “It’s not worth anything" trees. Rachel told us that wasn’t
really true though, because the leaves attract lots of insects keeping them
away from other vegetation around.
The view from the top was amazing!
Apparently the day before we arrived Rio had a record hot day but
overnight a front had passed through with heavy rain. It cleared the air and got rid of the heat. We had a 360° view of Rio in lovely
cool temperatures. On one side we
could see Sugarloaf. On another we
could see the natural lagoon and hippodrome and beyond them Ipanema Beach.
The Christ the Redeemer Statue |
The Lagoon and Ipanema area from Corcovado |
Sugarloaf is the distinctive promontory on the left |
After having a nice look around,
watching a monkey play in a tree near the railway stop and visiting the little
chapel at the summit, we headed down.
Next we drove down to the lagoon area where we could see a massive floating
Christmas tree being built. Each
year it is built, moved to the middle of the lagoon, and illuminated with 3 million lights. Rachel said the official lighting
ceremony will occur this coming weekend.
Our next stop was the H. Stern headquarters which I wanted
to see. There’s a self-guided tour
which passed by craftsmen sorting precious stones, polishing, designing pieces and doing all the other things
that go into creating fine jewelry.
When you exit the tour you must pass through the showrooms. Smart move on H. Stern’s part, because
we succumbed to temptation. I have
a nice memento of Rio and our cruise.
From H. Stern Paolo, an excellent driver by the way, took us
to the end of Ipanema Beach near the Sheraton Hotel where there is a wonderful viewpoint. I asked Rachel about the song “The Girl
from Ipanema” and she told us that later we would see the bar where the
creators of the song, Jobim and Vinicius de Moraes, were inspired by
a beautiful 17-year-old girl who
used to walk by since she lived nearby. Frank Sinatra heard the Brazilian song
and called the two men at the bar where they spent much time. He was evidently instrumental in having
the song popularized in the rest of the world.
That's Ipanema Beach in the background |
After seeing Ipanema it was time for lunch. We asked Rachel to recommend a place
that was not totally touristy. She suggested a place near Copacabana Beach
called Marius after the owner. It was a brilliant choice. Aside from one table when we first
entered everyone was Brazilian, many of them family groups having lunch. The place is named for the owner who
wandered around and reminded me of an aging hippy. It’s not a
traditional Brazilian steakhouse (churascarria). They do serve grilled meats and seafood in addition to a
buffet, but the place is a feast for the visual senses. Literally every square inch is covered
with things hanging or affixed to the walls. Above our heads at the table the 3 of us occupied were
snowshoes, boxing gloves, wooden plane propellers, etc, etc. There were a couple of very large bells (think church bells!!) near the front door and every once in a while (for no apparent reason that we
could ascertain) someone would walk over and strike the bell. The first time it was a little bit of a
shock. Even the bathrooms, which were upstairs, were full of stuff. The floors were pea gravel and the sinks were full of stones. We started with oysters on
the half shell from the buffet and giant prawns and then moved on to empanadas
(I’m not sure they call them that in Brazil) and grilled meats. The waiter would come with a small
cutting board and give us slices of different types of beef, pork and
lamb. The maitre d’ took a liking
to us and they cooked some Kobe beef and brought it to us. It was wonderful! Before we left he came over
with two large chunks of quartzite
and presented them to me. I didn’t
see anyone else getting some rocks when they left but I took them and tucked
them into a carryon later.
The ceiling above our table at Marius |
A wall in the restaurant - we've never seen such an eclectic bunch of stuff |
We had to stop back at H. Stern to pick up our purchase so
there was no time to stand in line for the cable car up Sugarloaf. I guess that gives us an excuse to go
back to Rio. On our way back to
the store we drove along Copacabana Beach. It’s much wider than Ipanema and it was interesting to see
that various groups have staked out their sections of the beach. The various areas have flags flying representing the groups Rachel told us that while the
beach is crowded at Carnival season, it is most crowded on New Year’s Eve. On that night 3 million people gather
on the beaches! It’s tradition to
wear white that night and to toss flowers into the ocean. We couldn’t imagine that many people
there.
It was getting
close to rush hour so we decided to head to the airport. Rio has traffic problems like most metropolitan areas. They are trying to improve roads and
complete a metro system in anticipation of hosting the World Cup of soccer and
the Olympics in the next few years.
At the moment Rachel said the efforts are making the traffic worse not
better.
Downtown Rio was quite lovely with lots of trees and
parks. The ride to the airport
took us past a different side of Rio.
Along the way we passed big industrial areas and could see many favelas which
are low-income neighborhoods.
Rachel told us the government is working hard to clean these areas
up. Only recently have the police
started patrolling them again. For a long time they were controlled by
gangs of various types. I think
they still have a long way to go.
Rachel dropped us at the airport and since we had a while
before the check in would begin, she arranged for the porter who took our
luggage to park us at some seats and come back to take us and our vast amount
of luggage to the counter to check-in.
Watching people in the airport in Rio was just as interesting as in
Dulles or any other airport. We
were entertained watching the
clothing and demeanor. We
flew Delta and check-in was fine.
Security is where we hit a snag. There were many security people and not
one had anything but a scowl on the face. We had our 3 walking sticks, two
taped together. A very stern man
told us something very gruffly in Portuguese. When we looked at him in confusion he told us that the
walking sticks were not permitted.
We’ve never had a problem with walking sticks before and we told him
that. Then he said we could have
one. We said we each needed
one. While the security people were dealing with other people, Al told me to move along and take 2 of the sticks while we had the chance and not argue with them. I was prepared for a debate, but he was right. The upshot was we had to
leave the new Besalu stick behind. At passport control the young woman there looked angry too. It was unexpected because to
that point every Brazilian we’d met was friendly and engaging. Between now and 2016 the Brazilians
need to do some training of their officials on people skills if they want folks coming to the
Olympics to have a positive memory of their trip.
We spent a couple of hours in the only airline lounge open;
it serves almost every foreign airline as the others are being remodeled. It was packed but better than wandering
around the gate areas or sitting near the gates. Our plane was full but the seats were nice lie flat ones and we actually got a
little nap on the way to Atlanta.
After a couple of hours layover we were on our way back to Virginia. It felt good to be back home. Al went to pick up Emma and I went to
get something for our dinner. It
was cold here at home which was a shock after the weather on the cruise.
Once we've had a chance to unpack and get settled in I'll write about our final impressions. It was a wonderful trip!
2 comments:
I loved reading all about your cruise and I loved the pictures as well. It sure looks like it was a wonderful time. So glad you are able to still cruise and enjoy so much. Can't wait to read about the next one!!
Well. That was fun. I enjoyed the ride. :)
Post a Comment