Album #6 Sugar Loaf

Our pilgrimage went so swiftly and was so filled with exciting impressions and activities that it has taken me weeks to be able to put the photos and the stories in order. The last couple of days we were together with our pilgrims were a fitting climax.

We had started our pilgrimage on the Copacabana beach out in front of the first hotel our pilgrims stayed in. Their rooms looked right out onto the action packed beach scene. It was evening before all the pilgrims were ready to meet. We danced on the beach and then some of us jumped in the sea. It was warm and crystal clear, even without a moon we could see through the dancing water. There were waves, but they were gentle and rolling.

Just before we all parted we had an evening on the beach at Ipanema. Again we circled up and danced and sang. And most of us jumped in the water.

Our last day we planned an excursion up Sugar Loaf. This towering promontory is right in the center of town. We had a lovely meal at the restaurant at the foot of the hill and than rode the cable lift up to the top of Sugar Loaf. You can see one of the glass cable cars in the first picture, second row. There were two levels of lift. We rode both to the very top. The view was spectacular. The second photo on the second row is of Flamingo Beach. That was the area that the pilgrims moved to when Carnival began. We did not want to struggle with the traffic around Copacabana during that week.

The third and fourth picture on that second string is of the promontory that separates the cove with restaurant that we had just had lunch at and the long string of Copacabana beach on the other side of that finger of land.

The third string of photos leads out with a picture of the "Spirit of Rio" a modern sculpture depicting....a mermaid of course. The Great Mother of Brazil, Yemanja, is often depicted as a Mermaid.

The views were spectacular in all directions, often framed by the lush growth that covered Sugar Loaf. It was a cloudy day, not the best for photos, but a great relief from the heat for us.

After this eye popping adventure (the cable cars were mostly glass, we rode them standing up gazing out the full length windows) we were taken to an exclusive neighborhood where Maria had arranged for us to have a "Torre" But that is another story.

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Enjoy!!