“Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so that the world can see you”.
Unknown
Easter Sunday greeting to you, my family and friends, fans, followers of my blog wherever in the world you are.
What a beautiful time to visit the iconic Cristo Redentor in Rio da Janeiro. It was Easter time a few years ago.
Wishing you and yours a very Happy Easter today. I hope that it has been peaceful or energetic, as you wish, but a day of blessings to you and your family. Hugs and Butterflies!
This visit
We were relaxed, enjoying the warmth of the country’s people and weather. Here on a cloudy day in the UK with 7 degrees in the shade, its lovely to have positive thoughts about warm weather and a fabulous holiday. Although to be fair, we had variable weather in Rio – cloudy, warm, cool and rainy too. In fact when we visited Cristo, it was extremely windy up top – it reminded me very much, in many ways, of being a-top of Table Mountain in Cape Town.
Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer. So pleased we made it there. We almost didn’t! We had plans to visit the south of Brazil and not venture further north than Sao Paulo. But, arm twisted, “why would you come all this way and not visit Rio,” he said! So, thinking about things properly, how can you visit Brazil and not go to the famous Rio with its popular beaches at Copacabana and Ipaenema, and visit The Statue! Yes, our friend was right! It’s like the Taj Mahal in India, the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe, the Pyramids in Egypt. I’ve mixed the Seven Wonders of the World, on purpose. The Cristo Redentor is compared with the Colossus of Rhodes take a look at no. 7 on this list from The Telegraph.
Like all these most marvellous places, it is only when you are actually there that you feel the majestic atmosphere, the astounding engineering, the fantastic aura of being in the present.
Our Conceirge at the hotel told us to leave as early as possible and catch a coach or a taxi when we made enquiries about visiting. However, as our daughter was with us, she had other plans. She prefers to ‘find her way around’ so we opted for a local transport bus directly associated with the Park Tijuca where Christ the Redeemer is situated. The terminus was close to our hotel, but because it was one of the first buses in the morning, we had to use a machine to buy our tickets … took a bit of discussions with people there – my broken Portuguese and my daughters better Spanish, and we were all set to go! The bus took us right up the mountain where we boarded a cable car to the top and walked some stairs. All very well signed and smooth sailing.
Amusement on the way up
As we climbed the stairs towards the statue, my heart was pounding. I’d watched out for the iconic symbol of Rio as we arrived in the City the late afternoon before, by road. It was a glorious sunny day and we could see the Redeemer in the distance, sat high on a granite rock, and swaythed in haze of the sunlight. We didn’t get a clear first view, so I was excited to soon be up close.
On the way, we were met with some pretty signage … telling us (or children ?) not to step on the grass.
It was Love at First Sight
Yes, it was. The advice from our Conceirge to arrive early was absolutely the right advice. My! What a sight as we started our walk up many stairs towards the magnificent statue. The sun streamed straight towards us and shone through the statue of Cristo Redentor, his back to us. What a sight! Photos do not do justice to this type of place. To this sight. The atmosphere adds to the tension. The sun. The wind. The smells. The buzzing of bodies. The sounds of people of different languages. We were very fortunate to have a group of Navy (I think they were) singing their way to the top. They would stop every now and again and pray, and then continue their climb and their songs. Barritones. Sapronos and in-between. What emotional sounds on the wind. There is a little chapel, where marriages are also consecrated, and where you can spend a while to be with your thoughts. That’s where this group of sailors were headed, and we heard them later.
The Magnicent Statue – Cristo Redentor
By the time we reached the top I was quite excited, exhilirated, and awe-inspired by the massive, really massive creation that we had come to see. My thoughts turned to the designer, engineers, and everyone who must have been involved in commissioning Rio de Janeiro’s landmark. As with anything with such an impact on the environment, on the country and the culture, this was not an overnight decision. In fact the original idea was dropped and only later came into being.
Says Wikipedia : ” Vincentian priest, Pedro Maria Boss, first suggested placing a Christian monument on Mount Corcovado in the mid 1850s to honor Princess Isabel, princess regent of Brazil and the daughter of Emperor Pedro II, however the project died due to lack of support. In 1889 the country became a republic, and due to the separation of church and state, the idea of the statue was dismissed. In 1920 the second proposal was put forward by The Catholic Circle of Rio. The designs considered for the “Statue of the Christ” included a representation of the Christian cross, a statue of Jesus with a globe in his hands, and a pedestal symbolizing the world. The statue of Christ the Redeemer with open arms, a symbol of peace, was chosen. Local engineer Heitor da Silva Costa designed the statue. French sculptor Paul Landowskicreated the work.[10]
What a beautiful blue sky we had above his head, in the background, with very little cumulus nimbus at just that moment in time.
To photograph the statue in full in all its splendour we have to stand far, far away, or lie down on the photo mats that are provided so you can take your shot looking up to the sky, as my second photo here!
The Scenic View
Once we had our fill of the magnificently engineered rock that is Christ the Redeemer, it was time to appreciate and enjoy the view. To take photos for our memory books. To just spend time enjoying the views and being with each other. The space is not massive a-top the big rock so we were very pleased that we made the early start as more and more people started arriving on tourist coaches and by public transport. The place was soon heaving, many people standing in queues.
The views over Rio and beyond are spectacular from high above the famous City. As I mentioned, it was a windy day and I do love the photo of my daughter’s hair blowing in the wind!
And so it ends
We visited the shops up there. Yes, it is quite commercial. There is also an extensive exhibition area where we spent a lot of time. It was well worth learning about the history of the place, and that’s for another time.
We also took a walk in Park Tijuca … with unusual and some very recognisable flora and funa … again, for another time.
In the meantime, thank you for wandering along this way and hope that you will follow some of our further adventures in Brazil, over time, as well as other places!
Travelling to places near or far. This blog will trace our journeys, our travels. Will report the good and the not so good. Sharing photos and experiences that may be useful to you at some time in the future. Just saying … the posts may be written after the event! I would love you to accompany me from time to time on my travels to places near and far.
Please follow my blog at www.cecilyswritings.wordpress.com and look forward to hearing from you. Let me know if you have a travel blog I can follow too. This blog can be translated into any language.
Written by Cecily on 30 March 2018 and published on Easter Sunday 1 April 2018
Copyright (C) Cecily Lalloo 2018
Visit took place on 7 April 2017 – all photos were taken in 2017 not 2018 as I have marked them up ๐
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