Sunday bird blogging

A few penguins hanging out on the beach in Gold Harbour, in South Georgia.

Saturday reflections

The São Sebastião Cathedral looks better as a reflection.

Urban poetry

Packing up after a long day on the beach at Copacabana. I am so impressed by everything this man managed to pack onto that little cart. Most of the vendors I noticed around the beach used big trucks to haul all their stuff around.

Watching it all

I don't think it's possible to look more Brazilian than this woman on a balcony overlooking the steps.

Waiting out the rain

Some locals near the bottom of the steps who were also hanging out while getting out of the rain.

Murals

Street art near the stairs

The street below the stairs is full of murals and mosaics. (Eu te amo means I love you, for those of you who understand as little Portuguese as I do.)

Escadaria Selarón

The Selarón Steps (locally known as the Lapa Steps for the neighborhood in Rio where they're located) were created by Chilean painter and sculptor Jorge Selarón. In 1990, he started painting the dilapidated stairs outside his home, and decorating them with tiles he salvaged from building sites. The steps became an obsession, and he used his other art as a sideline to finance the project. Eventually visitors from around the world began to donate tiles.

Selarón died in 2013.

If you think the picture above isn't great, here's an example of the rest of my pictures. Not only was it pouring rain when we were there, but the weather did nothing to discourage the multitudes of tourists. I didn't even attempt to fight my way through the crowds and climb the stairs; instead I joined the more intelligent tourists huddling under awnings outside nearby shops until it was time to get back in the van.

Homeless Jesus

But I did love this outside the cathedral: a status of Jesus as a homeless man (identifiable only by the wounds on his feet), created by a Canadian artist, Timothy Schmalz.

Then there's the exterior

Ever wondered what a Brutalist Mayan pyramid would look like? Well, here you are.

The cathedral was designed by Edgar de Oliveira da Fonseca, and built in the late 60's-early 70's. I have not been able to find any information about why he chose a Mayan design for a Brazilian cathedral, except that the conical shape is supposed to represent bringing the people closer to God and a break from Brazil's colonial past. Okay.

I just find Brutalist architecture so dreary. It was a very gray, rainy day when I was there, but I've looked at many pictures online and honestly it doesn't look any better when the sun's out.

Crucifix

There's no way to capture the scale here, unfortunately, without a lot more time and camera equipment than I had. This crucifix is suspended over the altar, and is six meters high and four meters wide (approximtely 20 by 13 feet.)

Everything in the interior is colossal.

More from São Sebastião Cathedral

This is a very odd building, and I'm not sure whether I like it or not. The four stained glass windows seen from the interior are certainly spectacular (from the exterior you can't even tell that they are windows); they extend more than 200 feet from the floor to the ceiling, where they meet in a skylight shaped like a cross.