Magical Rio de Janiero (Part 1)

It's BRAZIL time! We have been planning and preparing for almost a year now, and it was finally time to go! We left on Monday the 29th of May, which was also Memorial Day in the U.S. I was worried that the lines at the airport would be really long, so we left early, but we ended up having plenty of time. I have TSA pre-check, and luckily, that meant that the boys got to do the pre-check as well. That saved us a lot of time and energy in the security line. Everything was going smoothly until we boarded our flight to Houston. After we were all seated and ready to go, the flight attendant got on the intercom and said that they were fixing one of the lavatories, and we would be delayed. What was originally only supposed to be a 20 minute delay stretched out into a 1.5 hour delay. I was starting to get really stressed because our connecting flight to Rio de Janiero started boarding at 7:10, and that is about when our flight was supposed to arrive. I talked to some customer care agents to make sure they would wait for us if we were late, and then said lots of prayers. I had no idea what we would do if we missed the flight. 

Thankfully, we landed at 7:05, grabbed our stuff and hurried through the Houston airport. Our gates were mercifully close together, but we were still huffing and out of breath when we arrived. They had already begun boarding for Rio, so we got straight into line. Mom and Dad Hill were there trying to get on the flight as standby passengers (Aaron works for Southwest, so they get to travel nearly free). Mom gave us a bag of snacks since we hadn't had time to eat any dinner, and we boarded the flight. It was a bit chaotic, but we made it on. (Mom and Dad got bumped, but there was a flight leaving at the same time for Sao Paulo, so they just hopped on that one and met us in Rio a few hours later.)

The United Airlines flight was pretty uneventful. They served us dinner, which was actually delicious (Indian butter chicken), and then we all attempted to sleep during the red eye. Hyrum and Andrew slept pretty well, I got a 3-4 hours, but poor Christian didn't manage much at all. He was a good sport though and didn't complain.

 

When we landed in Rio, Jonathon was there to great us when we came out of customs. He was definitely a sight for sore, tired eyes. He immediately jumped right in and got us a taxi to our hotel. He spoke so naturally and easily. I loved seeing him so confident in a setting that was so different than our usual one. There are no big vehicles in Brazil. They don't have minivans or SUV's, so getting a car big enough to transport all of us and our luggage took some effort. We finally found someone that had a small backseat that could be flipped up to provide extra seating. Hyrum sat in the very back with some of the luggage, and the rest of it all went on top of the roof rack. It was amusing to see all of us crammed into that tiny car. 

Driving through the streets of Rio was insane, and I am so glad that we decided to use Ubers and not rent a car. Poor Jonathon would have been a wreck trying to drive here, and there is no way on earth I would have done it. The taxi driver made his own lane, squeezed into spots barely big enough to fit, and dodged people and cars like a pro. Jonathon said that anyone who gets a license in Brazil has to go through way more extensive training than we do in the United States. It was basically like stunt car driving, and I am grateful we made it safe and sound.

After arriving at our hotel (the South American Copacabana), Christian, Andrew, and I crashed for a nap while Jonathon and Hyrum went exploring.  The hotel itself was decent, though definitely not what I expected of a 4 star hotel. It had a small pool and a nice lobby and restaurant area, but the rooms were very small, old, and kind of run-down. We had three beds in our room, and they ranged from rock hard to slightly soft. Luckily, we were very tired, so we all fell asleep quickly. After a couple of hours we were good for the rest of the day. 

We started by walking down to Copacabana Beach, which was about 3 blocks from our hotel. The beach was almost completely deserted. It is winter in Brazil, so the natives don't think of it as beach weather, but we loved it! The water was warm, the sand was soft, and the scenery was stunning! 

I honestly couldn't have asked for more. Originally, I was nervous about going to the beach too much because I have seen pictures where it is packed with a lot of questionable bathing suits, but we didn't have any of those problems. The day was also slightly overcast, which was lovely for us fair-skinned folk. We found a little outdoor restaurant along the boardwalk and sat and ate our yummy Brazilian meal consisting of beans, rice, french fries (papas fritas), grilled meats (churrasco), shrimp (camarao), guarana (soda), and a manga vitamina (mango smoothie). A little band played music for us while we were eating and invited Hyrum to join in on the tambourine. Everything was so delicious, and the ambiance with the ocean so close was magical! 

After eating, we walked down the beach a little way and stumbled upon a cool sand/rock sculpture where we got a family picture. The artist was sitting nearby with a tip jar, so we gladly gave a few reis for the picture. 

Then we headed back to the hotel to wait for Jonathon's parents to arrive. We let the boys go swimming while we waited. The pool was on the rooftop of the hotel, so we had a really cool view. On one side we could see large modern buildings, and on the other side was a favela (a Brazilian slum). That is Brazil in a nutshell. Neighborhoods here are not like they are in the United States. Everywhere you look, there are favelas backing right up to high-rise buildings. It makes for a very interesting landscape. The favela we could see from the rooftop had a cool elevator that went right up the side of the mountain. Favelas have a reputation for being dangerous, so we were told not to go in them, but they made for very cool pictures with all of the different sizes, colors, and types of buildings.

Mom and Dad Hill finally arrived after having a hard time figuring out how to use the Uber app. We loved our lunch on the beach so much that we took them back to the same place for dinner. Again, the beach was deserted. It gets dark really early in Brazil during the winter, but there were lights on the beach, which made it so beautiful and serene. We ate another yummy meal and then spent some time walking and playing on the beach. 

