Rio de Janeiro - The City of God

The View from Christ the Redeemer

Jimmy Hill

As the only city on the planet to boast both a natural and man-made wonder of the world we were brimming with excitement as we entered the city for the 2016 Olympics.  Sitting on the edge of the majestic Guanabara Bay and surrounded by towering pinnacles the backdrop to the city is unmistakable as Christ the Redeemer watches over the city below.  Unfortunately none of this was visible when we arrived into the central bus station in drizzle as low cloud obscured the surrounding area!  This came almost as a blessing though as the weather meant that we could do a few jobs for Vietnam without distractions.  The most tedious of these was the arduous task of shopping for an entire new wardrobe for work as we will arrive less than 24 hours before starting a new job.  Thankfully we managed to get this out of the way with only my disbelief at having to pay a premium to not dress like a teenage girl in skinny trousers and we were rewarded with bright skies the following day to start exploring.

Rio de Janeiro Cathedral

Escadaria Selaron

Initially founded by the French in January and mistakenly named after a river that turned out to be a bay the city is as muddled as its name.  The 20km sprawl houses 14 million people in an extraordinary geographical puzzle. We therefore decided to try and understand a little about the city and get our bearings by taking a walking tour of the downtown area. Stepping off of the subway it quickly became apparent that the centre is in need of a little investment with its decaying buildings and pavements but it still held a certain charm, largely thanks to our enthusiastic guide Natalia.   As we roamed the narrow colonial streets we arrived at the former ‘palace’ (think more a row of terraced houses than Versailles) that formerly belonged to the Portuguese royal family who fled from Napoleon to live in Brazil.  A few streets away Rio's cathedral turned out to be a surprise as we discovered a strange cone shaped building with incredible stain glass windows running up the full height of the building.  Although the theatre and library were the only buildings of real beauty the city was intriguing and we arrived in the bohemian neighbourhood of Lapa to find the Escadaria Selaron, a work of art created by a Chilean artist for the Brazilian people.  Initially deciding to place blue, green and yellow tiles on the dilapidated steps outside of his home to improve the neighbourhood he quickly got carried away.  Eventually his project covered the entire flight of steps (nearly 200) with hand painted tiles whilst others were donated from people around the world representing their nation.  It seemed like a great place to get into the Olympic spirit as people arriving for the games from around the world searched the steps for their nations tile.

Looking out towards Sugar Loaf Mountain from Botofogo 

Rio de Janeiro from Corcovado Mountain

Wanting to get in as much sightseeing as we could before the opening ceremony we woke up early and headed up the iconic Corcovado Mountain to visit our fifth wonder of the world, the statue of Christ the Redeemer.  As with most Latino organisation we ended up needing to take a taxi and three separate buses to reach the top of the 700m granite peak (Latinos run on a sometimes infuriating and often wonderfully relaxed attitude to planning) but we somehow reached the final checkpoint in reasonable time.  As we ascended the ‘escalator to heaven’ under the colossal statue I suddenly realised what all the fuss about Rio was about.  In the hectic streets of the city it was impossible to appreciate the breath taking geography of the area but looking out across the city at Copacabana beach, Guanabara Bay and Sugarloaf Mountain it all made sense.  Nobody seemed to pay much attention to the 100ft tall statue of Jesus behind as people jostled on the narrow platform to get lost in the panoramic.  We arrived just after the Refugee Olympic Team and so there were plenty of officials around and the crowds gradually grew thicker and as the temperature soared we were relieved to start making our way down the steep road back to Botofogo.

Escalator to Heaven

Copacabana

The morning after the Olympic opening ceremony we collected our tickets for our events and headed back to our new apartment for the week in Copacabana ready to experience the iconic beach.  With the incredible Olympic Volley Ball stadium occupying one end and thousands of spectators enjoying the atmosphere we took a walk along the sand.  The beach is everything that you read about giving you an overload of visual stimulation (not all of it wanted!) with people of all shapes and sizes sporting limited amounts of material.  Negotiating the football, volleyball and keepy-up sessions that covered the beach were ‘waiters’ shouting CAIPIRINHA as the powerful waves came crashing down along the length of the surprisingly clean beach.  What Christ makes of the ‘City of God’ from his lofty position above the city is anyone’s guess but the intoxicating nature of the city and the energy of the cariocas (people of Rio) make Rio de Janeiro and unforgettable experience and a real highlight of our trip.