Rio de Janeiro Tourist Day - Cristo Redentor and Pão de Açúcar

I was in Rio on business for the week. On the day of the arrival, my host took a group of us on a site seeing tour of the city, featuring the famous Christ statue, Christ the Redeemer, and the iconic Sugarloaf Mountain. Our driver picked up at our hotel on the Avenida Das Americas and the first stop was Cristo Redentor.

Cristo Redentor. The statue is at the base of the Corcovado Mountain. Our driver took us there; we then transfered to a van service that goes up the mountain. The van stops at a scenic lookout called Mirante Dona Marta Hill; we stop for pictures, then continue our ride up the mountain. But then (surprise?), right below the summit, we switch to a park service van, and ride the rest of the way to the top.

Of course, we aren’t really at the summit, we then needed to walk more than 130 steps (in hind site, I should have taken the elevator). Once at the top, we see the beautiful view of Rio de Janeiro. On our visit, the priest of the chapel, named after the Brazil patron saint Nossa Senhora Aparecida / Our Lady of the Apparition, was giving a blessing. There were lots of people, and if you were patient enough you can get your picture taken infront of the statue.

Sugarloaf. After we wound our way down the mountain, our original driver took us to the cable car station to ride up the Sugarload Mountain. The ride is in two steps, first up to Urca Hill / Morro da Urca. We stopped for awhile to take pictures — a really nice view. Then we got on a second cable car and road the rest of the way up Sugarloaf. Again, a beatiful view, but even more breathtaking because we arrived right a sunset. The sun set right behind Corcovado Mountain, with the Christ statue nicely outlined in the orange sky.