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If you have only a few days to spend in Rio de Janeiro (River of January), make sure you visit the places and monuments that symbolized this beautiful city, called the Marvelous City by its inhabitants, the Cariocas. That is exactly what the members of the Expedition did last weekend.

The foremost place to stop by is of course the Cristo Redentor of Corcovado. The Christ is100-meter tall and weighs 1,000 tons. He stands 700 meters above the most beautiful bay there can be. The place, by day and night, is crowded with tourists shoving and pushing to immortalize themselves in the shadow of one of the most familiar monuments in the world.

A visit of the Sugar Loaf (Pao de Azucar) should also be on your list. This tall mountain, on the other side of the bay, is interesting because it is monolithic (made of one piece). It can be acceded only by a teleferique that travel at 400 meters (1300 feet) above ground. Before you get into the famous cable car (it was featured in a Schwazenegger movie), make your prayers. Just in case it crashes?

The Maracana, the most famous stadium in the world, was named after a nearby river. In 1950, at the World Cup final, 199,000 people invaded the building to see the Brazilian team lose the World Cup final at home to Uruguay. That was the saddest day in the history of the nation. Many committed suicide.

In 1998, the stadium capacity was reduced from 220,000 to 125,000 seats, for security reasons. Visiting the most sacred soccer temple reveals many a wonder. One is the players? dressing room that can be acclimated to the exact temperature of the playing field, not one degree of difference!

The Sambadromo is quite a curious and unique structure. Translation: the corridor of Samaba. It is a one kilometer-stretch flanked by twenty (maybe) large stands accommodating scores of thousands samba fans and curious tourists. It is used only four days out of the year! At carnaval time. The rest of the time, it houses? elementary schools.

The Cathedral, the new one is worth a visit.

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After these necessary stops for photo ops, gear toward one of the most famous beaches: Ipanema or Copacabana. Keep in mind these beaches are the most famous in the world because of what you see there, but not the best for the joys of water sport. The swimming experience will be disappointing since the waves are too high and way too strong. Barra, half-hour away, offers a better alternative.

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Finally, at night, the choice is yours and infinite: bars in Ipanema, open air restaurants on Copacabana, churrascarias, clubs, strip joints, and pick-up places are all over the city. Hang out in Lagoa, or Lebron if you want some quieter venue.

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?See Rio and die? is an accepted alternative to the saying about Paris.

It is true that Rio is a city of contrast of 11 million souls, where the very poor sits by the very rich, where the favelas in the mountains serve as landscape to the multimillion dollars villas in the valley. It is true that crime is on the rise. But life inside Guanabara Bay is vibrant and joyful. Almost unique.

Just keep in your heart: ?It is hard for a man to make any city worthy of such surroundings as nature has given to Rio.??James Bryce

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(The Traveller, Sunday, March 16, 2003)