Corcovado. O Cristo Redentor.  Or simply "The Christ".   Obviously, along

with Copocabana and Ipanema beaches and the Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar),
Corcovado is one of the most famous sites in all of Rio; all of Brazil, really. 
It's also the most omnipresent, as the statue can be seen from almost
anywhere you are in Rio, from Centro (downtown) to the end of Leblon,

and across the bay to Niteroi.  The statue itself is the single largest art deco

sculpture in the entire world. 

Though I've been living in Brasil for almost three years now and have been

coming to Brasil since 2002, I'd never taken the time to go up to Corcovado. 

It's one of those things that you have to plan ahead and go with a group on a

bus with driver who knows the way or you take a cab, as you have to traverse

a couple somewhat sketchy favelas on the way up the mountain.  My family

and I took the latter option. 

We recently had a day off in the middle of the week, one of the wonderful,

unexpected days off, this one from an obscure Brazilian holiday.  When the

day broke beautiful, our decision to visit the Corcovado was made for us. 

 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 This is the view when you're walking up from the where the

tram/bus drops visitors off.  Heady stuff, to say the least.



 

 

 

 

The iconic view from the far end of the platform.   Impressive.

 

This is the view of the Lagoa Rodrigo Freitas, known as simply the Lagoa.

We're looking due south from directly below the Cristo. And the strip of land

between the lagoa and the ocean is Ipanema (on the left 2/3) and Leblon, after

the canal which separates Ipanema and Leblon.  Now you know why it's so

hard to find a place to live here.  We got very lucky.  Yes, that's a horserace

track on the far right, O Hippodromo.

These next six photos are a panorama from north to south,
beginning with Centro and many other barros of downtown
Rio, across the harbor, Flamengo and Botafogo, followed by
Pão de Açúcar and Copacabana, then Ipanema and Leblon.

The bridge connects Rio with São Gonçalo and Niterói.  The
international airport, named after bossa nova innovator and
Brasilian national hero Antonio Carlos (Tom) Jobim is there. 



 

Pão de Açúcar is dead center with the Botafogo marina just
to the left. To the right is Leme, the start of Copacabana.


The west end of Copacabana, then the gigantic
edifice that separates it from Ipanema.



 

You'll recognize the below from the "Lagoa" photo above.  Ipanema
and Leblon.  The famous mountain known as Dois Irmãos (two
brothers, because the peak is split) is at the far right. You can view
other photos of Dois Irmãos in earlier of my posts about Ipanema.

 

 

 



Looking southeast, towards Barra (pronounced the same as "Baja",
as Brazilians roll their Rsso much that they become an H).  I love

the contrast of the umbrellas in this photo, if I do say so myself. 

 



There was this insane hang glider flying around the Corcovado this day. 
This is not uncommon but this particular pilot seemed completely unfazed
by his proximity to the Cristo, or to death, for that matter.  He kept
buzzing the statue; I half expected Jesus to smite him down with a

quick slap.  But then again, it wouldn't have been particularly cool
thing to do and a little out of character for the big guy. 



 

A vast expanse of sky, a protruding arm and the glider.

As you can see, the guy was clearly nuts.



 

 

This may be my single favorite photograph I've ever taken in my life, out

of tens of thousands of pictures snapped, both analog and digital.  And to be

clear, I'm talking from a purely photographic point of view.  The ironic

thing is, I'm not religious, so the "grandeur" part of Corcovado for me

comes from the views, not the symbolism.

  

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I hope you enjoyed this trip to the Corcovado and now have a better idea
for how Rio is laid out.  It's an amazing city and though we've now been
living here in Rio for half a year, I still feel like I'm just beginning to
scratch the surface. 
Until next time. 

Eric