Cristo Redentor

Another (New) Wonder of the World crossed off our list. Good thing they keep changing the list or we'll run out soon.

Christ the Redeemer standing at over 700m high he definitely has a remarkable view up there. Facing towards Meccah, he overlooks Rio itself. You are able to look up from almost any point, and unless there is a building in the way then you can see him standing there a top the mountain.

To get up there, there are multiple ways, but the easiest by far is the air-conditioned panoramic train that we took which winds up the mountain side for 20 minutes. Then, take an elevator to go up instead of the 200+ stairs. Our guide Maria knew all the tricks. We were first on the train, first in the elevator, and first to stand there with the other few hundred people all trying to take the perfect Instagram worthy picture.

Then the Cuppachino monkies came over to visit. Crawling over the side of wall at what appeared to be a terrifying fall, they were perfectly at peace showing off to the cameras.

We were told, not that I researched this, but originally it was not going to be Christ. The reason why he is called Christ the Redeemer is because Princess Isabel that we learned about in Petropolis was named Isabel the Redeemer for her actions on abolishing slavery. So the statue was going to be in that place. But she said no to that and there was only one person who deserved that place.Read more