The famous Christ the Redeemer statue and Sugarloaf Mountain

 

We went to the famous statue that towers on a spiked hill, and the pandemic made for short lines, which I am grateful for.

I went to see Jesus, but what I saw was people taking selfies with Jesus. I wanted to see Jesus, but He was already in my heart. I wanted to be with the Redeemer but mostly I was baking in the heat, squinting, while jostling around other people trying to have the same epic moments.

It was a divine view though. We could gaze across to Sugarloaf Mountain when the clouds cleared.

We were up in the clouds. 

The journey there was quite remarkable, up a long quiet winding road of jungle looking lushness. We saw some monkeys up top, which was cool. I don't know which kind. I'm surprised they weren't wearing masks.






                                      




I can almost imagine how God (the goddesses!) could be looking down upon their people and getting ready to rain down the blessings. Or shout out the calls to repentance for all to hear.






Sugarloaf was wonderfully surreal too. We ended up taking a bus and then walking the last bit of the way there. The sidewalks were empty. The long road was shaded by lines of tall drooping trees that look like the other-worldly matopalo ones in common Costa Rica.

We walked along a wall, and the other side had some ancient looking massive buildings. One of them was the university of Brazil. They were both grand and deserted looking. The road ended at the ocean, at Sugarloaf.

The views were incredible. Two cable car rides, and a light rain. I was in awe. I could live in Rio. I could go to these 2 places every month to receive inspiration and recharge my soul. We were lucky though, we were not crammed in with a ton of other tourists like in the summer.

                           
         

                                          Copa Cabana beach is lit up in white.

                                     









Every angle was something different. I could even see the Jesus Christ statue, but it doesn't show up well in pictures. Sugarloaf mountain is pure magic. Maybe it wasn't very sunny, but it was fabulous to not be roasted in the heat like with the Redeemer statue trip.





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