| Our postcard view from the Christ statue atop Corcovado mountain. This is Rio's greatest vantage point with which to admire the beauty of the city. | |
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Tiffany and Hans wave hello along with many other visitors to the Christ
statue. It took several hours to get to the platform that provides you
with this view of the statue and the view above of the city and Guanabara
Bay and Sugarloaf mountain.
The statue was a gift from the French to Rio and Brazil. It is something that I always remembered as giving me comfort that all was OK when I was a child growing up in Rio. |
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On the way up to the statue there are some great views of statue from all angles. |
| Brazil is the world's largest Roman Catholic country. Corcovado is a great symbol of the country's belief in Christ and what he stands for. The detail of Christ's face shows the classic lines of a stoic figure that enspires a comfort and confidence amongst his followers. |  |
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This tourist postcard picture shows the relationship of Corcovado and the city. The Statue sits high above everything and leaves everyone down in the city with a good view. |
| The helicopters give us a chance to see how really big the statue really is. Views like the one right above are taken from the helicpoter. Note the fog clouds that drift by occasionally. |  |
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Even though it's hot the ocean provides a nice breeze which can create fog clouds on Corcovado. You can see it sneaking up behind me on the right of the picture. |
| Then seconds later the fog clouds roll in and now you're cold - shivering. We were lucky to get some breaks in the clouds. Imagine waiting hours to get up to the top only to be surrounded by clouds, freezing with no views of anything. This kind of reminded us of home, San Francisco, which also suffers from fog attacks often. |  |
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But at night the fog effect can produce a miracle view. The Christ statue is bathed in a glow of light as the fog is made flourescent by the flood lighting. Envision looking up from anywhere in the city and seeing this spectacular view with the fog glowing in constantly changing patterns - believe me - you can't even imagine how special it really is. |