Mar 14 Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

We got up early to view the sail in to Rio, promised as being spectacular by the cruise director.  It was.

Sugar Loaf to the left and Christ the Redeemer in the distant hill on the right.

 Christ Redeemer with telephoto

 Brazil has an aircraft carrier -- maybe.  Late last year they decided to auction it off.  I couldn't find any reference to a sale.  Here's an opportunity if you'd like to create your own island, move it wherever you want.

 We selected the Oceania excursion "The Best of Rio" which I would translate into "Go up into the clouds".  Our bus first took us through Rio streets.

 This is a cathedral.  Really. Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião do Rio de Janeiro.  Distinctive, modern Catholic cathedral resembling a pyramid, inaugurated in 1979 (Wikipedia)

 Museum

 Exit the bus at Monumento aos Heróis de Laguna to go to the cable car to take us to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain.

 The lines were quire long, and our visit to Sugar Loaf was advertised as two hours, lasted three.

 Praia do Leme

 The cable car ride is a two step process.  At the intermediate point there's a 300 meter walk with viewpoints of the city.

 One of the slums of Rio

 Move on to the second cable car

 Schematic of the trip

 And we're going up into the clouds.

 Up at the top it was quite cloudy/foggy.  We were there for about 40 minutes and there was a thirty second window in which this picture was taken.  What you see is the famous Copacabana beach.  I have lots more pictures of fog with faint outlines of Copacabana beach if you're interested.

 Back down.  You can see that the clouds just surround the top of Sugar Loaf.

 Next stop was lunch at Fogo de Chao, a Brazilian charcuterie.  Lots of roasted meats and they carve it at the table unto your plate.  Apparently it's a chain, and there are locations in Miami and Orlando.

 Having fulfilled our Atkins Diet requirements, we move to a cog railway for our second trip into the clouds, this time to visit Christ the Redeemer.

 After the rail trip, you go up 100 feet in an elevator.  We were impressed by the ficus tree growing on the side of the cliff.

 And here you see the statue in some of its glory. 

 Perhaps the best shot.

 Using a refrigerator magnet, here's simulation of the statue.

 As we escalated back down to the elevator, there was a clearing.  Not enough time to run back up and get a picture, but it shows that it does happen.  At no time was there a view towards the sea or the city down below us.

 On the bus ride back to the ship we went along Ipanema and Copacabana beaches.  It's a Saturday, getting towards 6pm, and the sun is already down.  Yet the beach and sidewalk were full of people.  No indication that anyone was going home soon.

Wish we had more time to see the rest of Rio.