Just How Much Shellfish Can You Eat?

Tuesday 27 February

Waking up in a huge luxurious room definitely made you feel very good at the start of the day – the sun was shining and when we looked out of the windows we could see people doing all sorts of nasty things – like jogging, power walking and even kicking footballs around on the beach – and it was only 08.00. We made our way to breakfast – in the same restaurant as we ate last night – and chose a table by the pool again, but this time under the awning in the shade – the temperature was already up past 30 degrees C. The buffet table was inside in the dining area, and stretched almost the whole length of the room – the width of the swimming pool and seating areas on both sides! The choice was enormous – from a multi-coloured array of fresh juices, to fruits, cereals and yogurts, all the usual cooked breakfast food plus boiled eggs - you could order omlettes, fried or poached eggs if desired - a whole gaggle of cheeses (the Brie was just running . . . mmmm) cold meats and smoked salmon, plus so many different breads and cakes, it took minutes to take it all in. Colin would be able to have a field day – would he beat his record of ten courses? Needless to say breakfast took a lot longer this morning as we sat and soaked up the atmosphere and ate our fill in the warm sumptuous surroundings.

But we were ready when Marco arrived exactly at 10.00. Today we would be visiting the Corcovado (means “hunchback” in Portuguese) – the hill where the statue of Christ the Redeemer watches over the city from a height of 710 metres. We were driven to the Cosme Velho station, at the bottom of the hill to catch a pillar box red train – a bit like the funicular railway – that is ratcheted up the mountain side. The railway was built at the end of the 19th century to take the Emperor and his guests to the top of the hill, where he liked to picnic and watch over the city. It became electrified in 1902, becoming the first electrified train in Brazil. The ride up the very steep hill, took us through the Atlantic rain forest canopy of Tijuca National Park, from which we could espy some stunning views of the city as well as the poorer shanty town districts. A man wandered up and down the corridor selling water and colas, until half way up, at another station, a group of four musicians swapped places and began playing rhythmic samba tunes. One of the travelers – a young curvy lady and obviously Brazilian – joined in and danced energetically, wiggling her hips and dancing to the fast notes of the music – it was all very entertaining. At the top station, we were taken up to the next level by a see through lift, which deposited us nearby the shops and café. From here, courtesy of Mr Stern - who owns many very expensive jewellery outlets in all the hotels as well as the main shopping street in Rio – we rode two escalators to the very top. These were installed to enable disabled people to visit the statue – it is a religious icon, after all.

The statue towered above us – it was over 30 metres tall from head to feet, the arms reached out almost 30 metres from finger tip to finger tip – the outstretched arms are supposed to be welcoming everyone to Rio - and it weights 1,145 tonnes (2.5 million lbs!). The huge black plinth cube was a further 8 metres high. The first statue was conceived by the artist Carlos Oswaldo in 1921 - which was different to the one we saw today - following a priest’s vision of Christ on top of this hill. The statue today was designed by a Brazilian engineer Heitor da Silva Costa, and sculpted in France by a Polish sculptor, Paul Landowski, between 1926 and 1931. It was renovated in the 1990’s to provide better viewing platforms and of course those escalators.

During its transportation to Brazil, an arm of the main sculpture was broken and it was therefore decided to deliberately cut the enormous carving into seven large pieces that would enable it to travel safely and be “glued” back together once it reached the top of the hill. The outer covering was composed of soapstone which was chosen because it has very strong resistance to weathering, but is soft to work with – not sure how that works, but that’s what we were told. This covering was compiled of approx seven million tiny triangles which were numbered and placed on the sculpture like a jigsaw – all the pieces were numbered. We could still see the crazed pattern today as we stood and gazed up in wonder.

We wandered around the balconies at the top – me hanging over the sides to get some extra views of the bays way below, and Colin standing back from the rails, videoing. It was extremely hot with little or no shade. We could see the whole city spread out below us, including the airport with the shortest runway in the world on a small peninsula jutting into the Guanabara Bay (not the airport we landed at, but operating domestic flights between Rio and São Paulo), the Maracana football stadium which holds 182,000 people – a huge tawny oval with a small green ‘emerald’ inside - the cathedral looking like a pyramid that had lost its top, the beaches of Copacabana, Ipanema (of “Girl From Ipanema” fame) and Leblon, as well as several other smaller man-made sandy bays, the hotels that used to be beside the sea - due to the landfill programme to build new roads and improve communications within the city, they are now sited a few kilometres inland - parks, and of course Sugar Loaf Mountain across the city. The whole area is surrounded by mountains, some mere indigo shadows in the distance. It was a spectacular view.

Before descending in the train Marco ordered us a couple of juices – Colin’s was orange and assouria (?) while mine was pineapple and mint, which was extremely refreshing in the heat. Colin’s was a lovely twist on a straight orange juice. Feeling a little cooler, we made our way back to the train where we traveled slowly down the steep incline – the downward journey took 22 minutes, compared with the upward one of 17 minutes. It’s a good job the brakes were working. Our driver was waiting patiently at the station, and took us back to the hotel, as it was already 14.30. I blogged for a while before going to the pool to check emails and drink some tea. Juz phoned while we were there – it was a bit of marathon phone call, as we caught up on lots of her news.

Marco had reserved a table at a seafood restaurant he highly recommended. So we put our best clothes on and strolled along to the far end of Copacabana Beach – our hotel is about half way along the Avenue Atlantica, or esplanade - which took about half an hour. We have never seen so many dogs being walked as here in Rio – this morning whilst at breakfast three people paraded three large dogs on leads past the pool to leave by the side entrance – obviously on their way to exercise the animals that must be staying here with guests. Tonight there were lots of people, each with several strings of dogs, all walking up and down the street – a popular variety was the oversize Yorkie style, with lots of flowing hair and ribbons (reminded me of Terence in East Enders!). But we have seen some walkers with as many as ten dogs each – all different breeds – so it must be big business. You can imagine what it’s like when they meet up with each other – dogs everywhere, as they are all on extended leads running amuck.

We eventually arrived at the restaurant which inside resembled an old wooden sailing ship, with nets and masts and lots of sailing memorabilia “hanging” around, while busts of sailors in striped jerseys leered from the ceiling. It was already crowded at 20.30 – we had been told Brazilians like to eat later in the evening – but we were shown to a table upstairs, where only a few people were already seated. A waiter came and explained the system – we were to choose entrées from the buffet tables downstairs, then we would be served with our main course. There were no menus to peruse and Marco had told us we would be offered a selection of seafood – fine by us. We both had a local cocktail – similar to a “mahjita” with lots of lime, which was delicious, before starting on our marathon “munch”. We started with anchovies, oysters, see-through slices of octopus, spicy shrimps in black spiky sea urchin cups, raw marinated white fish fillets, as well as asparagus, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes and rocket – that’s what I chose anyway, there was lots more. And of course there was bread and mini empanadas (a bit like pasty shaped samosas) in a basket on the table. While we were still chomping our way through these platefuls, a waiter came and asked if we would like to try some hot clams – yes we would – and from then on a stream of waiters visited each table, every few minutes with more delicacies to try – about four different kinds of lobster tails, deep fried octopus, squid, crayfish, large and small prawns, salmon, mullet, white fish – the list was endless. Until you felt you didn’t have another inch of space to spare and just had to stop. We drank copious glasses of zingy white wine along the way. By the time we had eaten our fill, the top floor of the restaurant was full too. The whole atmosphere was really buzzing, and it was delightful to just sit and people watch for a while. It was then time to research the desserts! Colin couldn’t decide between a small caramelized apple tart and crème caramel, so had both (!), while I chose a passionfruit pannacotta. We finished with a large pot of chamomile tea as no green tea was available. Wow! It was a magnificent meal – and the shellfish was amazing.

We staggered back to the hotel in the warm inky black night as there were very few stars – due to the light pollution again – as Rio is really lit up at night, with millions of street lights. It was almost midnight by now and we kept to the lighted parts of the pavements – its such a shame Rio is considered so unsafe – everyone warns you about the street crime that abounds in this city (mostly to finance drug dependency), and the locals all stay at home or close to their own neighbourhood at night. When we had first arrived last night we had asked Marco about getting around, and he had explained that buses were a definite no-no at any time, taxis were also not very safe and should only be taken if absolutely necessary, and the metro – which only travels a short distance from the city centre to the beach – was not to be trusted either. Walking around, we should not wear anything that could be stolen – watches or jewellery, etc – and not to carry anything unnecessary – like cameras or wallets with money or credit cards inside! Although we didn’t see anything untoward occurring, you had to be vigilant all the time you were out of the hotel.

We arrived back safely and collapsed into bed – too late now to go to the pool and check emails – plenty of time for that tomorrow.