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Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
22° 53' S 43° 14' W
Jul 16, 2006 21:50
Distance 1117km

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Other entries in Rio de Janeiro

Finally back on track, a day later

Yes a day later and I am finally where I am supposed to be. Granted my luggage isnt but that is to come. The main thing is that I am here. Our luggage was only checked to Sao Paulo however so it didnt get to join us, yet. I am hope we reunite soon. I have no spare clothes. But hey, this trip was supposed to be about unforgettable experiences, right? Well so far it has been just that. Mostly good but some annoying, like our luggage fiasco. United knows where our luggage is (they say) and took our hostel address and is personally delivering it to our hostel. I will be 100% relieved when I personally see my suitcase. Until then is "Eh, whatever... not much you can do about it" Besides, Nelson and I are more amused with the fact that we have been told that WHEN (not if) we are mugged to always make sure we have a side stash to give them because you only get hurt when you have nothing to give. Not to worry though, I honestly think that there isnt much that would really get me going at this point. Perhaps getting my camera stolen... that wouldnt be cool. Money is somewhat replaceable, pictures are not. 

So the general theme of this trip is turning out to be how many things can Mike see that are the largest in the world (no jokes please) In Japan I saw the largest temple and the largest free standing 100% steel structure in the world. In Malaysia, I saw the worlds tallest twin towers and tallest flagpole. Paris, saw the largest gardens. Spain, sat on the worlds longest bench. And today in Rio I went to the worlds largest Urban forest. Hopefully in Venezuela I will see the tallest waterfall. Yesterday I went up Sugarloaf mountain. The view was a spectacular 360 panoramic view of Rio. Not to mention I timed it just right to watch the sunset over the mountains. So imagine this: Watching the sunset over the mountains while being well above the city and having a panoramic view of Rio and the ocean. Jealous? Also watched the history of Sugarloaf. *Note for Danny and any other die-hard 007 fan... I saw the cable car used in the scene where Bond and Jaws are fighting on the cable car. That is the lift between Sugarloaf and the smaller mtn. Took a pic for you Parker. Today, we took a Rio tour. First stop was a hike in the park mentioned above. The hike ended on top of another really tall mountain with a view that you couldnt believe. OH and on the way up there were signs posted from the taping of YET ANOTHER reality TV show (American I might add, as I found out other countries have thier own unique reality TV shows) The top was in the clouds and just as we got there, a cloud rolled over... it was so cool to be "hit" by a cloud. You can actually see it moving all around you. Then we went to Corcavado to see, as Nelson and I named, "No good Jesus". Let me explain. So our friend Pot Roast told us that at Notre Dame there is a giant Jesus painting or something at the stadium that they affectionately refer to as "Touchdown Jesus" because his arms are in such a pose that it looks like a ref. signaling a touchdown. Well here Jesus is seen with his arms out as if to say the extra point was "no good" The natives also have thier own joke. They say that his arms are out and will clap them together when the people from Rio start working (apparently the natives think of themselves as extreamly lazy) Needless to say... the view, as at Sugarloaf, was spectacular. The reason it was put there was so that everyone from the city could see it and so you could see the city while up visiting it. Both were accomplished. WE then went to a local place and had the national dish, fejoada. My apologies for any misspelling. Its basically a variation of black beans and rice, but its prepared in such a way that it is sooooooooooo tasty. Our tour ended at these 200 or so steps that many years back this dude decided to start tiling. Meaning, they are a giant mosaic of tiles. With many colors and tiles from all over the world. Its a never ending project and the guy says he will continue till the day he dies. I did talk to him and i got his autograph. I also got his address because he says if you send him a tile from where you are from, he will include it in these world famous steps AND take a pic of your tile and send it to you. So when I come home, Cleveland will be represtented. To give you an idea of how famous... he has been in several hundreds of magazines. Also CSI Miami just finished (a few days ago) taping 6 episodes of CSI in Brazil. And one of the murders takes place on the steps. The artist also appears in the show and has his pic with all the cast. REALLY COOL. I promise I will get pics up of them.