Sufar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer - Rio de Janeiro

Wow...where do we start. Today turned out to be an epic tour of Rio de Janeiro, one of the most beautiful cities in the world! The morning started early for us...we woke up at 8:00am. It was our shortest night of sleep so far - 9 hours. The weather was beautiful and sunny and the beach down below our apartment was alive with activity; people out surfing, jogging, walking, riding bikes, and skateboarding. There is a nice wide sidewalk and biking/jogging lane right along the beach.
We rode the bus from our apartment to Sugar Loaf (Pao de Acucar). The bus ride took us through Barra da Tijuca, the site of the 2016 Olympic Village, Sao Conrado, Rocinha (the largest favela in Rio), through the Leblon neighborhood and right along the beautiful and famous beaches of Ipanema and Copacabana. The bus ride took about 1 1/2 hours and we were in seats the whole time (we didn't realize how valuable seats were until later). Sugar Loaf is 2 mountains connected by a tram, that rise straight up out the the ocean right at the mouth of the bay in Rio. From the top of the second mountain you get an unbelievable 360 degree view of the entire city and surrounding area including all the famous beaches, the downtown area and Christ the Redeemer. The highlight of Sugar Loaf had to be the monkeys. They are just like in the movie Rio. We got a great video of one hanging from its tail trying to grab Carson's hand.

Next we headed to Christ the Redeemer (Cristo Redentor). We took the city bus again but this time we had an authentic Brazilian public transportation experience. The bus was jam packed and we had to stand the entire 30 minutes grabbing anything possible to keep balanced. It was a ride full of sweaty hairy armpits, invaded personal space, and inappropriate body contact. It was awesome!!!  Maile had a guy rubbing his rear on her arm for 20 minutes and Hannah had a guy's crotch and fanny pack pressing into the side of her head. At the time they were grossed out but now they are laughing about it. The Christ statue was so cool and the views of the city were amazing. The statue is perched right at the tip of the tallest mountain right in the center of Rio and it is visible from almost everywhere. We have tons of pictures to show.

After the Christ statue we started our journey home. We had to take two different buses and it took over 2 1/2 hours. The traffic in Rio is horrible every day of the week and every hour of the day.  Both buses were so full that we had to stand most of the time. By the end of the day the kids got good at pushing through crowds of people and slipping into empty seats as soon as someone got off the bus. They weren't afraid to sit next to strangers and try out their Portuguese. Everyone is very curious about who we are and why we are here so they like talking to the kids and hearing them speak English. By the time we got home the entire back of the bus knew all our kids names and were sad to see us get off. We were all laughing at each other trying to speak each other's language. As they drove away they opened all the windows and waved and yelled good bye. It was so much fun.

By this time it was 10pm and we were starving, only having had a few snacks and cans of Guarana throughout the day. So we went to our local BBQ hangout for some takeout. 15 skewers of chicken, steak, and chicken hearts later we were full and ready for bed.
Even though it was a great day, I wouldn't recommend going to both Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer in the same day unless you start early.

Early morning view from the apartment.

Getting ready to go up on top of Sugar Loaf.

Taryn and Carson stopping for a cochinha snack.

View from Sugar Loaf.  Chris the Redeemer in the background.

Taryn, Carson, and Derek going up the Sugar Loaf tram.

On top of Sugar Loaf.

On top of Sugar Loaf.  Copacabana Beach in the background.

Taking the jungle tour on Sugar Loaf.

Monkeys on Sugar Loaf Mountain.

View of Sugar Loaf from the Corcovado.

Walking to the bus stop.

Taryn at Christ the Redeemer.

Derek at Christ the Redeemer.

Waiting at the bus stop.

Waiting at the bus stop at Ipanema Beach.

Maile and Hannah at Christ the Redeemer.

Getting close and personal on the city bus in Rio.

One of the few times Derek was still today... looking at the views of Rio de Janeiro.

View of Sugar Loaf and Rio bay from Christ the Redeemer.

Our new friends on the #314 bus from Ipanema to Recreio.

More Brazilian BBQ for dinner, compliments of Churrasco do Gaucho in Recreio.

Guarana and Churrasco Gaucho

Breakfast this morning was mangos, papaya, and paozinho. The ocean was full of surfers right outside our apartment. The weather was better today so we spent some time walking around the neighborhood. It is so beautiful and green here. The rain stopped and we were able to go to the beach.  

