After such an amazing sail into Rio it was time to begin our Rio adventure… Ann, Cathy and I connected with our guide Tatiane and headed across the city to the airport for our helicopter ride over the city. Carnival is in full swing...the traffic was bumper to bumper...we were skeptical about making it to the airport on time.... We made it! Today, we were blessed by the weather gods. The best way to see Rio is from the sky...the city is simply sublime, with its green cliffs and islands against the blue of the Ocean. The city sprawls for miles with many distinct neighborhoods each individually unique and beaches that stretch forever. Probably the most iconic site is the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer, one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. We circled Corcovado Mountain with the iconic Christ the Redeemer twice before seeing Sugar Loaf, Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, Favelas, Copacabana and Ipanema beaches...the flight was really really good. After the flight we went to Christ the Redeemer, we took the train to the top of Corcovado Mountain for amazing views of the city and beaches below. For another scenic perspective of Rio de Janeiro, we took the cable cars to the nearly 1,300-foot summit of Sugarloaf Mountain...by the time we got to the top of Sugarloaf the clouds had rolled in and we were not able to see anything, thankful that we saw it from the air. Due to carnival traffic congestion and street closures we were limited as to where we could go but did get to see the Selaron staircase... Chilean artist Jorge Selaron landed in Rio de Janeiro's Lapa neighborhood in the 1980s. For fun, he started decorating the gritty staircase outside of his home with tiles and pieces of porcelain he found in the trash. Within 10 years, the 215 steps were covered with more than 2,000 tiles...Carnival was being celebrated on the staircase and the rain did not hamper the revelry...this area had great wall art and photo opportunities. Because of street closures we were not able to be dropped at the cruise terminal but this was worth the walk among the carnival partiers. It was a great day in Rio with more to come tomorrow.
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