"Imagining Rio" a Rio de Janeiro Travel Page by acemj

Rio de Janeiro is known as the cidade maravilhosa and one visit and you'll see that it lives up to its moniker. There are cities in the world that you've imagined your whole life and when you finally make it there you're forced to pinch yourself as a reminder that the moment is real. Sometimes when I walk around New York, similar feelings come over me and I have to stop and acknowledge that yes, I'm actually in New York. Rio is the same. After all, images of Sugarloaf mountain like the one in this picture have been attacking our senses for most of our lives. We've all seen the amazing Christ the Redeemer statue that blesses the city from atop of Corcovado hill for years in travel magazines and in movies, but seeing it in person crystalizes all of those murkier images into something real and dramatic and I guarantee the sight of it will not disappoint.

Rio was the first stop that I made on this, my first trip to South America. And while the weather didn't quite live up to my expectations, the beauty of the city itself far surpassed what I had previously imagined.