Our first two days in Rio de Janeiro have been incredible. I absolutely love this city; there is a reason why it has gotten the nickname “A Cidade Maravilhosa” (The Marvelous City). It truly is beautiful, and I have enjoyed getting to know it better. On my mission I never had the opportunity to serve here in the city of Rio, so it has been exciting to finally spend some time here. Yesterday we weren’t able to do too much because we got kind of a late start to the day. We flew from Manaus all night long, so we rested for a bit in the hotel once we were finally able to check in to our rooms. We saw some of the famous beaches such as Copacabana and Ipanema, both of which are breathtaking. We hiked to the top of a big rock formation overlooking Ipanema beach, which was very pretty. Today we went to a couple of museums. The first one we went to with the whole group this morning, which was an old government building. The most interesting part of the museum was the room of a former President of Brazil, Getulio Vargas. He actually committed suicide in his Presidency, and we got to see where he did it, the pajamas he was wearing when he did, and the actual gun and bullet. Later on today, we went with a smaller group to the city Niteroi. It is a city that is just across the bay from Rio de Janeiro, so we took a boat to get there. It was here that we saw a museum that I have always wanted to see, the museum of contemporary art of Niteroi. I have always seen pictures of it and wanted to go; it is a very modern looking building on the edge of a cliff by the beach that looks like a white flying saucer on top of a golf tee. We didn’t get to go in because it was closed, but I loved seeing the outside of it and taking some pictures. It was also cool to be able to see Rio de Janeiro from the opposite side, to be able to see all of it including both the Christ statue and Sugarloaf mountain. The next day we got to visit these sites in person, which are a few of the most beautiful places in the world in my opinion, and see some of the most incredible views this world has to offer. We started off this morning by visiting the Jardim Botanico (Botanic Garden). This is a garden that was made by one of the first Portuguese Kings that came to Brazil. The garden is incredible, and is known for its beauty worldwide. There are various kinds of flowers, huge rows of tall palm trees, and jungle-like conditions including waterfalls. From there we made our way to the Cristo Redentor statue. This was definitely the highlight of our stay here in Rio de Janeiro. We took a van up to the top with the rest of the group, and had to hike up a few stairs once we got up there. The view of Rio de Janeiro was like nothing I have ever seen. I have seen pictures of the view from up top, but it doesn’t compare to the real thing. The Rio de Janeiro bay next to Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) was unreal. The statue itself was a marvel as well. I knew it was big, but I didn’t realize how massive it actually was. I was very impressed by not only its enormous size but also how beautiful with workmanship of the piece was. From the Cristo, we took the same bus to Pao de Acucar. Here we needed to take a tram to the top. The view going up the tram was unbelievable, and once we got up to the top my breath was taken once again. From the top of Sugarloaf we were able to see the opposite view from the top of the Cristo; so we could see the Rio de Janeiro bay with the Cristo Redentor statue behind it. We stayed until the sunset, which was a sight I won’t soon forget either. All in all, the things we saw today have left a mark in my mind that will never be erased. It was our last day of our study abroad, so to celebrate we all went to one more churrascaria rodizio style. To be honest this one wasn’t quite as good as the last one we went to in Recife, but it was delicious nonetheless.
These are two pictures of me with the famous Ipanema beach behind me.
Sitting next to the statue of the famous Brazilian author Carlos Drummond de Andrade on Copacabana Beach. I have studied a lot of his works in my Portuguese classes.
These are pictures of the Copacabana Fortress. Included in this is the story of the 18 men who stood up against the military government in Rio de Janeiro, most of which died.
The museum that we went to in Rio.
The pajamas that Getulio Vargas was wearing when he committed suicide in his room, as well as the gun that he used.
The former President's bedroom.
The stairs going up to his room.
One of the first Brazilian flags, with their colors but the American style.
The names of those people who went missing during the military dictatorship.
The famous theater in downtown Rio.
The library close to the theater.
A view of Pao de Acucar and the Cristovado (Christ statue mountain) from the boat that we were on.
The museum of contemporary art in Niteroi.
A more distant view of the museum.
A picture I snapped of a terrorist attempting to fly the plane into the Christ statue, thankfully I alerted the authorities just in time.
The Niteroi bridge with an oil rig next to it.
Pictures in the Jardim Botanico (botanic garden).
Looking down on sugarloaf mountain from the top of the Christ statue.
The other side of the city from up top.
Right next to that lake is where the mission home in my mission was located.
Me with one of the seven wonders of the world.
Me with the group up on top.
Right before going up to sugarloaf mountain.
The trolley that we took up to the top.
I arrived!
With the group at the top.
The sun setting on my last day in Rio from on top of Pao de Acucar.
It's a beautiful thing!
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