The beauty of Rio lies in all the mountains scattered throughout the city and in the water. This means you always have a view whether you are near sea level looking up or on a mountain looking down. Many of the mountain sides are too steep to build on, but where the slopes are shallow enough, housing has crept up the hill side. Most of the poorer people live up a hill, but there are also mansions scattered around the low cost housing. Today, we started with a trip into one of the most prosperous areas on a hill side. We went by bus, but it is served by a trolley that is free to residents.
This is a ruin that is part of a neighborhood park. There is a municipal theater that is part of the park.These buildings were interesting, but it also shows how there are wires everywhere.Another nice building that is at least partially abandoned.Our next stop was Sugarloaf Mountain. There are two gondola rides to get to the top. Many people just go on the first car that stops at the top of a neighboring hill. There were long lines, but because we were part of a tour and paid a premium price, we got to go in the express line. I don’t know what premium we paid, but it was well worth it in the high heat and humidity. This picture is at the top of the first mountain where some people used helicopters to really skip the line. That is Christ the Redeemer below the helicopter to the right.On the top of the first mountain with Sugarloaf behind us.Views of mountain, city, and water from Sugarloaf. I can’t imagine who thought it was a good idea to put all those towers next to Christ the Redeemer.There were orchids blooming on top of Sugarloaf.We ate lunch at Fogo de Chão, a Brazilian steak house. They originated in Rio and have branches in most of the major US cities. There was a very nice salad bar to start and then they brought various meats around on skewers and carved them onto your plate. It was a lot of food!Our last stop was Ipanema Beach. It was a Saturday and the crowds seemed worse than Myrtle Beach! It wasn’t as wide as Copacabana so there were very few volleyball nets.Short and tan and young (all things are relative) and lovely The girl from Ipanema goes walking. And when she passes Each one she passes goes “Ah”.On the following day, we went with friends to Forte Beach in Cabo Frio. It was a Sunday and seemed as crowded as Ipanema. The beach is named after the fort on the peninsula in the picture. Our ship is also visible.We sat at a table with chairs and an umbrella at the rear of the crowd. All that was free if you bought your drinks from the provider. We knew all the obvious tourists here as they came from our ship. We paid $10 for two coconuts (with a straw to drink the coconut water through a hole punched in the side) and a glasss of the Brazilian national drink (lime and a lot of whiskey) which we shared. We thought it was a great deal and apparently the vendor thought so also as they could not have been nicer to us. They spoke only Portuguese and we spoke only English and pigeon Spanish. Cheers
You both look so happy and thin. Are you eating? What’s your secret?
We are both eating quite well. We get a lot of steps in.
Bruce, did you sing the girl from Ipanema to Susan? More important did she dance to it?
No singing or dancing. The views were great, but way too crowded.
As usual, fantastic pictures! Beaches a little too crowded for me!! Love the girl from Ipanema, she’s been a favorite for many years ❤️
You guys do it right!
Looks beyond fantastic every step of the way.
You both look great. Enjoy!