Above Rio

The last two days have been spent mostly doing the "absolute musts" for a short visit in Rio. If you looked in the guidebook for a list of the most important things to do, number one or number two will be a visit to the Christo Redemptor,  the iconic statue perched above the city.  And if that's number one, number two will be a similar visit to the top of Sugarloaf which towers above Rio's coastline. I suppose you could do either one or the other - but seeing as how it is unlikely that we will ever get to Rio again, we decided to do both.

Our plan was to get to the top just about the time that the sun would be setting in order to catch the city in its best light. It is winter here in the southern hemisphere (not that you would not know it by the temperature - 85° and 95% humidity) but you do know it by the short daylight hours. 

We got to the cog railroad that takes you up the extraordinarily steep pitch of Corcovado mountain about 4 PM. When we arrived at the station there was a giant hubbub taking place that you could not miss. It turns out that we were going up on the same train as the Dutch national team. Everybody was very excited, the staff were selecting a player or two to have their picture taken with and the Dutch people who just happened to be lucky enough to be there were beside themselves. About 4:20 we began our ascent up the mountain. It takes pretty much all of 20 minutes for the train, which clicks slowly up the way a roller-coaster moves up, up, up to that point at which it drops. Fortunately there was no point on this train at which we dropped and at the summit there is an extraordinary view of Rio, - unless the clouds and rain have started to moved in to obscure your view. Well of course, that is what happened to us. 

Nonetheless there were breaks in the clouds from time to time and we did have an opportunity to take a picture of two or of the city. There was no sunset.  The sun went behind the clouds long before it went behind the horizon. Sill, we were able to be there at the top when the lights were changing and the nature of the statue changed with it. It was also an extraordinary experience to be there with the throngs of fans from around the world. Especially the Colombians, who seem to travel in relatively large packs and bring a flag and sign everywhere they go. As they gathered for their pictures they begin to sing and chant. They must be the most enthusiastic fans that we have encountered so far. And there has not yet been a kick off.

And then the next morning, because we did not get enough of Rio from above yesterday, we decided to go up the other vista point - Sugarloaf. To get to the top of Sugarloaf you take a pair of gondolas. The first one takes you to a peak perhaps 1000 feet above the seacoast and deposits you in a spot where you see what you think are some pretty stunning views of what is a very beautiful city.

Then, you get on the second cable car and it takes you another thousand feet further into the air. Because the weather has changed and it is now raining in Rio, the views were not perhaps as spectacular as they must be on a beautiful sunny clear day. But they are spectacular nonetheless. Again besides the great views we had a very pleasant experience meeting fans from around the world. We were told by the Hondurans how they were sure we were going to survive our "group of death" and  advance to the next round. How they got that confidence I know not, but that's why they play the games and only time will tell whether their confidence or my trepidation turns out to have been the right premonition. Two days before the first kick off, everyone is happy and confident. We will see how long that lasts. Tomorrow we head for Fortaleza and our first game on Friday.