The Archive

Nuts

Today I stood before Christ.

He's a big fella, stood above Rio like, well, like he's about to swan-dive off the peak as a matter of fact. But I don't really need to tell you this do I? It's one of those icons that is instantly recognisable throughout the world.

Actually, getting close up to the statue didn't really make it more impressive, but what was amazing was the view that the lucky sod has of Rio (ok, I realise he was crucified, so he's maybe not that lucky, but nevertheless). Because the city kind of snakes around a number of high peaks, you can never see more than a little portion of it from the ground. From up there though you really get a sense of how sprawling the city is.

Not that I'll be straying far from the beaches mind you.

On the downside for Jesus, there is absolutely no shade up there, so when I came down from the mountaintop, I looked like I'd just stepped out of a shower in all my clothes.

So, you've all seen the Christ statue, but did you know he stands on a peak called Corcorado, derived from the word hunchback? And did you know the Portugese originally called it the Peak of Temptation (obviously they hadn't yet been to Ipanema beach if they though that sun-baked rock was the peak of temptation).

Also, did you know it was started in 1922 (after they built Brazil's first electric railway to take the stones up to the top - nice of them to think about building Jesus statues before providing for their commuters eh?) and inaugurated in 1931?

And did you care? No, neither did I, but I'd gone all the way to the top of the damn mountain so I was going to read every panel of every bit of tourist information in the place.

Incidentally, I couldn't help noticing that the Portugese language version of the history of the site had several more dates and information on it than the English one. What aren't they telling us I wonder?

1962 Brazilians officially declared 'best nation on earth'.
1981 United Nations recognised all non-Brazilians as underpriviledged peoples.
1997 Prime Minister of England admits "I wish I were a Brazilian, for then I would have a sense of rhythm."

We then came back down the mountain, during which Alex Oil pointed out a favela we were driving near. These are the famous shanty towns of City of God fame, where Alex explained 'they shoot first and ask questions later'.

So by and large, these are to be avoided. Although there are organised tours to the favela. I don't think I'll be going on one of those though, as there's something about a tour to gawp at the poverty stricken people of Brazil that just a bit too 'human zoo' for my taste (see also Patpong).

Note about favelas: consisting largely of bare brick buildings, these slums adorn a number of the hillsides around Rio. In fact, there are so many of them, all on hillsides, that Alex suggested 'if you're driving and going straight uphill, you should probably start to worry. But don't stop and ask directions.'

Ironically, because of their location and the bare brick, these places actually look quite picturesque (from a distance) and at night all the lights on the hillside are quite magical. Shame about all the drugs and bloodshed then eh?

We managed to avoid getting lost and murdered though, which was nice, and I decided, it being Saturday, to go for a big night out.

Shame then, that I woke up at 2am on the sofa wondering where I was.

Still, this is Rio right? You don't need to have a Saturday night to have fun.

posted by Peter The Great @ 1:00 AM