Jesus Christ (...the Redeemer)

We went with a Tunisian tour guide to the Corcovado and some other Rio sights. I hadn’t conceived of a stadium purpose-built for samba shows during the Rio Carnival, but that was one of the stops, known as the Sambódromo. The guide sailed close to the bone with constant references to himself as the ‘terrorist’ by way of identifying him in the crowd. I don’t think it was appropriate for busy spaces with the possibility for mass panic and an over-zealous police force.

The name Corcovado is used fairly interchangeably with the Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue. It was fantastic to spend time on the viewing platform as the skies around Rio were clear and the cityscapes beautiful. The number of visitors was tough to handle though and I decided the human race has gone wrong somewhere with its level of narcissism. It wasn’t possible to simply enjoy the surroundings as people would usher you away so they could pose in front of the statue or a view, or block walkways whilst taking a stream of selfies. Of course we all engage in some forms of narcissism (the irony of me making these comments on a blogging platform isn’t lost) but it has to be tempered so that people at the top of Corcovado actually experience where they are, and don’t simply document it in photos. Too many photos of people in front of attractions can be boring, and I unfollow people on social media for whom this is the standard post. I’m not sure how other blippers feel about this.

Other memorable moments from the day included:
- a stop at the Maracanã Stadium, which vies for the biggest attendance ever recorded at a match (200,000 people!!) and had a Pelé lookalike doing football tricks out front
- stunning views of Rio’s landscapes including of Morro da Providência, considered to be the first favela community in Brazil
- cooling down with açai, the dish of frozen, mashed açai palm fruit with various toppings
- summiting Sugarloaf Mountain (Pão de Açúcar) and absorbing the views before being enclosed totally in swirling clouds and a temperature drop of 15 degrees that made for a wild cable car ride back down

‘Can we try pão de açúcar at the bakery’, asked Erlyn? It seems it isn’t anything related to bread and simply named after the shape of how refined sugar used to be sold. That hasn’t stopped us visiting numerous bakeries approximately hourly to sample what’s on offer.