The kids discovered Brazilian BBQ yesterday so tonight we went to Churrasco do Gaucho, a small local BBQ place, and stuffed ourselves full of BBQ chicken, steak, sausage, rice, farofa, molho,  maionese de batatas, and guarana.  

Mangos, papaya, and paezinhos for breakfast

Surf was up today

Neighborhood near our hotel

It is so green and lush here.

Beautiful sunset!

Taryn, Carson, and Derek heading home from the beach.

Grillin' with the Gauchos.  

We all love Guarana.

Family dinner at Churrasco do Gaucho.

Derek polishing off the Guarana.  Taryn working on her steak skewer.  Brad going for the farofa and molho. 

First Experiences in Brazil - Recreio, Rio de Janeiro

We woke up this morning at 9:30am after 12 1/2 hours of sleep! It's still cloudy and rainy so we are all a little disappointed but are finding other ways to have fun. Annette and the girls went for the pedicures. They were a little different than expected. Brazilian pedicures are a little more aggressive and painful than your typical American pedi... Maile came back with more blood than nail polish on her toes.

We discovered a few local foods that have quickly become family favorites, cochinhas (deep fried mashed potato balls shaped like a tear drop with shredded chicken inside) paozinhos (little french bread rolls) and pao de queijo (cheese bread). We went to the store 3 or 4 times today to get some. We found a little local grocery store so we bought all the ingredients to make our own rice and beans for dinner and it was good. Everyone ate it including the kids but only because they are starving. Some of us are already going through withdrawals from the crap we used to eat at home like cereal, candy, and coke zero. Derek asked if he could go home because their was no food to eat in Brazil.

We've met some really nice people just by walking around town and shopping. Everyone is very curious about the fair skinned Americans walking into the store every 2 hours for cheese bread. Once we break the ice by introducing ourselves they all want to talk to us and offer to help us while we're here.

Brad is encouraging everyone to practice their Portuguese so when the kids want something at the apartment building and need to ask for help from a worker Brad will make them do it themselves. He has each kid memorize two or three words and then they go together to ask. For example, Carson, Taryn and Derek wanted to sit in the hot tub but the water wasn't warm so Brad had Taryn memorize the word "agua" Carson memorize "hidromassagem" and Derek "mais quente" which directly translated means "water - hot tub - more hot." They run to the front desk and then come back and tell us what happened. It's hilarious to hear them practice. They have no fear and will speak Portuguese to anyone.

Brad and Maile at the local market.

Our new friends at our stop for Pao de Queijo.  Brad and owner doing the Brazilian soccer team squat.

Carson and Brad getting some meat skewers at the churrasco near by.

All the kids walking home from the grocery store.

Most americans could survive in Brazil...they have Nutella!

This is why Annette bought $250 of sunscreen at Walmart before we left.  It is R$ 67 or about $35 US for this small bottle.

Hannah doing her Geometry homework packet.

Maile and Annette checking out the local scene.

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American Family of 7 Traveling to Brazil

We started our trip flying from Phoenix to Miami. After a 5 hour layover we left Miami at 8pm and landed in Rio de Janeiro at 8am the next morning. We then took a van taxi for about 90 mins to our condo in the Recreio neighborhood of Barra da Tijuca.

When we boarded the plane in Phoenix, Derek and Taryn got to sit in the cockpit and wear the captain's hat. Derek was trying to convince the pilot to let him fly the plane. We all crashed on the floor in the terminal at the Miami airport because we woke up so early and didn't get any sleep the night before. On the plane to Rio we took almost an entire row across the plane. We finally arrived to our condo in Rio at about 10am and we were all pretty worn out. The weather is warm but cloudy with some rain so we laid around most of the day. Our condo is nice but small. It's on the 6th floor and has a great view of the beach.

We went to the local supermarket for food and got lots of fruits and vegetables and Brad cooked dinner. The highlight of the day was when Annette and Hannah went to the store for bread and instead came back with 4 pedicures scheduled for the next morning for $7 each. She was so excited that she found the great deal and that she did all this in Portuguese with no help!

Derek already picked up some Portuguese in the airport and now says "vamos gente!" whenever he wants to go somewhere.  It means "let's go people!"

Derek in the captain's seat

Taryn in the captain's seat

Laying around in the Miami airport.  Hannah lost her shoe.

In the van on the way to our place.

Views of Rio from the van.

Carson ran out of gas.

View from the front door of our apartment.  

Brad cooking dinner on our first night.

Oh the places we'll go.....

RIO DE JANEIRO

                                                                 GARAPUA

                                                                 ILHEUS