This was the first port day on this trip where we did not have an excursion planned. From what we were told, there was a new museum (The Museum of Tomorrow) within walking distance along the pier. Ron also had a plan to find a new cover for his iPad and look for a Starbucks to see if they had any demitasse cups printed with the local cities such as we purchased on the Grand World Voyage last year. Leaving the port, we saw a huge mural (registered in the Guinness Book as the largest mural) that was completed before the Summer Olympics in Brazil in 2016.

The Museum of Tomorrow is a huge structure that looks like a spaceship. The museum describes the effect man is having on the world and what sorts of decisions we need to make in the future. Basically it is a positive message and the presentations inside the museum are phenomenal. My favorite stops were a digital camera that takes your image and displays it in a cubist sort of image. I didn’t actually get the point of the display since it was all in Portuguese. There was another demonstration that everything is in constant motion using two gauzy pieces of cloth being lifted by jets of air in a random and beautiful way.

As you left the building out the back, you saw a beautiful star sculpture that represented the future. This museum was well worth the visit.

We headed into town which seemed like the business district during lunch time. Many business people were walking around, many seemed to be eating ice cream. We also found streets with tiny booths selling electronic accessories and in a slightly larger shop Ron found his iPad cover. Score one. We did find a Starbucks (as well as several McDonald’s and Subway restaurants). Unfortunately, the small cups they were selling said Brasil and São Paulo instead of Brasil and Rio de Janeiro, so we passed on that souvenir. We found several streets filled with street vendors, but we did not find anything to buy. Also by this time it was getting very hot and humid (90+ degrees).

We made it back to the ship in time to cool down before dinner. As we ate, the ship left port and Ron was able to capture one last great image of Christ the Redeemer on a mountain seemingly dwarfed by Sugarloaf Mountain. Goodbye, Rio.