Mark and Joan had some bucket list items and one of them was to see the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Rio de Janeiro has a population of close to 14 million people in the general area and is on the Atlantic Ocean giving it a warmer temperature then Santiago. There were nice parts of the city (beaches and tourist spots) but there any very poor areas that were recommended not to go to.

We had a private tour with Riccardo. He took us to Christ the Redeemer statue atop the Corovad0 mountain in the Tijuca National Park. The status is 98 ft tall, 92 ft wide and weighs 635 tons. We also toured Sugarloaf Mountain, Escadaria Selaron (colorful staircase), Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading (famous library), Catedral Metropolitana de São Sebastião (famous modern church), Mosteiro de Sao Bento (famous monastery) and the Maracana Stadium (largest soccer stadium in Brazil). We were thankful for the private tour as our tour guide knew how to get to front of the lines.

We stayed at a hotel on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro which had a large sandy beach and plenty of restaurants. Also the temperature had increased to the low 80s, and we could wear shorts and t-shirts.