Trip to Rio de Janeiro

Sunrise on the way to Rio de Janeiro

Early in the morning we left Paraty on Friday the 3rd of June to drive to Rio.  We followed route 101 up the coast and saw many glimpses of the ocean.  This is near one beach on the way.  After about a 3 hour drive we got caught in the traffic of Rio which was just like any large city in the US.  We finally were able to see where we wanted to go but didn't know how to get there.

We traveled around in the traffic asking questions and we were directed to the road that leads up the mountain which makes Lombard St. in San Francisco look mild.  We climbed and climbed until we reached the parking lot part way up where we had to get on the little van that takes us up to the statue.

After arriving we got out and headed for the statue.

It was almost about to rain but we arrived before the rain.  This picture show a beautiful sky, however looking down on the city from on top didn't give the best photos.  We were able to see everything. Sometimes the statue is in the clouds and you can't see the city below, so we were lucky again.

You can see all the photos in the web album by clicking
HERE

The yellow building with the graffiti on it is when we were lost trying to find the road that leads up the mountain.

 This is the view from on top at dusk.  It is Botafogo Bay and Sugar Loaf

 We then left and went back into the traffic to go to Copacabana Beach.  Here is a look at the traffic and the beach is on the right.

 A little of the flavor of the beach.  It was a little cool. The guys still have on tee shirts. (Remember this is winter down here)


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Here is the Slide Show

Back From Vacation

The temple shut down for maintenance and cleaning May 23rd until June 6th.  They had to shut down the power and water in the housing complex as well and did some spraying for bugs.  This meant that we had to leave for part of the time.  Part of the time became the full 2 weeks.  We went to live for this time with another missionary couple who have been serving here for 6 months but are still waiting for their call to arrive.  The Bro. and Sis. Mello live about and hour and a half Northwest of Campinas.

First thing when we arrived is to have a little game of pool.  Note the tile on the wall.

Front view of the house where we stayed.  All the homes are fenced with locked gates.  The house is long and narrow.    The garage behind the gate is for cars not storage and you can park 2 cars one behind the other.

We stayed in the upper room on the right with the balcony in front.  The pool table is under the bedroom. Half of the living space is outside and is all tiled.

Click Here for other photos in Rio Claro web album

Verae standing in the front courtyard after church. Since there is no heat in the church buildings and the windows and doors were all opened, Verae was freezing.  Even a dog wandered in to sacrament meeting for a while.

Notice the street signs on the corner of the house. Also there are always grates on the windows.

Next we went to the summer cabin near Paraty in the state of Rio de Janeiro.  The picture at the left is of the fishing village of Praia Grande where the family of Sister Mello makes their living.  We stopped here to get some octopus.  I don't think we will be trying any.

The tropical flowers and birds are so pretty.

Notice the little blue bird left of center.  We saw red, yellow, blue, green, brown, and black birds. We saw big black Urubu birds which are like seagulls but black and a little bigger.
Verae enjoyed the bird watching so much that she spend half a day trying to get pictures and movies of the different kinds of birds, and all the colorful plants.

We added a lot of pictures to the previous web album of Paraty.

Click Here to view the Paraty web album.