Posts
Pornographic Plants? Y-Orchid-ding me…
Sorry about the brutal pun – I’m feeling sick as a dog today and as my health deteriorates, so do my standards of what constitutes acceptable word-play. As mentioned in my last post, I visited the Jardim Botanico a few days ago. And alongside the amazing palms, one of the highlights was the orchid house.
It’s just a pretty flower!
A friend of mine insists that orchids are pornographic – at first I told her she was being ridiculous, but now that she has planted that seed (sorry), I kind of know where she’s coming from. See what you think…
The Second Coming
Last weekend a few friends and I went up to see Cristo Redentor (Rio’s famous Christ the Redeemer statue). Although I see it every day, I had only been up once before – a few weeks after I arrived in Rio. That first time it had been a clear, bright, sunny day and we’d gone up around lunchtime. This time, more by luck than by design, we went up a little after sunset.
If we hadn’t spent so long boozing in the bar down in Laranjeiras then we would have been and gone before the moon started getting involved.
Wow! I really recommend it. Going up during the day is great for getting a really good look at everything, but if you’ve already done that then try going up in the early evening – it’s a very different experience.
The views of the city are stunning and the statue itself has the added element of lighting. For most of the time the statue was lit with a blue/white light, but occasionally they’d flash up something different (for about 3 seconds Jesus was dressed in a lovely rainbow robe that might have suggested certain sympathies at odds with the Catholic Church – unfortunately I didn’t manage to catch that on camera). However, I did manage to get some nice shots so I thought you might like to see a few.
The Canonball Tree
Often your expectations of another country aren’t quite matched by the reality when you finally arrive. It’s like that classic story you hear about the disappointed tourist asking the taxi driver in Sydney where all the kangaroos are hiding. Turns out most cities have the same ugly buildings around the airport, the same traffic jams and the same billboards advertising Coke and McDonald’s. Reality can be underwhelming can’t it?
Well you needn’t worry about that on your drive into town from Rio’s airport. Sure there’s traffic and billboards, but there’s also a massive (and stinky) favela to see/smell – now you know you’re not in London/New York/Kansas anymore...
But often I find it’s the less obvious differences that really pique my curiosity. Like what are those things on the side of bus and truck wheels for?
I was surprised how many people I asked didn’t know what purpose these cable things served. It turns out they are used to regulate pressure and alert the driver when a tyre deflates
Sweet Jesus!
One of Rio’s most iconic landmarks is undoubtedly Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer – that statue). Yesterday was the Cristo’s 80th Birthday and anyone who makes it to 80 deserves a party right? Well a party is what he got, complete with a massive cake:
10 metre long cake…
…gone!