Author: Zhen Shuai

Post-trip

It was a long week after we got back from Rio. Tons of homework, papers, exams followed up the Spring break. It was just hard to relax in the middle of the semester. I was super tired after we got back from Rio at the beginning of this week, so I drunk a lot of water to re-hydrate myself to get over jet lag. Everything went smooth so far; I just missed the time we spent in Rio.

The weather dramatically dropped down from 85 F in Rio to 30 F here. It was a good feeling wearing short on street. I did wish summer would come faster to Columbus this year. It was a little bit snowing early today, but everything roused up from sleeping. It was so nice to see the little purple flower sprouted up on mud outside my house.

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Rio is such a beautiful and unforgettable city. From the Copacabana beach, Ipanema beach, Maracana stadium, botanical gardens, to the sugarloaf mountain, Christ Redeemer status, etc., Rio attracts people world widely. I was so glad we had the chance to see so many beautiful sites during our trip. I enjoyed this trip a lot! It was such a good experience to travel aboard with a group of friends with different majors. And everybody in this trip knew how to take care of themselves and help others.

It was so cool to see the culture of Latin American easily on street. I appreciated all the efforts Aimee and Troy had made. It was the best trip ever for me to travel with a group of friend

Botanical Garden

We went to the botanical garden this thursday. It was an awesome experience to see around 6500 species distributed around the garden.This garden had a really good landscape design with all kinds of plants, so that those plants grew with each others harmoniously. Designer had well combined the primitive forest with the geometric shape of the garden design. This garden was founded in 1808 by King John VI of Portugal. Two rows of palm trees were the main feature of the garden. Those palm trees were so tall and they are standing straight like safe guards for this garden. From the picture below we could see how tall the palm trees were when we compared them to the size of us.

 

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This botanical garden itself was huge, so it took a long time for us to walk around the garden. I think this garden is a wonderful place for photographing, especially for a newly married couple to have them photos taken.

This botanical garden is a nice place to walk and see rare tropical plants. It has a very ecological environment that I see monkeys climb between trees.

There is a big statue in the middle of the garden which is called the Fountain of the Muses. I have a sketch about it as following:

 

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This botanical garden is a nature paradise conceived by the designer.  It is definitely worth a visit!

 

 

 

Escadaria Selaron

There are so many things that I want to do in Rio de Janeiro for my free day, but it is too hard to do all the things together just in one day. Tangling for a long time, my roommate and I, we finally decide to go to see Escadaria Selaron in downtown for our free day.

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Escadaria Selaron is a set of the most famous steps in Rio de Janeiro. Those steps are the work of Jorge Selaroa. There are 250 steps which are covered in more than 2000 tiles collected from over 60 countries all around the world. I am so amazed to see all the little piece collection, and I think they are the most colorful steps in the world. This unusual creation not only make the neighborhood more pretty, but makes Rio a more colorful city.

Some of the tiled steps are very interesting. Since Selaron is known as a artist that depict a pregnant African woman, we can see his preference in his tiles collection. Facing the steps, on our left side, there is a 4*6 tiles size section that attracts my attention: a black pregnant woman with the wall map of Christ the Redeemer, and there are some words in this section “Living in a favela is an art. Nobody robs, nobody hears, nothing is lost. Those who are wise obey those who give orders”. It is interesting!

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Escadaria Selaron is definitely worth a visit in Rio de Janeiro. I do wish I have more time that I can see all the details from the tiles.

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Corcovado Mountain- Christ the Redeemer

Taking the train to the top of the Corcovado Mountain to see the Christ the Redeemer, I was so enjoyed sitting in the little red train. When the train was climbing up, the little red train was surrounded by greenwoods.​ Windows were open widely which let the fresh air flooded into the carriage.​ It was a visual feast to see the color of the red train against the color of green around.​

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This is a tiny train stop in the middle of the mountain.​ Local people who live in the mountain will take the train to transport up and down the hill.​

 

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There are trains in two directions: up and down.​ It runs every twenty minutes. Since there are only few forks in the middle of the track, the train which goes down will stop at the fork to let the other train which goes up ​to pass first.​ Everything just works in perfect order.​

 

 

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The day we went was not a good day to see Christ the redeemer.​ Seas of clouds enshrouded the top of it.​ It was hard to see the entire statue.​ But I was so impressed only by the outline of Christ the Redeemer.​ It was so incredible! Standing at the top of the mountain, Christ the Redeemer has gazed down at Rio de Janeiro with open arms.​ And this statue has became the symbol of Rio and Brazil which implies the meaning of peace.​

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If by any chance that I could go there again, I would really wish I could see Christ the Redeemer in a bright sky!

Flamengo Beach

03/16/2015 Monday

Standing in front of the Flamengo beach, everything is so pretty. I closed my eyes, and I can feel the fresh air on my face and the wind blowing through my hair. Sea water hits the rocks rhythmically, like the ocean is playing her solo to sing the praises of the sunset. Mountains, buildings, bridges, everything blend into one line at the edge of the slight. With the line of edges in the middle, things become symmetric: the sea becomes a mirror that reflect the light from the hidden sun. I love the color of the sea since it reflects the color of the sky.

Flamengo Beach

 

I count this Flamengo beach as the last mark of today’s long walking tour around downtown area. We had a really long-distance walking today, and I was so tired at the time we arrived Flamengo beach. But at the moment I saw this wonderful view, I felt so relaxed: everything is so great and peaceful. Along the beach, I can also see people do all kinds of exercises: walking, running, dancing, yoga, stretching, playing volleyball, playing soccers, etc. Brazil people are very involved in sports. They do know how to use their natural geographical and climate advantage, such as beach, ocean, and tropical weather, to make them live happier and healthier.