December 31 - Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Today we arrived in Rio de Janeiro, where we were being provided an included tour to our second wonder of the world, Christ the Redeemer.

But first, I was up before we got into port and got these pictures of Marina of Brasil (Brazil) - a small Island just outside the port.

 

And after we docked this was the view from my balcony

I then headed out on my excursion, and here are pictures from  town 

 

Shops were closed because of the holidays, however the architecture of the shops is cool.

 

 

We passed the Catedral Metropolitana De Sao Sebastiao Rio de Janeiro (Metropolitan Cathedral of San Sebastian)
 

And here are some more Cool Structures
Aqueduct and fun art
 

Clock Tower and view from my balcony of the old with the new
 

Sugarloaf Mountain from town and Christ the Redeemer from town
 

Then it was off to Mount Corcovado and Christ the Redeemer. We took a tram up through a rain forest to the Statue

 

A tram ride (15 - 20 Minutes), a lyft (9 stories), and 2 escalators later we arrived. By the way, it took about 30 minutes each way waiting in a que to get on the tram. And our guide said this was a well organized and good day.

 

  

 

This if for the engineers reading this
 

Views from Mount Corcovado 

 

 

Do you see the Metroplitan Cathedral?
 

They were getting ready for New Year's Eve Service

As we were in line to get on our tram to head down the mountain the folks coming out of the tram were our Serenade of the Seas employees. Everyone stopped and started cheering and clapping. Yelling, 'the best service ever', 'great food' and 'we love Royal Caribbean'. The employees stopped in their tracks and  were in are in awe of the appreciation. So, we all cheered and clapped even louder. I bet Tik Tok didn't capture that!!!!

Then it was off to lunch at Assador, an authentic Argentinian Steakhouse Restaurant. Funny, given we were in Brazil. And no, all those drinks aren't mine (seriously). They belong to Joy, who was sitting next to me. If you don't believe me, check out the other pictures. The guy taking the selfie is Salamon, our tour guide.

 

 

Sugarloaf Mountain

 


And back at port - I was able to touch the hand of Christ

And finally our certificate and pin, commemorating the event
 





Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

April 7 - Forbidden City, Beijing, China

Image
After 40 years, I finally made it to China! And I'm going to walk on the Great Wall. Wohoo! But first we are going to The Forbidden City. We ported in Tianjin, and were greeted with a heartfelt welcome from the Chinese government.  They provided entertainment, including the revered Dragon Dance (the dancers in blue), which I caught on video.  And to no surprise and they caught everything on CCTV.  As I was watching the entertainment, the drone was literally in my face. And later when I headed out on the excursion, the film crew followed me. If you see me, please forward me the link.  It was quite smoggy in Tianjin, so my pictures may be a little blurry. We found out later that the Chinese government moved all smog producing factories out of Beijing and into Tianjin, to clean up the air for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. It was a 3+ hour drive to Beijing. We were lucky that we didn't arrive yesterday as it was a day a remembrance. It is a day when all Chinese visit...
Read more

December 27 - King Neptune's Equator Crossing Cerimony

Image
We passed the equator on December 25 th ; however, King Neptune was a little busy. So, he arrived today to commemorate our Crossing of the Equator. Our Cruise Director, Joff, emceed the ceremony and welcomed King Neptune and his wife, Amphitrite, on behalf of the crew and passengers.   The line-crossing ceremony is conducted as a sort of admittance into the ‘Court of Neptune.’ This ritual is also a way of appreciating the prowess of the cruisers who are able to brave the uncertainties and dangers of the sea. A cruiser who is relatively new or has not crossed the equator is termed as a Pollywog. To be more precise with the colloquial term, the inexperienced cruisers are termed as ‘Slimy Pollywogs’ who are not yet adept with the ways of the sea. On the other hand, the cruiser who have crossed the Equator are initiated as ‘Trusty Shellbacks’ into the court of Neptune. We found out we had scoundrels on board who had crimes against the guests and Neptune's realm and they were brought fo...
Read more

September 10 - The Party is Over, Time to Head Home

Image
It's over, I'm all packed.  Hello Miami, we're back, right where we started from.  There was a great homecoming with lots of decorations and music.  And we can't forget the certificates. One for completing the Fourth Segment, and one for completing the Ultimate world cruise.  I had to laugh when I saw on Facebook the Activities Team stole the decorations and posed for us.  My Condo never looked better and my fridge and liquor cabinet was fully stocked. Which was great, because I wasn't ready to drive, yet. Two hours after arriving home, it looked like a bomb went off in my condo, as I attempted to unpack. No pictures because as of a week later, I'm still unpacking
Read more