Our plan for Thursday was to meet up with everyone first thing in the morning to go see Christ the Redeemer. Patti was great enough to do all the leg work on the arrangements. She got us a van to take us all out there which was nice. The only problem is the traffic here is absurd and it took about an hour and half to go 24 miles.  We were dropped off at Copacabana beach to pick up our ticket to head up to Corcovado. The lady at the ticket counter told us that the visibility at that moment was very bad and might not be worth the trek up so see clouds.

After some discussion, we agreed that we would eat something on the beach and then go back and get tickets.

Once we got our tickets we were put into another van and settled back into more traffic. It’s like there are only two roads in this enormous city and everyone is on them.

Once you reach the top and climb up to statue the views are incredible.

You can see full panoramic view of Rio, from Maracana stadium to Impanema beach.

We really lucked out with the weather. We had 100% visibility and once we saw what we wanted the clouds rolled in and took over the entire place. The weather turned chilly and that was our queue to head back. None of us were looking forward to getting back in that van but I guess the one road back into the city is a faster route because we  were back at Copacabana in minutes.

Our driver and I were communicating via WhatsApp which has been a great tool here. He was back to pick us up and ready to take us home. Again the drive was incredibly long and once we returned the day was practically over.

Shane Wags and i went to dinner with Wags’ dad at a churrascaria that was recommended to him. We had a decent dinner although the meat here just isn’t the same as at home, and the vegetables leave little to be desired. At least that is what we have found so far. Once we all consumed way too much food we made our way home for the night. Now, what do we do tomorrow?