Rio De Janeiro - March 17th

With time in Rio already running out we have to bite the bullet and do one of the famous sights today, either the Sugar Loaf or the statue of Jesus.  But it still looks a bit cloudy, and again we can’t see Jesus from the Lagoa, a big lake just behind Ipanema beach which is used for rowing and sailing.  So after a bit more wandering around there (and seeing how full the beach really gets on a weekend day) we decide to head off to the Sugar Loaf.  Between slow starts, wandering around Ipanema, and window shopping, we don’t really leave for it until about 2pm.  So when we get there the hour long queue to get tickets is quite frustrating.

For those that haven’t seen Moonraker (or who didn’t watch James Bond fight Jaws and think I have to go there like I did) the only way to get up to the top of the Sugar Loaf Mountain is to get a cable car up.  There are two stages, the first 200m are up to the Morro de Urca, and the second 200m is up to the Pao de Acucar itself.  Luckily once the tickets are bought there is no waiting time and you are on your way up.  The ride itself is pretty smooth, and not too scary.  Although you are up in the air, the cabin is the size of a small plane, and as packed as a Ryanair one (about 80 people) so it feels safe.  The only time you can even sense how fast you are going is when you pass the other cabin on the way down, it does fly past.

The first stage landing is pretty impressive in itself, with a museum, some shops and restaurants, and a helipad.  And the views are impressive.  Even if there wasn’t another stage you would come up for the pictures.  We stay there for a while, and then continue on to the top.  There is a bit of cloud around, and as we were queuing the top did go from being clear to being completely obscured by cloud a few times, but luckily when we get there it is mostly clear. 

The views are stunning, not only of Rio but of Guanabara Bay on which it stands, and Niteroi which is across the bay.  And you can see planes taking off from the airport coming right towards you, and ships leaving the port.  Needless to say we stay a while up here taking photos (and exploring, there are a lot of paths around the summit, I thought it was just going to be a small viewing platform), before we head back down.  This is where we end up back in queues, we didn’t have any to get on the cable cars going up, but they were there for going back down.

Overall the experience with the queues took us the full afternoon, so we just head back home, and in the evening we try to celebrate St Patrick’s day by going to the local Irish pub, which as luck would have it is only a few blocks away from our apartment.  However it was packed full of rowdy expats and it was charging a cover charge, and so we decided not to go in.  I should have guessed it would be like this.  Instead we do something quite Brazilian, we have Feijoada on Saturday.   This is a bean and pork stew, and is a tradition in Brazil on a Saturday.  The most famous place to have it in Rio is even closer to our apartment, so we go there.  The meal is good, but it is a bit pricey, like so much of Rio.