On 30th of July in the evening I finally arrived at main destination of my trip - to olympic Rio de Janeiro. Plan was to visit all tourist attractions before opening ceremony (before 5th of August). And I can say that I was successful - Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach, Christ the redeemer, Sugarloaf mountain, Lapa arcs, Lagoa lake, Selaron staircases, Cidade de Samba, Rio downtown and renewed Olympic boulevard in Rio port.
But first from beginning - I arrive to Rio renewed International Airport (GIG) and then I had to drive 40km to my apartment in Barra region. Yeah, Rio is so big, that 30-40km are normal distances and with public transport it takes you more than one hour to travel that way, it depends what kind of transport you use. Because of Olympic games situation apparently improved - they built new metro line (Linha 4), all over the city, there is BRT (Bus Rapid Transport), which has its own road, no cars there. At port they built also VLT - tram system.
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| New metro station at line 4 |
Rio is also known for security problems with pickpockets and robbing, but now here is a lot of police on every main road, place, attraction, station or stadium, so you feel mostly safe, but still they tell you somewhere to leave your phone in pocket. Personally I did not have any problems so far, so I was enjoying the city as much as possible.
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| Amazing view from Sugarloaf |
If you think about Rio - first two things that comes to your mind are Copacabana and Christ the Redeemer. Christ you can imagine from pictures, how it should be up there - big statue, amazing view of Rio and a lot of people there - and so it is, but Copacabana is something different. You expect a lot of sand and people, but that there are so many beachvolley courts, beachfootball courts or footvolley courts, there is no doubt, why Brazil is so good in football and in volleyball. From the Atlantic avenue to the Atlantic ocean, half of the sand area is for sport and half for pleasure. And Brazilians know how to enjoy the time there.
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| Christ the Redeemer |
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| View from Christ (710m above sea) to Maracana stadium |
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| Pleasure side of Copacabana |
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| Sport side of Copacabana |
But for me Ipanema beach and view from Sugarloaf are better. Ipanema is less crowded and on Sugarloaf you are just 396m directly above the sea, so you can have a good view to the city, beaches and also sea.
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| Gondola to Sugarloaf |
Other must see things are Selaron staircase, made from tiles - very very artistic and it is an entrance to favela. Other things are also Lapa arcs, new Olympic boulevard and walk at Lagoa lake.
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| Seleron staircases |
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| Lapa arcs |
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| Art at Olympic boulevard |
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| New olympic museum at Olympic boulevard |
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| Lagoa lake |
Rio also offers some hiking options, botanic garden and a lot of other beautiful but not as known and as crowded beaches (Barra, Sao Condrado). And also magnificent amazing football stadium Maracana - hosting 4 Rio de Janeiro football teams, and olympic ceremonies.
Yes, I intentionaly wrote this blog just before Olympic opening ceremony - now my dreams will become reality - Olympic games will start and I am here, in Rio Olympic city, working as a volunteer and wondering from stadium to stadium because I simply love sports. Next stories will sure be olympic.
Olympic games are here, best regards from Rio,
Simon
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