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Mary Therese McDonnell and the Illini visited the famous Corcovado statue, one of the biggest soccer stadiums in Brazil and the upscale restaurant Parcebo on their final full day in Brazil.
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June 3, 2006
Throughout their 12-day trip to Brazil, Illinois soccer players will update their voyage through the team's Brazil Blog on FightingIllini.com. Today, junior-to-be Mary Therese McDonnell writes about the team's visit to a few famous sites in Rio de Janeiro before they begin the long journey home.
Mary Therese McDonnell
"Today we woke up and went to visit the famous Jesus statue, Corcovado. We took a train all the way up to the top
of the mountain. We got some nice samba music entertainment on the ride up from three guys who came on the train with us. We reached the top and were amazed by the beautiful view of the city and took a bunch of pictures by the statue.
"After seeing the statue, we went to one of the biggest soccer stadiums in Brazil. It seats about 120,000 people. We got to walk around the locker room, through the tunnel and up the stairs to the field. We were taking pictures by the field and felt famous when some other tourists wanted to take pictures with us. They didn't speak English but were excited to be taking pictures with us. It was pretty funny.
"In the afternoon, some girls when shopping while others went to the H. Stern Jewelry store for a tour. It's a pretty famous jeweler and a few people walked away with some pretty nice jewelry. Then we went to Parcebo, the nicest restaurant I have ever been to. It's a famous restaurant with endless meat that just keeps coming around. We were all dressed up and looking nice for a perfect farewell dinner. It was delicious. We got home late and went to bed for our last night in Brazil."
