When my baby (Jesus) smiled at me....

Monday 04.06.07

I've settled now into my job, though it's hardly demanding at the moment. Working behind the bar, i can now make Capirinhas and the other drinks people regularly order. I cook dinner or lunch once every few days, I'm learning some traditional dishes, and just help out wherever needed. It's funny how the times I think of home is while I'm doing really mundane things, such as washing the dishes at 11pm. Of course, during that exact time, everyone back in Melbourne is at work (on the following day). Later, our attempt to hit the night-life in Copacabana ended in failure as the only place open was La Girl, a lesbian bar, and the beefcakes at the door wouldn't let us in. Once again, we found ourselves at a beach side stall downing Capirinhas during the silly hours of the morning. I hit Rio Centro the next day and tried to find a sneaky back entrance to the local airport to watch planes fly overhead, but instead found myself wandering almost into a military area. Common sense took over, and i fled the scene....

Gorgeous weather outside on Wednesday meant it would be a great opportunity to visit two of Rio's main attractions - Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and Pão de Açucar (Sugar Loaf). The mountain Corcovado, named after the Hunchback of Notre Dame, towers over Rio and the other volcanic mounds that surround it. A statue had been planned for the granite peak long before Cristo Redentor was built in 1931.

Some of the most expensive estate in the whole city lies on the foothills of the mountain, yet just across the road sprawls yet another favela on the slopes. Turrets and ornate façades poke out of the trees, as does unfinished concrete and bare brick, side by side under the gaze of Christ the Redeemer. Yet another typical symbol of Latin America greeted us further up the road. A tourism group had hijacked the last kilometre or so of the climb, and we were forced to transfer into their vans, an occurrence that was already factored into the tour price.

There is a buzz around Brasil at the moment to vote for the statue to become one of the 'new' seven wonders of the world. My thoughts on whether the statue deserves the accolade will not be published here, but the view of the city of Rio de Janeiro from the top of Corcovado certainly qualifies for one of the finest sights imaginable. The city extends a full 270° around the mountain, from the airport in the north, Pão de Açucar to the south-east, and west toward the beach at Barra Tijuca. The remaining 90° behind the statue houses a huge mountainous forest, with even more bairros (neighbourhoods) of Rio behind it. Above all this, 38 metres of 100% pure Christ, arms outstretched, watches over the city day and night.

The way to Pão de Açucar cuts across swathes of traffic, through a maze of streets and past a massive cemetery in Botafogo packed with huge concrete angels perched on a metropolis of concrete headstones, like a swarm of winged King Kongs descending on New York. It is a concrete playground of the bodies of the once rich and famous in Brasil, including the grave of Carmen Miranda, which I'd imagine is adorned with a bunch of concrete fruit.

The only way to summit Sugar Loaf (except by rock climbing) is via two cable-cars, the first to a hill overlooking the wealthy bairro of Urca, the second spanning a huge gap to the top of the almost-bare volcanic mound. As the sun fled from sight, the sky flared up like Michael Jackson's hair during a Pepsi commercial into gorgeous reds and oranges, and the lights of the city below came to life, reflecting off the water, creating a scene of tranquillity which belied the bustling chaos of the city below.

.........I went to Rio!

Now you should too.