Monday, January 11, 2010

Visiting the Cristo Redentor

So I am really loving Rio. My first stop on my Rio tour was the Cristo Redentor. One of the most famous landmarks in Rio. The place where I am staying was only 5 mins away and I am able to see the statue from the window of the living room. I have been so blessed in having this family let me stay with them. I didn't know them and they didn't know me but they opened their home to me. Besides being able to see the Cristo I am also able to see the famous Pão do Açuzar or Sugar Loaf from the apartment.


So back to my visit to the Cristo. When I arrived at the building to buy my ticket to take the train up to the Cristo I was greeted with a very long line. I guess I was not the only person with the idea of touring Rio in January. There were tourists from all over the world. The truth is the months January and February are peak tourist months in Rio because it is summer time in Brazil so school is out. I had to wait in line for a 40 minutes just to buy my ticket and then waited another 40 minutes to actually get on the train.

The train was one of red old school trains, so cute. The trains are actually the original trains used to reach the statue when it originally constructed in the early 1900's. As you can imagine the trains were pretty slow but the ride up was breath taking. The Cristo is on a hill and the train tracks cut through the bush and forestry on the sides of the hill. Along the tracks were gardens and fruit trees typical of Brazil.


The train stopped at the base of the stand of the statue so we had to climb several more feet to actually get to the Cristo. The more I climbed the bigger the statue became. Let´s just say that describing the statue as huge is an understatement. It is ginormous. To take a full picture of the statue you have go some distance away from it.

~Just got off the train and I'm making my way to the top~



~I made it to the base of the Cristo~

The view of Rio from the Cristo is breathtaking. You can practically see all of the city by walking around the base of the statue. The only bad thing about the trip was the fact that the day was overcast. I was able to see the city but not very clearly. It was still totally worth it though.




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