Honeymoon in Rio de Janeiro: Ipanema Sunset

Last night I realized I hadn’t finished showing you guys our honeymoon photos from Rio.

The photos today are very special to me.

Here’s the story behind them: Jorge and I had just been through one of the worst days of our lives as we missed our flight back to Mexico. I’d spent all morning crying at the airport and making desperate phone calls, then we went back to our vacation apartment for an afternoon nap. We woke up late afternoon, still with no idea how or when we were going to get home, and walked out toward Ipanema because that’s where the Subway shop was (extra vacation days = poor).

When I saw the sunset on Ipanema Beach, I knew that this was the reason we’d missed our flight. God wanted us to see this…

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Rio de Janeiro Honeymoon: Christ the Redeemer

 

On Thursday morning of our trip to Rio, we got to see the famous Christ the Redeemer statue. I’d read on Trip Advisor that you should go as soon as they open (8:30 am) to avoid crowds, otherwise you could be waiting several hours just to buy a ticket for the train up the Corcovado mountain.

So we took a bus from Copacabana very early and got there about 8:45 am… absolutely nobody there, except a few people who were on the bus with us.

the "line" for tickets 😛

Even though we didn’t have to wait in line, a decent crowd with several large groups had arrived by the time we got onto the train a few minutes later. The train takes maybe half an hour to go all the way up the mountain, and there are tons of amazing lookout points along the way. If you ever go, I recommend sitting in the seats facing backwards for the best view.

Jorge falls asleep after 5 minutes in any form of transportation. I envy him.

When we got to the top, it was pretty chilly. I remember stepping off the elevator and looking up at the back of the Christ the Redeemer statue and almost crying in awe. We were at the top of the world looking at one of Brazil’s most impressive monuments. There was a small crowd there that got steadily larger over the next hour or two (glad we went early!), and we spent our time enjoying the views and taking pictures.

lots of hang gliders that morning!

Once we were done taking pictures, Jorge and I went down to the cafe for a coffee. Once we saw a simple coffee was ridiculously expensive, we just pulled some apples out of our backpack and sat down to enjoy the view.

I know I live in a big tourist destination and I can spot a tourist trap from thousands of miles away, (Ok, pretty much our entire trip was uber touristy) but I don’t care. Our morning at Christ the Redeemer was one of the best mornings of my life. Absolutely amazing.