Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer)

(Katherine) This morning we stopped by a café with WiFi to get back “on the grid” for a bit, Caffè Leone, and figured out the final details for our major sightseeing goal for the day - Corcovado, otherwise known as Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). For anyone not familiar with this site, this is a HUGE statue of Jesus, located in Tijuca National Park on a hill that is 710 meters high, and he overlooks downtown Rio. The statue stands 30 meters high from a platform of 8 meters and includes a chapel to honor their Lady of Aparecida, patron saint of Brazil.

We had researched how to take the subway line there from Ipanema, the newest station on their line (probably the most pristine public transit system I have ever seen) for a cost of only $2.70 real. Once we got off at the appropriate stop, we hopped on a bus for another $2.30 real to head to the train station where we planned to have a soothing 20 minute train ride up the hill. We knew from reading TripAdvisor that the train had been shut down due to floods in early June, but we were hopeful that it was repaired. We were wrong. Instead, we had a flurry of people dressed in green shirt telling us there was no train, but if we paid them $50 real they would provide a transit to the top and back and our ticket for admission. We gave into the high pressure situation, but I think it turned out to be our best option since we were going to have to pay about $25 real each anyway just for admission, plus an additional $32 for the train (thank you to Jill for our Honeyfund gift towards admission!)

After making multiple switchbacks through the forest on our journey up the mountain, we were finally able to get some views of the city and appreciate the height of this mountain. Once we got to the top, we snapped some pictures of the city below for a few minutes, then looked up towards the platform and captured our first glimpse of the back of the statue. The magnitude of this structure was finally apparent, as was the reason that it is one of the most visited monuments in the world.

We started to walk up the back side of the stairs which brings you up the backside of the statue. We were warned about the stairs being treacherous, but they really aren’t that bad - maybe four or five flights in total. Once you reach the top of the platform and walk around to the front, you are immediately greeted by His Holiness, with his arms stretched out in welcome. I’m not a particularly religious person, but there is definitely a spiritual presence in the air, even among all of the tourists posing for photos with their arms outstretched. We were also very lucky that clouds had just moved in which provided for an easier view of Christ’s face and a beautiful backdrop for photos.

We were also quite fortunate that one of the park guards noticed us struggling to take photos of ourselves, grabbed our camera and instructed us to pose for three “money shots” in different locations. I surmised that since he is here all day, he has decided to entertain himself by acting as a photographer for the tourists - a kind thing to do. I captured several photos of the statue as the clouds moved into different positions around his head, but we mainly tried to take in the 360 views of the city and the awe associated with the size of this structure.

As the sun began to dip low in the sky and the clouds turned dark, we made our way down to the bus pick up. Suddenly everyone in the queue started gathering around a tree, and upon further investigation saw the same adorable monkeys that we had seen at Sugar Loaf! However, these little guys were aggressive beggars, and I even saw one of the tourists give a monkey a chip (not advised!) They were adorable to watch though, and made standing in line much more enjoyable.

Once we made it down the mountain, we hopped on a local bus, the 584, which took us directly back to Ipanema for a cost of only $2.50 real, which inadvertently gave us a 45 minute tour of the city. After a bite at home, we decided to venture out to Leblon for some cocktails. Once we came to the center, we found what would probably be considered the “heart” of the nightlife. But instead of a bar scene, it’s really just a series of restaurants where people appear to have kept their tables after dinner, and additional people seem to have gathered all around, even spilling out on to the streets. There weren’t exactly bar counters to approach for a drink, and there didn’t seem to be seats accessible at most of the places we passed. When we were in Buenos Aires, most places felt much more conducive to mingling, but we didn’t get the same impression here. Although the area was very cute, we decided to head home and enjoy a rum and Coke at our apartment and just reflect on a magnificent day of sightseeing.