Bem-vindo ao Rio de Janeiro!

We woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to get everything ready for our trip to Rio de Janeiro. A “minivan” picked us up from our apartment, and we proceeded to attempt to pack ourselves, and our luggage into the van. When I say “minivan”, understand that I mean a Brazilian minivan, which actually isn’t a minivan at all. It was more like a square-shaped sedan with a third row. We had the driver and Gabe in the front seat, Dayane and Pedro in his car seat in the middle row, and then Jake and I in the very back. Gabe said I looked like a sardine. For those who know me well, you know how terribly I travel in the back of cars, so of course I was horribly carsick the entire trip. So it goes.

As we approached Rio, I was quickly distracted from my spinning head by the beautiful architecture of the city. Prior to our trip, Gabe and I had heard nothing but horror stories about the crime in Rio, and thought we might have to stay safely secluded in our hotel, but we were pleasantly surprised by our surroundings. In fact, downtown Rio actually reminded us of some of the European cities that we have visited. The best way to describe it would be to say that it has the hustle and bustle of New York City combined with the somewhat grunge coated beauty of Bordeaux, France or even Rome, Italy. With the 2016 Olympics looming in the future, the signs of improvement were all around. Many of the buildings were covered in scaffolding due to cleaning, and many of the roads were being repaved. They have a long way to go, but it was good to see that they’ve at least begun the work of cleaning up the city.

On Saturday we checked into our hotel, then took a taxi to visit Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar) mountain. They named it Sugar Loaf because apparently there is a type of bread here that is the same shape as the mountain. The only way to reach the top is to take a series of cable cars across the water. I also discovered that I have a terrible fear of open heights, and began to feel that sweaty carsick feeling again as I stepped into the cable car. It basically looked like a subway car with windows for walls, but I can’t deny that the view was truly spectacular! Once we got to the top of the first mountain, we walked into a beautiful park with 360-degree panoramic views of the city/ocean. As we stopped to take pictures, we met a new friend—a tiny little monkey about the size of a guinea pig jumped down from the branches of a nearby tree to say hello. :) Jake and I were amazed! So cool to see a real, live monkey in the wild! There happened to be a juice shop in the park, so we stopped for a drink. One awesome thing about Brazil is that you can get fresh squeezed juice everywhere you go. We had a glass of tangerine and pineapple juice—so refreshing and delicious!

Then we boarded the second cable car to the top of Sugar Loaf. This was a much steeper climb, and the car kind of tilted like a roller coaster climbing the first drop of the ride—needless to say, I was freaking out a bit! Due to my panic attacks caused by the cable car ride, Gabe discovered that he loved making it worse for me by talking about the cable breaking and shaking the car…such a jerk! lol However, we made it safely across, and if we thought the views from the first mountain were good, we were in for a big surprise. The views from the top of Sugar Loaf were breathtaking! Up close, the city had that griminess to it that most cities have, but standing on the edge of the mountain, breeze in my face, with the city reaching up from below, I felt like a bird flying freely above a beautiful city at sunset.

After taking about a hundred pictures, we rode the cable cars back to the ground, and took a taxi to a nearby shopping center. Our friend Diogo told us that he was taking us to “one of the best restaurants in all of Rio de Janeiro”—Outback Steakhouse! LOL The food was actually really delicious, and it was nice for Gabe and I to experience a bit of home for the afternoon. After dinner, we were exhausted, so we retired to our hotel for the night.

On Sunday, we woke up early, at breakfast, and took a walk along Copacabana beach. The beach was gorgeous! Even at 9am, there were hundreds of people already sunning themselves in the sand. As we walked, we came to a really cool street market. There were booths selling every type of craft/statue/jewelry/painting/clothing you can think of. Precious stones are plentiful in Brazil, and cost about 1/3 the price in the U.S. We found the most beautiful carving of a toucan made out of jade, turquoise, quartz, and amethyst. It was gorgeous, and it only cost us R$ 50 (around $25 bucks)!

Then we went to meet Diogo and Dayane, and we took a taxi to the bottom of Corcovado Hill. Corcovado is the tallest point in Rio de Janeiro, and is also the home of the famous Christ the Redeemer statue that stands guard over the city. There is an awesome tram ride up the mountain through the surrounding rainforest. The plants and flowers along the way were so beautiful! My mother and sister-in-law, Natalie, would have been in heaven! Once we reached the top, there is a series of staircases that you have to climb to reach the Christ statue—probably around 10 flights (thank goodness I had been working out!). When we finally reached the statue, I was overcome by how truly enormous it was! Already being at “the top of the world”, it literally seemed to reach right into heaven itself. It was awe-inspiring.

We sat under the shade of the statue, and awed at the how small the great city of Rio appeared below us! After taking tons of pictures amongst the hoards of other visitors, we carefully walked back down the stairs to the tram station. When we got back down the mountain, Diogo & Dayane took us to the Botafogo Praia Shopping Center. This shopping center was actually a 6-story mall, with beautiful views of the ocean and Sugar Loaf. As we went up the escalator, I was overcome with joy. I couldn’t believe it, but THEY HAD A STARBUCKS!!!!! Yep, I was in heaven! :) After a late lunch at the mall, unfortunately it was time to head back to the hotel, collect out luggage, and begin the return drive to Macae.

Our first visit to Rio was short, but wonderful! It goes without saying, but our overall view and impression of the city is changed. Not once did we ever feel worried about our safety, and the overall beauty of the city was incredible! I can’t wait to go back!

P.S. Sorry, but due to my slow Internet connection, I couldn’t load very many pictures onto the blog. Check out my Facebook page for more! Love to all!