Rio de Janeiro - night life a Carnival experience

While it is not Carnival time...one has to experience some of what Carnival must be like in Rio.  This was my attempt at experience.  It was not quite at the level of Cirque du Soleil....but the costumes were beautiful and the music kept your toe tapping.....of course there were a number of dancers.....

With the change of costumes coming quite often.....

A backup band of drums and symbols....

More costumes......even more glitter and color....I guess I should imagine this as going down the street?....

Then some gymnastics....

More Samba band.....different costumes of course...

This guy was one of the highlights.....an act of twirling two balls on then ends of rope....quite remarkable what the guy could do and these twirling balls appeared to be airplane propellers...

The band is back....heading to the finale.....

Now this....was any drag-queens dream....these outfits were unreal.....

.....and then the feathers were added...some were at least 12 feet high.....

...and more colorful than the last....

..and another wow factor!!

So....that was my Carnival experience....I think I need to come back for the real thing.  Oh, but for the photo of the day....I picked this....one Cher would include in her wardrobe I am sure....no I am positive.....it just looks like she had used this in one of her many come-back tours!!!  Check it out....

Rio de Janeiro - Sugarloaf

I was all set today to visit the infamous Sugarloaf.  It is a mountain that is reached via a two-step cable car system.  Hopefully when I get there the view will be better than yesterday's overcast skies.  But the rain still comes and goes...just a little sprinkle now and then...but no sunshine.  

On the way to Sugarloaf I traveled via downtown Rio....modern buildings mixed with those that have been here for over 100 years....as these examples will illustrate..

The trip via downtown included this stop at the Metropolitan Cathedral.  It is a pyramid form...and the interior is about 300 ft wide and 275 ft high.....beautiful stained glass cross....

Pope John Paul visited Rio and the Cathedral and this is commemorated with this statue in front of the Cathedral...

The National Library.....

Okay...now to the excitement of the day....the cable car rides....the first was somewhat mild...even though is seemed that the car was packed to capacity...it made it to the top of the the first level...or Urca Hill up some 700 feet.

These flowers (as do most) caught my eye...they were stunning on this dull dreary day....

It has begun to clear...somewhat....as this picture from the 1st level indictes....this is the Copacabana area....and Guanabara Bay...

This is a view from cable car #2 which is taking me another 1,300 feet up to Sugarloaf...

Now the view of the beach from the other side....

..and down there is where I just came from in cable car #2.....

How about this beauty from the top......

I will have to say one thing....it was very windy...very!!  In fact one woman was injured pretty bad when a table upended and she was struck in the head.  Some stitches were in order I am sure.  I was no looking forward to the ride down in that cable car as the winds seem to increase....and it did not look like they had sufficient accommodations for several hundred people who would be trapped up here!!!

I made it down to the 1st level...and the winds died down...as shown in this peaceful scene of this RTW traveler with the Bay to his back....

One more shot of the view from the 1st level....

....and looking down from inside the cable car to the launching level of the cable car below....

Well....that was quite the ride....one thing I should have included before....this whole process of going up 2 levels and down 2 levels took about 3 hours with all the people....and for the photo of the day....one last look at these cable cars....this is one going up as I am in one going down....they seem to zoom past!!

Rio de Janeiro - Corcovado Mountain - Christ the Redeemer

Rio is probably most famous for 'Carnival'!  It was not Carnival when I was here....it was 'Rain-ival"...like it rained a lot...not like a steady downpour....but just off and on rain all day....no beach time that was for sure.

I settled into my Copacabana hotel...really means beach hotel as I see it.  I want to point out...the boulevard along the beach and on Sunday and holidays they block off one side of it and allow people to walk, skate, run or use their bike or skateboard on the street....very cool idea....even in the rain.


Not too much happening at the beach....

Time to see some of the city....from way up high....hope the clouds lift so can see the city!! It begins with a cog train ride up the mountain to the Christ the Redeemer statute.  This is the beginning of the train ride in the Cosme Velho neighborhood.

The train heads up some 2,400 feet to the statue....and travels via Tijuca Forest - said to be the largest urban forest in the world.  One of the interesting fruits that I was was the Jack Fruit - I did not try it - but it is said to be similar to pineapple and very sweet....but seems to have a bad odor....ummm!!

Well...the higher we go...the day does not seem to be any brighter....but does offer a lovely view of the mountains with the clouds hanging around....

Looking down on Rio....

At last....the statue of Christ the Redeemer...some 130 feet tall.  It was inaugurated in 1931 and has also been imitated at several other locations in the world....but there is nothing that compares to the original!  The statute from the back....

...and from the front.

As long as I stay up here...there is just no chance it is going to clear off any better any time soon.  So this will be the best as it gets for today from atop Corcovado mountain.

This is a Christmas tree put out in the Logoa far below....

I tried to capture this from afar at night....and it will give you some idea of the effect it projects in the evening...it does change colors as well.

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Okay...coming down the mountain....and one last shot from above....

Okay...my photo of the day...it a close up of the hands of the Christ the Redeemer statue...the hands depicting the nails that left these holes....very well done in detail.