Contributed by: filbert Sunday, December 13 2009 @ 07:00 AM CST
Text by Snookums, Pictures by Filbert
Part Twenty-eight
December 3 (Thursday, Day 36, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil) –
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| Christ The Redeemer over Rio |
We woke up at 7 AM to watch the sail in to Rio. Rio is supposed to be one of the three prettiest harbors in the world to sail into. The other two are Sydney and Hong Kong and we’ve done both of those. The morning was kind of cloudy but we were able to see Sugar Loaf and Corcovado (the statue of Christ the Redeemer). We think Hong Kong is the most interesting and Snookums really was impressed by the beauty of Cape Town’s harbor. (It probably didn’t hurt that we had the best weather when we sailed into Cape Town compared to the other three ports.)
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| Sugar Loaf |
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| The Emperor’s little party shack |
We got off the ship as soon as it docked at 9:45 AM. As we exited the ship, the new cast of Regent singers and dancers was boarding. Gabriel Alonzo Smith is the lead male singer and we met him on our Mariner 26-day South Seas Passage cruise in April-May, 2006. We said “hi” and then we walked around Rio de Janeiro’s downtown for about 2.5 hours.
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| Gabe and us |
We had a goal of finding the beautiful 1909 Municipal Theatre and of buying some soap for Filbert since he thinks he is allergic to Regent’s soap. It was very hot and humid. In fact, the temperature was 100° and the humidity was 99%!!!
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| Air conditioners: a good idea in Rio |
We found the theatre, but it was under renovation and was not open. Then we looked at our crappy map and decided to find the Metropolitan Cathedral. We walked and walked and went several wrong ways. We kept seeing this hideous building the whole time and finally realized that it WAS the cathedral!! It was inaugurated in 1976 and can hold 20,000 standing people. It’s ugly.
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| Municipal Theatre |
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| Metropolitan Cathedral. Or, the Vulcan Embassy to Earth. Without the Pope John Paul II statue, it’s hard to tell. |
We noticed that there were lots and lots of banks in the downtown area and most of them had long lines. We never did find out why. We never found a grocery store but found many drug stores. Rio prices seemed to be very similar to the US. The single bar of soap (like Dial) was $0.85 and a postcard was $0.57. A Happy Meal was $3.29 and rubber flip-flops were $5. (All of the Filipino crew purchased Havaianas brand flip-flops for their family members for $6 each. They seem to be the “must have” item in the Philippines but they really are just rubber flip-flops. Every crew member purchased at least one pair, though!)
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| Beer: a good idea in Rio |
We walked back to the ship for a quick lunch (and a shower for Filbert who was completely sweat soaked) before meeting our afternoon tour to Corcovado. The sky was clear and it was still very hot and humid. Corcovado is 2,300 feet high and in 1931 the 120-foot-high Christ the Redeemer statue on the top of it was inaugurated. We took the cogwheel train for the 17-minute ride up to the top and had stunning views of all of Rio. Then we headed back down on the cogwheel train. The train actually goes through Tijuca Forest which is a large, dense rain forest in Rio de Janeiro. We were hoping to see monkeys or other wildlife but only saw huge jackfruit trees and other lush vegetation.
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| At the statue of Christ the Redeemer |
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| Plastic surgery? White-haired guy wonders . . . |
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| The obligatory ship-from-a-high-hill picture |
We got back to the ship and were drained from the hot day. Quick showers and then a quick Compass Rose dinner and then to bed was what our evening held.
Next: Rio! More!