Her name is Rio and she's lost amongst the clouds

Christ the Redeemer 

Sassy Rio de Janiero - sounds of the samba, the crashing surf, the high rises framed against the mountainsides, the favellas and the iconic Corcovado and Sugar Loaf - well. 

Good thing we were here years ago on a sunny day and saw Rio at her best when "she danced along the sand". Today the rain clouds hung low over the city.  It was grey and gloomy - barely a samba beat to be heard. 

No view today, Brazilian coffee instead

With 2014 World Cup Soccer and the 2016 Summer Olympics on their way to Rio we felt bemused as we drove around the city.  

The infrastructure looked bleakly inadequate, traffic barely moved and while Coca Cola has already made its branding mark on the Corcovado train station, the disinterested attitude of the folks operating the railway really made us wonder what it will take for Coke and its cohorts to infuse the appropriate FIFA/Olympic spirit.

Corcovado’s train trundled slowly up the mountain and into the clouds.  The iconic statue of Christ the Redeemer was a ghostly shadow in the mist.  Brazilian coffee helped lift our spirits before we continued on, eventually skirting Ipanema and Copacabana then taking the stunning cable car rides to the top of Sugar Loaf mountain.

The iconic Sugar Loaf cable car

By this time the misty clouds were not static, almost creating an ethereal atmosphere as we looked down over the city and its beaches.

View from atop Sugar Loaf

“Her name is Rio and she dances in the sand“, so sang Duran Duran.  Today Rio seemed lost amongst the clouds.  A city with so much resting on her shoulders as she prepares for the attention that will soon come her way.  

Hope she’s ready.