Corcovado

Flavio picked me up out in front of the hotel at noon. We headed out to Santa Teresa, a district of old stately homes, shops, boutiques and restaurants. The circuitous and climbing road passed several favelas along the way. They seem to be regarded as just another part of the city, but another part of the city you want nothing to do with. They are still extremely dangerous and incredibly well armed. Would that our military had their resources. Apparently all the weaponry comes from Paraguay. The police are also so deeply entrenched in the weapons dealing there that they end up trading the favelas weapons that are ultimately used to fight them. Along the wonderful and exciting tram system are very good restaurants and shops. We stopped at Bar do Mineiro to sample their feijoada, a thick stew of black beans and pork with spices. We shared a single order, which we could not finish. It is served with rice, dried manioc powder [farofa], and a strange vegetable/salad green like nothing I have seen, It appears as shredded leaves but that may be its natural state and it has small pod-like growths about the size of a pea. They seem to have been sliced very thin which suggests the shredding. Hot sauce is a must and you wash it all down with ice cold Atlantica Beer which resembles Heineken. We then headed for Corcovado and the Christo Redentor, in the Floresta da Tijuca, the largest urban jungle in the world. It makes Golden Gate Park look like a tiny corner in my unkempt back yard. Some of the most breath-taking panoramas are afforded from this massive platform crowned by Brazil’s equivalent of the Statue of Liberty. In 1931 this 100 foot tall icon was hauled up to the top fo Corcovado [it means "hunchback"]some 2275 feet on and old rack railway built in 1884 [it is still running and the most popular way to get to the top]. The statue is reinforced concrete clad in soapstone and it sits on a 27 foot pedestal. It was designed by Heitor da Silva Costa and Carlos Oswaldo and was created in France overseen by Paul landowski who also scupted the face and hands.