Gallivanting Grandma

Friday – September 23, 2016

Today was our last day in fabulous Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.  My travel buddy, Linda, and I were scheduled to fly out of Santos Dumont Airport tonight so we had the whole day to enjoy warm sunshine and fabulous beaches.

We planned to walk the length of Copacabana Beach to Ipanema Beach as we had on our first rainy day in Rio.  What a difference with a lot of sunshine!

The sun brought out surfers, sun-worshippers, families, swimmers, volleyball players, skaters, and many vendors.

We walked more than two miles to the park at the beginning of Ipanema Beach.  Linda and I wondered if the statue below was a tribute to The Girl From Ipanema.

It was still early when we returned to our beach near the hotel, so we stopped into a beachside restaurant for cold drinks and guacamole & chips.  We watched an exciting game of “foot volley” on the sand which was a combination of beach volleyball and soccer.

It had been a great week!  Linda and I had an amazing time in Rio and Foz do Iguazu, Brazil.  There was so much to see and do.  We met many wonderful friendly people who were incredibly proud of their fabulous country, Brazil.

After an overnight flight from Sao Paulo Brazil to Fort Lauderdale Florida, I arrived home to New York City and was treated to an arial view from the plane before it landed in La Guardia airport.  It was a great way to end this adventure!

Thursday –  September 22, 2016

The sky continued to clear giving us a pleasant spring morning in Rio de Janeiro.  It was a perfect day to visit the enormous statue of Christ the Redeemer located on top of Corcovado Mountain.

Access to the summit is via a delightful cog railway ride through the Parque Nacional da Tijuca.  The forest is one of the world’s largest urban tropical rainforests.

It took 20 minutes to climb to the 2,300 foot granite peak of Corcovado, which means “hunchback” in Portuguese, for magnificent views of the city of Rio.

As several parakites soared above the statue, Linda and I marveled at the impressive concrete Cristo Redentor along with hundreds of other tourists.

Finished in 1931, the statue stands 98 feet tall on top of a 26 ft. pedestal.  It was created by French sculptor, Paul Landowski and built by Brazilian engineer, Heitor da Silva Costa. Many tourists tired to take selfies with the statue!

We ate lunch on the terrace under brilliant sunshine with a fabulous view of the city.

After a while, we rode the electric Corcovado railway back down the mountain through the tropical rainforest.

We took a taxi to the center of the city to see Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Candelaria.

Construction of the Baroque-style Candelaria Church began in 1775.  In 1877 it was the tallest building in Rio, but today the church is surrounded by tall modern office buildings which comprise the financial district, Centro.

We walked toward the area which was the ‘2016 Olympic Village’ last month, then we explored the outdoor exhibits of the Naval and Oceanographic Museum.

We discovered the former bank building, the Centro Cultural Banco do Brasil which is now a museum and cultural center.

We enjoyed a free exhibit, ‘The Triumph of Color,’ which included several paintings on loan from the Musee d’Orsay in Paris.  What fun to see Van Gogh, Matisse, and Gauguin in Rio de Janeiro!

We walked through the financial Centro district with narrow streets and tall buildings which reminded me of the Wall Street neighborhood in lower Manhattan.

We passed the famous Confeitaria Colombo. There were two long lines of people waiting to get in.  The Belle Epoque pastry shop was opened in 1894 and is the oldest restaurant in Rio still located in its original building.

Wednesday, September 21, 2016

The sun was slowly breaking out of the clouds so Linda and I decided to take the cable car to the top of Sugarloaf Mountain to see the amazing panorama of Rio de Janeiro.

The enormous city sprawls out between numerous steep mountains, bays, and the Atlantic Ocean.  Rio is spectacular!  It is a WOW!

Marmoset monkeys live in the trees and bushes in Rio and climb along street wires like our squirrels at home:

We rode a public bus to the center of the city to the Lapa neighborhood.

We saw the Carioca Aqueduct also known as the Arcos da Lapa which was finished in 1750 to bring fresh drinking water to the residents of Rio de Janeiro.

Today the structure serves as a tram line which transports passengers between the center of Rio and the Santa Teresa neighborhood on top of a hill.

We walked along and turned up a tiny street, Rua Teatonio Regadas whose walls were decorated with amazing colorful murals.

At the end of the street was the Escadaria Selaron:

These are the world-famous steps which was the work of Chilean-born artist Jorge Selaron.  He renovated the dilapidated steps that ran along the front of his house using colorful tiles, ceramics, and mirrors.

There are 215 steps which are covered in more than 2,000 tiles collect from over 60 countries.  Tourists come from all over the world to see the magnificent stairs.

At the top of the steps is the Santa Teresa neighborhood with more magnificent views of the city.

We returned to our hotel on Copacabana Beach in time for supper and to see the sun set over the mountains.

Linda posing with her Olympic pin trading buddies:

Monday & Tuesday – September 19 & 20, 2016

We said our goodbyes to Foz do Iguazu, had a good breakfast and checked out of the Taroba Hotel, then we took a free bus to the airport.  We changed planes in Sao Paulo and arrived at Santos Dumont Airport in Rio as the sun was setting.  We shared a taxi for the 15 minute ride to the Olinda Hotel located on Copacabana Beach.

View of Copacabana Beach at night from our room on the tenth floor:

It was drizzling lightly, but we learned about a night market on the beach so we went out to explore:

It was still raining softly the next morning.  But we were actually in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil!!!  After a leisurely breakfast at the hotel, Linda and I went out to walk along Copacabana Beach all the way to Ipanema Beach!

Linda traded Olympic pins with John from Greece, who was one of the international pin traders.

The black and white stone mosaic pavement of the promenades at both Ipanema and Copacabana Beaches were designed by the Brazilian landscape architect, Roberto Burle Marx. They are fabulous!!

Olinda Rio Hotel located right on Copacabana Beach:

A lot of wind and rain on Ipanema Beach but it was fun to explore:

It was still raining so we took a taxi to the Rio Sul Shopping Center: