QUEEN VICTORIA in BRAZIL | Let’s visit Sugarloaf

This video is a visit on an organised shore excursion from Cunard’s Queen Victoria to Sugarloaf Mountain and then the Cathedral in Rio De Janeiro in Brazil. You can visit these independently if you are in Rio but the organised tour let us bypass the bigger queues at Sugarloaf. Both sites are well worth the visit. The history of the cable car fascinated me but to tell all would have made the video much longer but here are Some interesting facts about the cable car courtesy of Wikipedia The Sugarloaf Cable Car was opened on 27 October 1912.[6][7] Its Portuguese-language name comes from the similarities between the cablecars, and the city trams (bondinhos). Envisioned by Augusto Ramos, it is managed by Companhia Caminho Aéreo Pão de Açúcar, a company created by Ramos.[8] The first cable cars were coated wood and were used for 60 years. Originally, the cable car stopped at Urca. In 1951, an accident occurred in which one of the two cables snapped, leaving 22 people dangling on one cable. One mechanic aboard, Augusto Goncales, climbed out and slithered down to Urca station and helped to build an emergency car to go back up and rescue the other passengers, 12 women and girls, 6 men and 3 children, in an event which took about 10 hours.[9] President Vargaspraised Goncales as the "Hero of the Day".[9] In October 1972, a second cable was added, as well as new cabins, which expanded its capacity from 22 to 75;[10]eventually, it was reduced to 65 to increase comfort.[11] The cable car was the setting for the 1979 James Bond film Moonraker in which British secret agent James Bond (played by actor Roger Moore) battles with his nemesis Jaws (Richard Kiel) in the middle of the tramway, which eventually results in a tramcar with Jaws in it crashing into the ground station and smashing through the wall, although he miraculously survives. During the filming, the stuntman Richard Graydon slipped and narrowly avoided falling to his death. For the scene in which Jaws bites into the steel tramway cable with his teeth, the cable was actually made of liquorice, although Richard Kiel was still required to use his steel dentures.[12]Also in 1979, Las Vegas-based Steven McPeak walked the tightrope on the steel cable, the highest stretch of the cable car route, a feat which entered him into the Guinness Book of World Records.[13][14] On 18 January 1983, the route was expanded to Sugarloaf Mountain. In 2007, Falko Traber walked along the rope of the cable railway.[15]On the centenary of the cableway in 2012, Google honored it with a doodle, viewable in Brazil #travel #cruiseship #cunard #cunardqueenvictoria #brazil #guestentertainer #sugarloafmountain #cathedral #riodejaneiro