Another rainy morning, so not a great time for us to go to see Christ the Redeemer or Sugarloaf Mountain. Greg dragged out his raincoat and went to check out a few local shops, then went for a wet trudge along Copacabana Beach with his new toy – a not-GoPro camera and a ‘selfie stick’.
We decided to have a go at navigating the public transport system to go into central Rio and see what we could find. There’s a metro station just a block away from the apartment and we managed to buy rechargable cards without any hassles. The trains are frequent, most are airconditioned, they are clean and give good information on where they are going … even down to a green light above whichever door will be opening at the next platform. We wandered along a mall with an open-air market and reached the magnificent Municipal Theatre, with shiny gold trim and lovely stonework. We found lunch at a Brazilian/Kuwaiti restaurant nearby … huge serves, friendly waiter, out of the rain. It’s funny how many things here remind us of our time in Portugal. Cultural similarities, I guess … and bloody cobblestones everywhere here, just like in Portugal!
The National Library is currently shrouded in scaffolding and most of it is fenced off for renovations and an extension, but we found the main entrance and popped inside for a quick look. Magnificent! A tramline is being built just outside, for moving hordes of people around during the Olympics. It looks like it has a long way to go to completion, but I guess they know what they’re doing and it will all be good to go by August.
We found the Metropolican Cathedral of San Sebastian, which looks a lot like a modern-day Mayan Pyramid, with 4 stunning full-length stained glass panels around the interior. Built in the 1960s and ’70s, I noticed a few commemorative plaques near the main entrance mentioning Pope John Paul II, and one which also mentioned Mother Theresa.
No idea what they said, my Brazilian really only extends to telling shop assistants that I don’t have their supermarket’s reward card and saying ‘Thank you’, and even then I get it wrong half the time because it’s gender-based. A smile always helps. We’ve noticed that everyone here is friendly, helpful and seems happy.
The weather had cleared by mid-afternoon, but we are still not quite in the local time zone … okay, we’re extremely jet-lagged, so we opted for a short nap over trying to get to either Sugarloaf Mtn or Christ the Redeemer …and woke up 5 hours later! I’m sure we’ll be in the right time zone within a few days, probably around the time we head to Chile and have to adjust to being another hour behind.
It’s raining again this morning, but hopefully it will clear again this afternoon.
Shame about the rain. That church is spectacular and love the coke bike!
I don’t mind the rain – coming from Sydney where it’s frequent, and now living in Adelaide where it’s not, I miss it. xx
Enjoying your trip
thanks Brenda, so are we! xx
Wonderful pictures Greg. Do you have to pay to go into the Cathedral? as we now have to in the UK . Hope it stops raining soon . Be very careful of all those cobbled streets . A complete nightmare for me with back problems. x
We didn’t have to pay to get into the cathedral, but only the front part …. or is it the back? The bit at the other end from the altar was open, the rest was blocked off. As it had been San Sebastian Day the previous day, I think there were probably some major services there then.
Oh yes, cobblestones – we hated them when we walked in Portugal, and whenever it rains here, there are puddles everywhere as the cobbled paths are so uneven. xx
Got the drift on WILLUNGA cameras Greg Christ the Redeemer some statute wonder if our Buddha over on the hill from us is as big. stain glass in Cathedral must have been some site did see in U.S.A. but plane glass glad you went to the other side of town where the other half lives farewelled the cyclist on the Tour Down Under passed our place yesterday thought we would have two guessed but ended up with nine good weather great weather for the finish of the race today.
Hi Ron, we thought of you yesterday and wondered how the Tour went. Glad the weather was good for it. We’re hopping on a train and taking it to the end of the line today, just to see what’s there xx
Keep your beer bottles for a refund when you get home 🙂
Ha! You haven’t seen the amount of stuff we travel with! Beer bottles would just add to the confusion.
Happy Australia Day! xx