Today would be the day that I get to visit another one of the ‘New 7 Wonders of the World’ and would be my third following visits to the Taj Mahal in India and the Colosseum in Rome. Firstly though, I would need some breakfast before making the journey high up to the summit of Rio de Janeiro’s Mount Corcovado.
So on my search for breakfast I walked along the front of Copacabana Beach towards an area where my chances of finding a Brazilian café would be greater. Behind the ‘Copacabana Palace’ would be a good starting place I thought, and I was right as I came across the very cool looking ‘Sofá Café‘.
Here at ‘Sofá Café’ I divulged in one of the many strong and rich Brazilian coffees and then also a Brazilian style breakfast of Tapioca. If you are English like me, you will think of Tapioca coming in a tin made by Ambrosia, but here it was like a crepe! Something I must mention about this café is the choice of coffee was amazing and this place is definitely worth a visit!
So now it was off to find Christ, but rather than following a star I would be following a winding, twisting road up to what we could call the ‘base camp’ of Mount Corcovado, before then making the final journey of 220 steps up to the feet of Christ himself.
Cristo Redentor, or in English known as Christ the Redeemer, is a 38 metre high soapstone statue that sits atop Mount Corcovado and looks out over all of Rio de Janeiro. ‘Corcovado’ actually means ‘Hunchback’ in Portuguese and the Mount is a 710 metre granite peak that is covered by the ‘Tijuca Forest’.
On this occasion, and I guess with it being very early on in the day, the Mount was surrounded by a thick mist, which was hampering the view out towards Copacabana. Luckily though the view to the North over the Maracana Stadium and areas such as Botafogo and Fluminense was still visible.
There is always something special about hugely sized religious structures or buildings. They always have a certain magic that surrounds them, like some kind of magnitudinal force that is created which impacts upon the people around, however many of them. Christ the Redeemer was no different. Especially when disappearing behind the mist surrounding the summit of the mountain.
When up close and personal to the bottom of his lengthy gown, he really is a huge structure. I felt like a borrower next to a majestic religious ornament in the sky. In all honesty, when you arrive in Rio and look up to the top of Mount Corcovado, you may be unimpressed as he appears quite small, or smaller than I imagined from images I had seen, but when you are stood there, right in front of the open arms of Christ, you will most definitely be astounded!
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