in Rio...

Well, it looks like we made it into Rio just in time for monsoon season.

Yesterday morning we got up, and while having breakfast, looking at the overcast skies, Ryan suggests we go to Corcovado to see the statue of Christ. Great idea I tell him, we catch a cab and on the way there, its starts sprinkling lightly. Us, being from seattle, don´t really think much of it, buy tickets to go up to the top via the cog-train and as we are going up, the rain just gets heavier and heavier. Before we know it, we are in a cloud of rain and fog, by the time we get to the top, it is a thorough down pour. We buy an umbrella, thinking that will prevent the pelting rain from getting us, but unfortunately, with the wind, the rain is coming at us, not only from above, but horizontally as well. We braved going up the steps to the statue, walking to different view points, recognize a few landmarks down below through all of the fog. A quick picture with my camera of the statue, just to say that we were there and its back under cover. By this time I´m thinking that it would have been wiser to wear a swimsuit today than regular clothes, as I can easily wring out portions of the skirt i´m wearing with an easy clench of the fist. We get on the next cog train back down the mountain, and happily come across a group of people from Winnipeg, they tell us that they have some museums on the itinerary and share with us their plans, since really we were just hoping to lay on the beach all week.

As we leave the cog train, we follow the canadians to their first museum stop, just across the street from where we were at. I don´t remember the name of the museum, but it has national artwork from all over brazil and a mural that spans across two walls, with 18 panels, explaining the history of brazil. It was very beautiful. After the museum, we catch a cab back to our hotel to change clothes, our cab driver, Marcelo, tells us about some places to go out to eat and drink, good places to spend time indoors, and also informs us of a soccer game at Maracaná stadium tomorrow night. He offers to take us to a churrasceria, called Porcão, for lunch. We take him up on his offer, making him wait for us outside as we change and he drops us off at the restaurant. It was fantastic. Seafood, sushi, salads, and, of course, large quantities of meat. Ryan was very impressed, and we both ate like crazy.

After lunch we took off to the main cathedral in Rio. It looks almost space-agey, this huge pyramid shaped building which, when you go inside, is dim with HUGE stain glass windows on each wall, spaning from the floor to the ceiling. After the Cathedral, another church just a few blocks away, and from there we just started walking... after some time, realizing that there weren´t nearly as many cariocas in the neighborhood we were walking through, we decided it was better to take a cab to a known location than to get lost in a shady part of town. We took a cab to a shopping center in Botafogo to look around and find shelter from the rain. After wandering around for some time... it was getting later so back to the hotel to find out where to go next and somewhat plan for tomorrow. We check in with the front desk about getting tickets to the game... $40 per person, with rides, an escort to your seat, and the tickets. We decide this is a rip off. we would rather brave it than pay $80 for something that could cost us as little as $40 total.

So that´s the plan for today, soccer game, Flumenese vs. Santos starting at 9:45pm. it should be a crazy wild time, we are going to try to get ahold of my quase cousin, Alessandra and see if she´s going too, or if she would like to go with us. and other than that, hoping the weather clears up so we can actually do what we came here for.... lay on the beach and get tan. Because of the soccer game, we are having to opt out of going to Ouro Preto, but I think its a fair trade as soccer here is far more a passion than an interesting town 7 hours away from here. I´ll be sure to post again to tell you how everything goes.

abraços!
Ana