After a few days recovering from the tour and taking it slow in exploring Copacabana & Ipanema, I hit some of more iconic spots of Rio – the Santa Teresa neighborhood and the highlights of Sugarloaf Mountain & Christ the Redeemer.
In this first batch, starting downtown at the municipal theater, then to the tram that goes up to Santa Teresa. Had to wait in a rather long queue for the tram, but it was worth it…!
Like the San Francisco cable cars, the Santa Teresa trams amble up and around the long and winding roads of this somewhat dilapidated, albeit charming, neighborhood. Lots of funky buildings, weathered street art, and the guy behind me was a very busy conductor, whistling from both sides to get people out of the way and hollering up to the engineer various instructions as the tram clattered thru the hood…
More of the Santa Teresa neighborhood, including a very cool lunch spot, and a lot more street art…
In the Santa Teresa neighborhood is a place called the Parque das Ruinas, an old mansion that’s been retrofitted into a public space with a spectacular view of Rio. Steel and glass was added to the brick and mortar to create a beautiful hybrid building – totally free to explore. Finished the day with a great dinner at Aprazivel, a unique restaurant, considered one of the 50 best in the world…?!
The next day, I took the cable car (gondola), actually two of them, to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain, one of the huge granite peaks around Rio (Geologically, it is considered part of a family of steep-sided rock outcroppings known as bornhardts). Having waited through some cloudy days for this visit, the payoff was spectacular…
There were some cute lil’ monkeys among the various attractions at Sugarloaf Mountain, not to mention the DJ, and here’re some other sites thereabouts…
Next, went up to Christ the Redeemer which required another circuitous train ride through lush jungle, after the Uber of course. From Sugarloaf Mountain, it had appeared cloudy, but arriving there, close to sunset, it was clear and another spot for amazing views of Rio…
A few more shots of Christ the Redeemer, yes, some of the silly ones one does there. And two of the team of sculptor/designers involved in its construction (but not the bishop). FYI, it was created by French-Polish sculptor Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, in collaboration with French engineer Albert Caquot. Romanian sculptor Gheorghe Leonida sculpted the face – which is striking. And more of the lovely sunset…
Some timelapse clips visiting Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer…
More Brazil coming up…