Halfway to Paradise by Tony Orlando

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Ways to Experience Morro da Urca

Halfway to Paradise

https://youtu.be/sTo-bUzZesM?si=IBjQxWJBAnBxSrvT

Review of Morro da Urca

Reviewed August 4, 2015

In Paradiso, Dante ascends through nine celestial spheres to reach the transcendentally beautiful Empyrean. But even places half-way up—the Fifth Heavenly Sphere for example--were so heart-stirring that Dante was tempted to pause, only to have Beatrice nag him: “Dante, stop dawdling! We need to get in line to catch the next gondola! Trust me, the Empyrean will make this sphere look like chicken feed! Geeze, there’s gotta be a thousand souls lined up in front of us already; if you don’t shake a leg, we’ll never get up there!” To which Dante responded “I’m coming, Bea, I’m coming, already!” as he thought, “I never got this kind of grief from my last tour guide, Virgil.” (All of this was put more poetically in the book.)

Morro da Urca plays Fifth Sphere to Pao de Acucar’s Empyrean. If you’re going to Pao de Acucar, the gondola stops on top of Morro da Urca. But unlike the train on Corcovado, which stops, and then keeps heading up to the top, this gondola stops at Urca and then heads right back down again. You need to get off, walk to the other station on the the hilltop, and then stand in another long line to get to the top of Sugarloaf. I’m betting that if folks had the option of staying on the same gondola and going all the way up, 50 percent of them would skip Urca altogether. Under certain circumstances, rushing across Urca to catch the next gondola might make sense—for example, if you under-estimated how long the first wait would take, and the sun was already setting. But I also saw people on the way down from Sugarloaf racing to the second line without so much as a pause for breath, apparently on the premise that having already seen the view from Pao de Acucar, any view from halfway down would be a waste of time. That’s like skipping a view from the Matterhorn, because it’s only half as high as Everest.

On Sugarloaf, you feel like you’re on top of the world. On Urca, you’re halfway to Pao’s Paradise, but also halfway from there to Earth, so you get a soaring eagle’s view of what’s below, rather than the twin-engine Cessna view from Sugarloaf (see Halfway to Earth photo). You get a closer view of landmarks (see Fortaleza de Sao Joao photo), and of the boating activity down on the bay, even being able to make out wakes and currents (see Boating on Guanabara Bay photo). The top of Urca is verdant, not treeless like Sugarloaf, and the wide terrace (see Terrace of Urca photo) is a splendid place for taking selfies and photos of friends (on the debatable assumption that these are even more photogenic than the unobstructed skyline and mountains of Rio across the bay, see Selfies and Friends photo). Or you can just find an open bench and bask in the sun or sit in the shade of a tree (see Bask in the Sun photo). Even prominent landmarks present a different perspective from Urca (see Corcovado from Urca photo), and for two landmarks, the best view is from Urca, not Sugarloaf. The first is the view of the curve of Copacabana Beach (you have to walk around to the southeastern tip of the lower station to see and shoot it). The second, which is obvious when you think about it, is the view of Pao de Acucar itself (see Pao de Acucar from Urca photo).

Bottom Line: if you had to pick only one height, I’d certainlyly recommend Sugarloaf over Urca. However, you can’t pick only Sugarloaf—to get there, you must go via Urca. That’s an opportunity, not a nuisance. The view from Urca is quite spectacular in its own right, and is quite different from the view from Pao de Acucar. The same ticket buys you two of the finest prospects in South America; take advantage of both of them.





Ways to Experience Morro da Urca

Full Day in Rio: Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf, Maracana and Selaron with Lunch

This full-day tour of Rio de Janeiro with convenient hotel pickup is a popular choice for visitors with limited time in the area. Going with a guide means you hit all the city’s highlights without the stress of navigating and hear important context about landmarks along the route, including the Christ the Redeemer statue, Sugarloaf Mountain, and the Selarón Steps. Round out the tour with a well-deserved Brazilian-style lunch.