Christ the Redeemer & Escadaria Selaron

Next stop probably THE most iconic site in Rio and something recognised worldwide, Christ the Redeemer. It’s necessary to book tickets in advance so we booked one of the first available times in the morning in an effort to beat the crowds – the crowds weren’t beaten! A small train takes you up to the top and the queue was huge, but we did manage to get on at our allocated time. Upon reaching the top we were flabbergasted at how many people there were – it’s not surprising really! Built between 1922 and 1931 it can be seen from most points across the city, close up is massive standing at 38 metres tall (including the plinth) and 28 metres wide fingertip to fingertip it commands the skyline! Despite the crowds (of which we were only adding to) it was great to see it up close and we were blessed with more fantastic views across the city.

On our final morning before heading south we visited the Escadaria Selaron (Selaron Staircase), known as the ‘Escadaria da Lapa’ locally as it’s in the Lapa neighbourhood. Consisting of 215 steps, a Chilean man named Jorge Selaron, an artist, began renovating the steps outside his house in 1990, covering the steps in fragments of blue, green and yellow tiles (matching the Brazilian flag). What began as a small project turned into an obsession and he continued to cover the entire 215 steps in over 2000 tiles selling paintings to fund materials (many of the tiles were scavenged from building sites throughout the city). As time went by visitors from over 60 countries brought their own tiles for Selaron to stick on the steps, so there are lots of personal mementoes of peoples visits to the steps. Jorge said the work would only ever be complete upon his death, it was therefore deemed to be complete in 2013. The steps themselves are an impressive sensory experience, with vivid colours and intriguing artwork embedded in the walk to the top. There is too much to see and identify on the, you’d need to spend a good half-day to take it all in. Alas after an hour or so it was time for us to head back to our hotel for our onward transfer.

We really enjoyed Rio, before arriving we had read and heard a lot about the safety and security of the city. We never felt unsafe at any point, but we have always been hypervigilant when travelling and try not to put ourselves in situations where our safety is jeopardised. Mark did go out one evening after dark to pick up some groceries, there were a lot more ‘characters’ about at this time and deprivation was clear to see (something we’ve unfortunately become accustomed to on our trip), we were also chatting to a couple later in our trip who had witnessed an armed robbery near Copacabana in the early hours of the morning – we must have been lucky!Read more