The next morning, we got up and ate the free breakfast at the hotel. Hyrum discovered how much he loves drinkable yogurt. He guzzled that stuff. There was also a good selection of breads, fruit, eggs, meat and cheese, some cereal, juices, and even cake. (Yes, we tried the cake for breakfast, and they were moist and delicious!)

We arranged for a city tour with a tour company that we found on Viator. I typically like to plan and do my own trips, but in such a foreign place, I thought it would be better to do it this way, and it was so nice to not worry about anything. The company picked us all up, drove us to all the stops, paid for our tickets, provided a lunch, and told us all about the area as we were driving. It was very low stress and was actually pretty inexpensive, about $78 per person. I thought it was a great deal!

Our first stop was Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer statue). It was the stop I was most looking forward to of the whole trip. We wound our way through the Tijuca forest up to the top of Corcovado mountain. From the visitor's center, we had to take a separate van to get to the top. They let us off and said we could either take the elevator or walk up the 240 steps. The view was so nice that we all decided to hike up the stairs. 

The statue was huge, hence the reason you can see it from all over Rio. It was so tall that it was hard to get a good picture, but we managed to get some by laying on the ground for the right angle. Some interesting things about the statue: there are nail prints in His hands, there is a heart carved on His chest, names of each worker that helped with the statue are carved on the backs of the soapstone tiles that were used to cover the concrete statue, and there is even a little chapel at the base of the statue that you can go into and take a quiet moment. It was definitely a once in a lifetime moment that I will never forget.

Just as we finished taking pictures, a light rain began to fall. It was so light that we weren't bothered. Not only is it winter in Brazil, but it is also the rainy season. You will notice the overcast skies in all the pictures. It actually feels very merciful for us so we aren't constantly sunburned. As we were making our way down the steps, we saw a big group of people ahead on the trail. They were pointing, and we noticed a monkey sitting in the tree ahead. Someone pulled out a banana, and the money came down, took the banana, and ate it while we were there watching. Hyrum is obsessed with monkeys, so this was a special treat for him. It was his dream to see a monkey while we were in Brazil, so the kid was in heaven. He got a picture standing right in front of the monkey. It was a big check mark on his list. 

Our next stop after Cristo Redentor was Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão do Açucar). The geography of Rio is so unique because of all the individual "mountains" that rise straight out of the ocean. I have never seen anything like it before. This specific mountain got its name because of its unique shape that looks like a pile (or loaf) of sugar. Wikipedia says, "The name Sugarloaf was coined in the 16th century by the Portuguese during the heyday of sugarcane trade in Brazil. Blocks of sugar were placed in conical molds made of clay to be transported on ships. The form of the peak reminded them of the well-known sugarloaf shape, and the nickname has since been extended to be a general descriptor for formations of the kind." 

There are actually two very large mountains in the bay, Morro do Urca (named after the Urca neighborhood) and Pão do Açucar. They are connected by cable cars that run back and forth. We got our tickets and hopped on the first car. The ride up was fairly quick and surprisingly smooth. Each car can hold up to 65 people, but there were only about 20 of us. Our tour guide showed us around the first hill for a while and let us check out the shops and the view. Then we were free to go to the top of the second one at our leisure. We made a time-lapse video of our trip up, which turned out pretty cool. The views of Rio and the ocean were absolutely stunning from every spot on the mountain. 

There were also really fun, colorful walls that felt very Brazilian to me, so we stopped and got some fun pictures of everyone. They are some of my favorites of the whole trip! In the U.S. we just don't decorate with the colors and vibrancy that Latin Americans do.

As we were finishing up, it really started to rain hard. We got back into the cable car and headed down to our tour van. We were so happy to have finished the most important visits before the rain. The rest of the things scheduled for the day were just added bonuses, and I knew it would be fine doing them in the rain.

Our next stop was lunch at a Brazilian buffet in the Botafogo neighborhood. There were tons of really interesting and delicious foods. We tried some of everything including: coxhinas, pastels, farofa, beans and rice, meats, stroganoff, pão do queijo, panquecas, grilled pineapple, and so much more. It was such a fun way to taste a wide range of food. 

Once everyone was finished we headed to Maracanã Stadium, the most famous soccer stadium in the world. It has hosted a few World Cups and the Olympics. We didn't get to go in, so we just took pictures out in front. We aren't huge soccer fans, so it was ok that it was a short stop. We then stopped at Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro. It is a pyramid-shaped Roman Catholic cathedral in the heart of Rio. There were some beautiful stained-glass windows inside that, along with it's shape, made it very distinctive.

Our last stop was Escadaría Selarón (the Selarón Steps), a series of tiled steps created by Jorge Selarón as his "tribute to the Brazilian people." The steps straddle the Lapa and Santa Teresa neighborhoods. The neighborhood at the top was the entrance to a favela, so we didn't go all the way to the top, but Jonathon's dad wasn't worried and made the whole trek. The tiles are very unique and colorful, and many have been donated from countries all over the world. 

By that time, it was nearly 5:00 in the afternoon, and it was starting to get dark, so we headed back to our hotel. (It was surprising to find out that it gets dark so early in Brazil, both because it is winter here and because it is on the very edge of the timezone.) It was such a great day! I felt like I saw everything that I wanted to see in Rio and got a really good feel for the city. At first I was bummed that it rained the second half of the day, but looking back, it was actually good because if we hadn't had a tour guide and van to take us everywhere, we would have been sitting in our hotel room wasting our limited time in Rio. It ended up working out great!