Christ the Redeemer

This morning we headed up to see the Christ the Redeemer statue that can be seen from anywhere in Rio.

The statue was constructed between 1922 and 1931 and is 130 feet tall. It has been named as one of the Seven Wonders of the Modern World. Most recently you have probably seen it toppling over in the sci-fi movie "2012."

We took a cab about 3/4 of the way up, followed by a short walk, and then several flights of stairs (232 steps). There are enough landings to catch your breath and take some spectacular photos of Rio.

There are lots of visitors and it's pretty crowded at the top. Lots of people lie down on the tile patio at the base of the statue and take photos straight up. A little weirder are the people who pose with their arms outstretched like the statue...or you can hold your hand out flat and get a photo that looks like the statue is sitting on your palm...(hey, I'm just sayin')!

We heard some American accents at the top ("Wish I had a Dr. Pepper...") so we said hello and discovered that the people were a group of about 100 Baptists from Texarkana who were on respite on the way home from doing missionary work with one of the Baptist churches in Belo!!

After lunch at Subway (we're running out of money...Rio is costing a little more than we expected, mostly for food and transportation) we went to the beach to sit in the sun and wade or swim. It's winter in Brazil, so the Atlantic is cool - but not cold - and the sun is still hot when you're out in it (the air temperature is around 75 degrees, though). We rented a couple of umbrellas (in case my dermatologist is reading this...) and sat in the shade, did a little wading, talked to a fisherman and looked at the things vendors were selling...the sand is very clean - no seaweed or litter anywhere - we "crashed" the Copacabana Beach (in front of the exclusive hotels), and we're sure we saw "somebody who looked like Madonna" and maybe even "somebody who looked like Beyonce." Lots of bikinis on beautiful and ordinary women...not as many Speedos as we expected (thankfully!) ~ this is school vacation time in Brazil and there were lots of families doing the typical beach holiday.

Our current favorite beach food is churros - a fried tube of dough (like a crispy donut) that is filled either with either caramel or chocolate creme. You buy them from street vendors for about $1.25. Somehow I don't think this is what the girls in the bikinis are eating!

I'm still a Belo fan, but it's nice to have an opportunity to actually see a place I've only heard about.

Heading home tomorrow afternoon - Rio to Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo to DFW (where we go through customs), and then about a 5 hour layover for me in Dallas before heading to Amarillo (I messed up my return flight - used the wrong Brazil itinerary before it was changed - so it will cost to switch to an earlier flight...oh well!)

See you soon! Can't wait!