Around the World Trip: Exploring Rio de Janeiro’s Icons

Update December 21, 2024: When we visited Rio it was before the city hosted the World Cup 2014. We did not notice much but heard from some locals that certain areas had already changed in preparation for the big event. The price level seemed rather expensive when exchanging Euros for Reals in 2010 and indeed when comparing to today’s rate it seems the Euro went up by factor 2.5! We will be returning to Brazil in January 2025 so I am very curious how we will experience it!

Read in the first part about our visit to São Paulo.

Here are my memories that I wrote down during our 2010 visit:

February 3rd, 2010: Sightseeing in Rio de Janeiro

Wednesday we spent a very hot day visiting the tourist sights of Rio. First we went up the hills by mini-bus to inspect the famous statue of Cristo Redentor, Christ the Redeemer. The sculpture has been erected in the 1920s and is the largest Art Deco statue in the world with a height of 30 metres. Probably next to the Sugarloaf Mountain Cristo Redentor is THE other icon of Brazil that is world famous.

The bus trip was exciting as it felt being in a market. People offered products from tooth brushes to tissues non-stop to earn their living. For Michael and me this was a rather unfamiliar sight coming from Germany.

We had to climb up to the statue while walking in the Tijuca National Park. As little apes were rather common and loved to get food from tourists you needed to know that it was strictly forbidden to feed them.

Next we went up the Sugarloaf Mountain by cable car. It is actually the third oldest cable car in the world! The name “sugarloaf” originated in the 16th century, when the Portuguese, during the height of the sugarcane trade in Brazil, created this expression in reference to the conical shape of sugar blocks. These blocks were traditionally placed in clay molds for transport on ships, and their distinctive form resembled the “sugarloaf” shape. Over time, this term came to be used more broadly to describe any peak or formation with a similar conical shape.

Both trips offered spectacular views over the city, the hills and the sea and are certainly a must do when visiting Rio. Our next stop was the city of Vitória where our friend Gustavo is originally from and where we were supposed to participate in the Carnaval de Vitória!

February 4th, 2010: Trip to Vitória

(Flight #4 – Airline #2 – Airports #6 and #7)

Flight #4 took us from Rio‘s Santo Dumas Airport to Vitória. It was a short flight of only 40 minutes, but the start was impressive as the runway heads directly towards the famous Sugarloaf Mountain. It felt as if the airplane just made it over the mountain. So it was quite exciting. Especially, when we flew directly into a thunderstorm. The plane was shaken heavily while we were still in a deep ascend. Quite scary!

Read about our carnival adventure in Brazil here.