We ended up sleeping in till 9:00 which was great! Once we got up an moving we set plans to meet up with the other group at the Feira Hippy near Ipanema. We ate a delicious breakfast (fresh fruit and juice!) made for us by Lillian’s sweet housekeeper to fortify us for the day ahead. We decided to walk to the square in Ipanema and not mess with the bus system and it only took about 25 minutes to get there. I had originally thought from the name that this market would be more informal and flea market-y, however, this was not the case. The market was actually a bit expensive and trendy. It had some beautiful bags, jewelry, souvenirs and sarongs. After walking around for 10 minutes we actually bumped into our friends at the Bahia food tent where they were getting an early lunch. The food stand was run by traditional Bianhas and two of them stopped Isaiah when they saw the religious necklaces he always wears that his grandmother gave him. His abuela is Puerto Rican and she practices Santaria a traditional African religion that is similar to the Candomble and Ubanda practices in the heavily African influenced Northeast region of Brazil where Bahia is located. Since Angelika and I were still stuffed from lunch we made a circuit of the market and looked at the rest of the booths. Angelika ended up getting some a present for her cousin’s birthday and getting a cute bathing suit top. We did not stay too much longer at the fair since the beach was calling our names!
We regrouped and most of us decided to walk the two blocks down to Ipanema beach and settled in front of Posto 9 (the postos are kind of like lifeguard stands where they have bathrooms and first aid). Ipanema was just as gorgeous as the day before, and just as crowded! However, we managed to establish a spot and take it over. Once on the beach I decided to check in with the sarong vendors to see if I could get a deal on a sarong to be mu multi-purpose beach towel. Victoria and Isabel were also looking for sarongs and we were able to use that to get a better deal from a beach vendor. My sarong is a giant Brazilian flag, and it turned out to be a great investment. Beach going is so much better when you do not have to sit directly in the sand (although every beach segment was staked out by little businesses which rented chairs and umbrellas (which they set up for you). Since Angelika and I had tickets to go to the Corcovado at 4:00 we had to leave the sun and sand earlier than the rest. We made plans to meet back up at 7:00 at a restaurant in Ipanema called the Casa de Feijoada. Given our experience the day before, we decided to cab it straight from Ipanema to the Corcovado so that we would not miss our train.
We arrived just in time to trade in our printed out voucher for tickets and get in line for our train ride up the Corcovado mountain to see the Cristo! The train ride itself is pretty fun, a bit like a roller coaster that only goes up. Most of the train ride is forested, and the occasional gaps in the trees elicit ohhs and ahhs from the tourists as Rio grows smaller before you. It takes about 30 min to get to the top of the mountain where you can walk up to see the Cristo Redentor. As soon as we hit the stairs we started taking pictures and each view was better than the last (at first we felt silly but honestly that’s the only reason that everyone goes up there, to get as many pictures as possible). We ended up going at the perfect time of day since we got the golden light of sunset and the statue at night.
The statue is breathtaking. It well deserves being called one of the seven wonders of the new world. The statue’s iconic style (it’s the largest art deco statue in the world) and majestic situation truly are a must see. It is not a very big space once you climb up to the top of the platform in front of the statue and its packed with people all trying to get pictures that look as if they are the only ones there. The only real way to get shot that includes both the person and the whole statue is for the photographer to lay on the ground and take the picture looking up. It is actually pretty hilarious to see all these people lying on the ground trying to the best shot. Once you are in position you also have to just keep taking pictures until you get a good one as there is no such thing as waiting for people to get out of the frame. After we got the requisite picture with the statue we worked our way around the platform getting shots of the beautiful 360 view of Rio at sunset. It was so amazing! The light was perfect and we had fun playing model/photographer for about an hour and a half.
Once the light turned on the statue we decided to head back down so that we could meet up with our group for dinner. We had another successful transit encounter after we got down from the Corcovado. We were able to successfully take the bus/metro combo back to the Copacabana metro stop (the Ipanema and Leblon stops are under construction) and then flagged down a cab to take us to the specific address and we were only 10 min late! The rest of the group was waiting for us at the Casa de Feijoada in the same square that the market had been at in the morning; however, we decided not to go there since the guide book had failed to mention that it was an expensive set menu. Still there were many other options in the area and we walked a few blocks over and discovered a cute little Italian pizza place. We waited about 15 min before we were sat on the sidewalk patio. The restaurant board said that they were running a promotion where you could get three pizzas and a liter of soda for about 45$, there was also a wine promotion and we got a bottle to split between the table. When we attempted to order the pizzas our waiter told us that the promotion was only for weekdays but that he would see what he could do. We ordered three pizzas, a classic Margarita, Calabreza (Italian sausage), and a Portuguesea. The Portuguesea was my favorite and I ate it exclusively that night. In Brazil a Portuguesea pizza has mozzarella, artichoke, prosciutto ham, and egg. It was the best pizza combination ever!! After our first round we decided to order more pizzas and we got another Portuguesea, a Veggie and a Salami one. Our group devoured those pizzas as well, being out in the city and at the beach really influenced our appetites! We finished our leisurely dinner around 10:00 and decided to go back early so that we would be rested for our last full and sunny day in Rio!
On the steps up to the Cristo
Looking down on the Pao de Azucar
O Cristo
Sunset over Rio
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