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  • Day 2

    Day one of our big adventure

    May 8, 2015 in Brazil ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Jet lag helped us with an early start - up at 7, taxi to Cosme Velho (R20, metered) to get the little red train that goes up the mountain (R51???). It takes 20 mins through the rainforest & strangely makes several stops along the way in deserted places.
    At the top you get 2 short escalators (presumably introduced for Americans?!) to the statue of Christ...fairly underwhelming as with most top tourist spots. Despite getting the first train up there were too many people, not much room and the weather was a bit murky so the views weren't too mesmerising. After the obligatory photos it started to rain so we headed back down, missing a torrential downpour on the train.
    It was still drizzling when we got back down so we headed to a small Naif art museum next door (R6) which was surprisingly good and had a great section showing the history of Rio.
    Then we hopped on a bus (R3, turnstile-operated) to Parque Lago which is an impressive building with a pool in the middle surrounded by lush grounds including a small stone grotto with an aquarium inside plus a large neon sign??
    A short walk down the road took us to the Jardim Botanico (R9???) which were beautiful... trees, ponds, waterfalls and 2 types of monkeys.
    Anna was flagging & wanted to get the bus home by 2pm. Knowing my wife well I sussed she needed fuel so we went in search of lunch. We came across a pay by kilo place which is very popular and R18 bought us a plate of various local food which was delicious. A can of coke later and she was raring to go!
    So we walked back home via the big 7.5k lake to Copacabana, stopping for a coconut en route. About 3 hours later we struggled up the hill and were home.
    We had a cheese toasty for starter and reheated the main dish of Brazil which Julio had made for us... Feijoa = beans with chunks of salted pork & sausages - delicious.
    Julio then took us to watch his Capoeira class which was great...2 people pair off & fight / dance with no contact whilst the others sit in a ring around them and play instruments and sing before swapping. Our favourite bits were when they went wrong and whacked each other!! It was lovely to watch but after an hour or so I couldn't keep my eyes open. Eventually we went home and had a long sleep.
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