Tuesday, July 31, 2007

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil - II (now sunny)

I have to save my words for paper writing, so I'll give you more photos even though this is turning into a photo blog! :) Today was a gorgeous day and I decided to skip one of the afternoon sessions to go up the Sugarloaf mountain. I also went to the same place I'd been to yesterday, so I decided to post some photos of the same beach for contrast, the one above, and this one:
Walking back from the beach to the conference, I has this view of the Corcovado Mountain and the Christ statue:
This is the sugarloaf mountain as seen right before taking the cable car to the top:
From the Sugarloaf Mountain zooming on the Corcovado Mountain with the statue of "Christ the Redeemer" on top:

This is the view of the Copacabana beach from the top of the Sugarloaf Mountain:
The bridge between the cities of Rio de Janeiro (on the left) and Niteroi (right) can be seen if you click on the photo below -- I'm taking the boat to Niteroi tomorrow across the bay to visit this museum. Isn't this view just breathtaking?

Coming down from the top, the nice cable car "operator" volunteered to take this photo of me:

I tried to frame the mountains with this tree.

Cloudscome, in response to your questions Sao Paulo is where I lived the longest in Brazil and I was there last week, but I didn't have a camera with me and besides the weather was horrible, it was raining all the time. Sao Paulo is just a city full of tall buildings, not much nature to see, though. Rio is quite different in this respect and visually STUNNING.

P.S. I'm glad one of you mentioned that I look relaxed in yesterday's photo, but I need to say that I've actually been in constant pain in the last few days. Something is wrong with my neck, probably related to some of the tension I experienced last weekend (I'll post about it next week, promise) coupled with the fact that a week ago I had to carry a huge and heavy duffle bag in the bus station after my first conference was over and I did so over my neck and shoulder. So I have a kind of stiff neck and the muscles in my neck and shoulder are sore and hurt constantly on the right side :( I hope it gets better, but it's been like that for 2 full days now...

6 comments:

jo(e) said...

What great photos! I especially like the beach scenes.

I hope the pain goes away soon.

Gabriella said...

Love these pictures!

My husband had a similiar experience a year ago, was very stressed and had pulled some muscles and had a very stiff neck and terrible headaches, he took a muscle relaxant at night and felt better immediately.
Hope you feel better soon.

Dawn said...

I LOVE waking up and seeing these pictures! Starts my day off right!

Is there anyway you could get to a bookstore and pick up these "Miracle Balls?" It's a book put out by workman that comes with two stretchy balls that could really help your neck/shoulders. I rely on them pretty heavily to keep me out of the chiropractors. I hope you feel better soon!

zabrina said...

Hehehe, proud to say...it's my city!!!! I miss it so much! Love to see the photos! Glad you are enjoying the trip to Rio.

Andromeda Jazmon said...

Breathless! I can't believe those photos.

Can you get Chinese medicine there? Tiger Balm and Po Sum On oil are both great for aches in the neck and shoulders. That's what I use. Google them - you can order online if you don't have Asian groceries around. Hope you feel better soon.

Keiko said...

Não estava conseguindo colocar comentários aqui por esses dias.
Mas eita que o Rio continua lindo
mesmo!!!

Aproveita!

Beijinho,
Keiko