Brazilian Stairmaster

Keeping with the healthy theme of my juice post, let’s talk about some physical activity. I know I’ve posted pictures of the Cathedral before, but I haven’t talked much about it. If you look closely, there are some open windows almost at the very top.

If you are so inclined you can climb the stairs up the Cathedral to see the view from these windows. Well, I’ve been so inclined…twice.

We had heard you could climb to the top, but had never attempted it. I was out to lunch with a friend one Sunday and she suggested we give it a try. It was quite the accomplishment given that I had on heels. I won’t be doing that again!

We decided to visit it again with our visitors and this time it was track pants and running shoes for me. Much more comfortable!

There are almost 500 stairs, but it really isn’t so bad. It isn’t an ongoing spiral or anything like that. Oh, that would be horrible! Basically you climb a set come to landing where you walk around, very slowly to catch your breath, and then continue up another set.

I definitely felt a little pressure change as we increased in elevation. The oxygen wasn’t so plentiful. The structure is 124 meters (407 feet) high, but we weren’t quite at the very top.

As I’ll show you below, the moderate amount of physical exertion is well worth it for the amazing view. There are no covers on those little windows. It is all open air and you can see for miles. The best pic for me was the palm tree-lined street, leading to a view inside the soccer stadium.