Chuck read somewhere a list of the six most beautiful cities in the world. They are, not in any order;, Vancouver, Hong Kong, San Francisco, Sydney, Cape Town and Rio. We covered three of these cities on this trip. This is Chuck’s first visit to Rio. The hotel we stayed in, Sheraton Barra is outside Rio. It is a luxury hotel with generously proportioned rooms and balconies with a great view of the ocean.

On the following morning we were taken on a helicopter ride over the city. The choppers weren’t ready and to keep us occupied they were serving beer. We wondered if it wasn’t too early for a beer (it was just before 10am). Brian Fedak from Winnipeg pointed out the absurdity of this line of thinking – surely it was evening somewhere in the world and, as world travelers, we should know that.

Then there was the helicopter ride. It was breathtaking. We had a panoramic view of this beautiful city. The chopper flew around the imposing statue of Christ the Redeemer. For Chuck, this city is far and away the most stunning in the world. We then had lunch in a Copacabana restaurant which had an endless supply of seafood dishes. Copacabana is a long stretch beautiful sandy beach. After lunch we were driven to Ipanema, an upscale shopping district. Those who were keen shopping got off there. The rest of us returned to the hotel to indulge in less mundane activities.

On the third day, we went back again to see Christ the Redeemer statue, this time by bus and by train which took us to the top. This is one of the most impressive statues Chuck has ever seen. While the helicopter ride gave us a bird’s eye view of the statue, it was not the same as seeing it standing in front of the statue. A wonderful wonderful experience. The afternoon was free except for those born to shop. The rest of us went for a walk along the coast, caught up on our emails or simply sat at the bar.