Tuesday, July 28th: Christ the Redeemer

     Nothing was planned until 10:00 AM today, which is when we left the hotel for the Christ the Redeemer statue. But two of my teammates and I went out to the beach at 6:30 AM to see the sunrise over Sugar Loaf mountain and it was definitely a great decision. The view was absolutely gorgeous. It was just us three, the waves crashing onto the beach and the sun peeking it's away over the mountains in the distance, it was quite the picturesque moment.

     The sun went behind the clouds soon after it rose, so that was our cue to go back to bed until the Christ statue. We woke up at 9:30 and was able to fit in a quick breakfast before departing to the most anticipated part of the whole trip. The way to get to the top of the mountain is by a train ride, so we boarded the train and started our way up the mountain. During the ascension, there was some incredible views of the ocean and the city, which was just a preview of what was to come at the top. The train arrived to the top and the statue was in sight but we had to climb a few steps to get to the foot of the statue. Once we made those last few steps and got to touch the base of the Christ statue I was in awe. You could see for miles on top of the mountain, not to mention the gigantic Christ statue looking over us and the city is within an arms length. Naturally, I had to get a selfie with the big guy. 

     Our team spent a lot of time taking in the view and taking pictures of this unforgettable sight. Unfortunately, we had to go back down to sea level and say good bye to Christ after more than an hour on top of Brazil. 

     We didn't have much planned for the day besides the Christ statue so we went out and got some food once we got back and then took the subway across town to the Centro, which is a large market, full of vendors selling all type of goods. You could get everything form some Brazil and Rio souvenirs to new phones and other electronics. There was a lot of Jersey vendors, some of which were selling real jerseys and some of which were selling rip off jerseys. Either way, it was fun trying to communicate and barter for a price on the goods across the language barrier, as most of these people did only spoke English. This was a very cultural experience, as it appeared to be more of a local mall than a tourist mall.

     We road the subway back to the hotel after all of our purchases and we were able to go out to walk the beach and hang for a little bit before going off to dinner. The restaurant we went to was the best meal of the trip, it was an all you can eat steak house, which brought out delicious steaks on swords and the waiters cut off a slice of meat right at the table and onto your plate. They had a buffet of sides to go along with the steak, chicken and all other types of meat. For dessert, they brought out the most delicious grilled pineapple on a sword as well as a piece of cake. This was a great last team dinner, and on the way back to the hotel, we stopped at another small market with multiple vendors that was right on the beach. After we were done at the second market of the day and all of my Real was gone, we went to check out the nightlife of Copacabana again and made it up to the rooftop of a hotel which had a great view of the beach. 

     This was the last night in Brazil, a very bitter sweet feeling. I could stay and hang out in Rio with the team for one or two more days but it will be really nice to get back and see the family and sleep in my own bed! We will have free time all morning tomorrow and we will depart for the airport in Rio at 3:30 PM so I am not sure what tomorrow will have in store.  For the last time, Boa Notie from Brazil!