Part of what makes Rio so beautiful is how the mountains come down to the beaches and contrast the rugged sharp drops from the mountains with the flat, white, sandy beaches. It really makes for some beautiful pictures. Of course pictures can't be exactly as good as being there, but they can be close. Here are a few pics that show the contrast between the mountains and sea.
***Remember that you can click on each picture for a larger version if you like. Just remember that you will have to click the back browser each time to go back to my blog page:
I took these photos while I was on a tour. The first picture above was taken from the top of one of the tallest and most well known mountains called Corcovado. This mountain has the well known statue of Christ on top. It is known locally as Cristo de Corcovado. The statue can be seen over much of the city of Rio. It took 9 years to build the statue. It is 120ft tall (38 meters). The Corcovado mountain is 2300 feet tall (700 meters). It was opened to the public in 1931. It was meant as a symbol to encourage the acceptance of Christianity. Here are some pictures I took of the statue and some more views from the mountain top.
Our tour guide had a specific spot that he insisted that we use to pose for our picture with the Cristo statue. Here is mine!
Also, in the base of the Cristo statue at the back, there is a small chapel. I got 2 pictures of the chapel here.
The Corcovado mountaintop is one of two mountaintops that are the most popular tourist attractions and great locations to view the city. The other mountaintop is called Sugar Loaf.
Here is a pic of Sugar Loaf (the tall pointed mountain on the left). I took this pic was from the top of the Corcovado mountain.
As part of my tour, we visited the Sugar Loaf mountain. The Portuguese name is Pão de Açúcar (loaf of sugar). One popular belief of where the name came from is that it resembles the shape of sugar loaves. Sugar cane was a popular crop grown in the Rio area and when it was cured it was usually in this shape. Another theory is that this name was first given by some of the native Indian tribes before the Portuguese settled there.
The Sugar Loaf mountain is a popular location for many people to climb too. We saw a few climbing the day we were there.
The Sugar Loaf mountaintop is accessed by cable car ride to the top. The cable cars held about 30 to 40 people each. The cable car ride is two stages. The first stage took us to the smaller mountain beside Sugar Loaf. The smaller mountain is named Babylon Mountain. This next pictures are the entrance to the cable car facility and a picture of one of the cable cars:
Here are some pictures of the cable car ride up to the top and the views from Sugar Loaf and Babylon Mountain:
It was getting late in the day when we were ready to leave the top of the Sugar Loaf mountain. We could see the Cristo statue on the top of the Corcovado mountain. Here are two more pictures looking back towards Corcovado mountain.
I have more pics from the many beaches in Rio, from my hotel, and other interesting places. I'll post part 2 with more soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment