10m
Today it was our chance to cover the other icon of Rio; Sugarloaf mountain. We got picked up at 9 and headed straight there in order to try to avoid the queue and most of the crowds, just as well. The line was already starting when we arrived and Rio have done amazing work on increasing the volume of people that can take the two cable cars to the top from 113 to well over 1200 per hour. It has been running since 1912 and seen a number of changes to the passenger pods. At the first level there are tourist shops and a restaurant, and the same with the second peak, however it doesn’t seem as crowded as the statue of Christ the Redeemer from yesterday. There are plenty of paths to walk around, covered with vegetation and there are a number of lizards and monkeys around to try to spot. The ever-present black vulture is also everywhere, soaring on the wind currents both above and below. Sugarloaf also provides for excellent views of Rio, from downtown, to Copacabana and the favellas which seem to fill in any gaps between distinctive parts of the city.
We drove around the downtown section, stopping to have a look at the Rio cathedral, a concrete beehive from the outside, but gains a life when you walk inside. From here the stained glass and light provide atmosphere to the place and the acoustics are amazing. There was a tape of choral singing playing in the background, and the shape of the building helped to magnify the sounds.
We drove for a bit through the old city and then were dropped off at a Brazilian BBQ restaurant. This was like Lapa on steroids. The place had a beer list of around 30 beers and a wine list of over 200, including Australian. The salad bar would knock Sizzler for six, there was a sushi chef providing fresh sushi as often as you wanted……and then the meat! There was 36 cuts of meat wafting past with the virtually ever-present waiter armed with a hunk of dead cow (or chicken, lamb, pig) on a skewer and a razor sharp mini machete in the other just hoping you would like a morsel more. Oh. My. God. As Fran stated (about 9 courses in), ‘this is a marathon, not a sprint’. Soooo, 3 hours later we rolled ourselves back out onto the street and decided a walk was in order, a long walk. Dinner was definitely out of the question.