Business Trip Extraordinaire--Day 21

Greetings from Rio de Janeiro on my last full day in Brazil. Tomorrow morning, I will complete three weeks away from home. Tracy and I have never been apart this long since we met, and I do miss her. I'm glad I'll be home on Monday.

However, I had a great day today. This morning I slept in a little. After breakfast, I went to Copacabana Beach to swim and sit in the sun. It was very pleasant. There were some large waves that knocked me down three or four times. Swimming in the ocean is one of my favorite things. Spending time in the ocean reminds me of when Moses had a vision of the earth and said, "Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed." (Moses 1:10) In my case, getting pulled under the water by one little wave near one little beach is powerful enough to make me humble. I had a talk with a colleague not too long ago in which he told me that surfing does the same thing, though he wasn't speaking religiously. Either way, no wonder the ocean is so captivating.

Copacabana Beach, taken near the Forte de Copacabana and looking northeast. I went to the beach a mile or two northeast of here.

After spending enough time at the beach to undo the farmer tan I got last weekend in Manaus, I showered and went to the Forte de Copacabana (Copacabana Fort) by subway. It's an old army fort on the point of land that sticks out in the ocean between Copacabana and Ipanema. The fort was somewhat interesting. There was also a military museum, which was also somewhat interesting.

The entrance to the Forte de Copacabana. There's a real soldier in period garb at the left side of the entrance. It's still officially an army fort and is run by Brazilian Army soldiers.

Forte de Copacabana. Just left of center is a helicopter that had just taken off from the fort. The Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) is left of center in the background.

Part of the fort

On top of the fort, looking at one of the guns

Looking west from the top of the fort. The tall buildings are in Ipanema.

After visiting the fort, I got back on the subway to go to Glória, near the Centro, to visit the Museu da Arte Moderna (Museum of Modern Art). I'm not a big art fan, but I have seen a lot of Rio in two trips here and thought I would do something new. The museum was okay. I think I would have appreciated it more if I knew more about art. They do not allow patrons to take photos, but I took a few on the way there and back.

The Centro (downtown Rio). Taken from a pedestrian bridge over a highway, looking north.

Looking south from the same bridge. The tall hill in the background is the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf).

The Museu da Arte Moderna building. Most of the museum is above the ground floor, and you can walk under it.

A rock garden and some modern art outside the museum.

Temporary facility for tomorrow's Corrida da Ponte (Bridge Race), a marathon from Niterói to Rio de Janeiro that crosses the Rio-Niterói bridge.

Look at the man in the center, and look at the airplane at the top. It's a motorized model airplane that is attached to a cable. The man is holding the other end of the cable and flying the plane. The sign at the right indicates that this area is for doing exactly what this guy is doing.

After I got back from the museum, I rested a little and had dinner. I ate pizza. Yes, of all the foods I could have eaten in Rio, all I wanted tonight was pizza. It's a good thing because there seems to be at least one pizza place on every block in Copacabana. After my pizza, I got on a bus to visit the Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf). I've been there before, but I thought I would see how it looks at night. The view was okay but nothing like the daytime view. The best thing is that the weather was cool and the sun was not in my eyes, so I just sat relaxing and looking at the lights for a while. A few photos turned out and here they are.

Model of the Pão de Açúcar and surrounding area

A cruise ship leaving Rio, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

Me with Copacabana Beach to my left, your right

A sculpture atop the Pão de Açúcar. The plaque indicates that the sculpture is supposed to represent the physical geography of Rio.

Santos Dumont airport, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar. Santos Dumont was the Brazilian inventor of the airplane (not to be confused with the Wright Brothers, the real inventors of the airplane).

Flamengo Beach, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

Botafogo Beach, taken from atop the Pão de Açúcar

I'm glad I went at night, because it was very comfortable weather and easy on my eyes. But the spectacular views and photos are really only available in the day. It was definitely worth a try though.

I am very pleased that I head for home tomorrow. I know three weeks would be child's play for a lot of people, including our brave airmen, soldiers, and sailors. But I don't like to be away from my family for this long. It's time to get back to normal life.

Tomorrow's blog post will not likely show up tomorrow, because I probably won't have Internet access until I get home on Monday. I'm looking forward to a safe trip home and a wonderful reunion with my family.