05.06.22 - Copacabana, Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer Statue

Before I start, dear Littlefoot 'Happy Birthday', we send you a big hug from afar and we will have a cocktail for you tonight.

So, after a generous breakfast with lots of fresh fruit, we didn't want to take an UBER right away. Instead, we walked to Copacabana. The beach was crowded. The weather was also amazing today. It is currently winter here. I emphasize 'BRAZILIAN WINTER', which means 29 degrees. We walked barefoot through the sand at the water. We found it amusing that at around 10:00 AM guys with cocktails for sale were walking up and down the beach. Daniela thought it was a bit too early :-)! What we noticed: Brazilians like to show off their bodies, no matter how they are shaped... ;-) Well, to each their own.

From the beach, we took an UBER to Sugar Loaf. There was a very long queue at the entrance! Fortunately, we had ordered our tickets online. So we were allowed to stand in a different line and it went super fast to the entrance! To reach the top of Sugar Loaf, you need to take two cable car rides. There are two sections, and the second section leads to the summit of Sugar Loaf. Even on the first section, there were fantastic views of Rio from many viewpoints. But we wanted to get to the summit as quickly as possible before it might get too crowded. I can only say wow. It was so beautiful. We had a stunning view in all directions. There was also a small park. The first sign showed a snake hanging from a tree and that you should be careful. GREAT! Luckily, we didn't see any snakes. Instead, we saw some lizards and monkeys. The monkeys were definitely a highlight for me, so cute. After taking what felt like a thousand photos, we went back down from Sugar Loaf.

Now it was time for the Christ the Redeemer Statue. From Sugar Loaf, it was often shrouded in clouds, and we weren't sure if we should even go...
First, we had to decide whether to take a car directly to the top or take the 'romantic' cogwheel train? Due to the somewhat late hour, we decided to take the car. So, with some fumbling, we entered the statue directly into Uber, and a few minutes later we were already sitting in the car. We drove up the mountain, through many hairpin bends, and into increasingly remote neighborhoods. Then we came to a barrier, we drove through it and at the end was a dead end with some steps. Daniela just said, 'ah, now we probably have to walk the last stretch up'. And I just thought, 'no way - that's way too far'. We got out, Uber left, we walked up the stairs and after the first turn, we were standing in front of a garden gate!!! We were totally wrong and then we realized from google maps that Christ was in sight, but still far away... the phone's battery was running low and we believed less and less that we would make it up there. But we didn't want to give up yet, and with the second Uber, we made it to the train station just in time to jump on the waiting train :-)

The journey lasted 25 minutes and went through the Tijuca National Park. Here we also saw monkeys and various birds, and from the train we had a great view of Rio. When we reached the top and stood in front of the statue, I was completely overwhelmed. I can hardly put into words the feeling of standing in front of this huge statue. Overwhelming!!! It was really hard for me to tear myself away from the sight. We took endless photos here as well. By the way, from up there, we also had a great view of the Maracanã Football Stadium. Actually, we didn't want to go down, but the last trains were leaving! After that, we went back to our hotel and will celebrate Littlefoot later!

Tomorrow we will fly to the Iguazu Falls. That means the alarm clock will ring at 3:00 AM and we have to go to the airport early. In that sense, greetings from us :-).