Seems like just the other day I was walking down the beach, enjoying a
beautiful day. Sun, sand, surf, great food, interesting people—it was all just
about everything you could want in a day at the sea.
Nearby there’s a very famous statue that’s clad with an
exterior of steatite that’s placed in very, very prominent location. His right hand points to the strip of sand I
was on; a world-famous beach that’s famed in song and story.
What’s the name of the beach?
As usual, be sure to tell us HOW you found this, and about HOW
LONG it took you to find the answer. Did
you have to do anything unusual? If so, teach
us what search magic you used to find this beautiful beach!
Search on!
Copacabana Beach - Googled "copacabana beach christ redeemer point" just to verify and looked at Google images to triple check. 3 minutes.
ReplyDeleteIt's either Ipanema or Copacabana, and I can't tell!
ReplyDeleteBased on your location information, it should be Ipanema - the statue you mention is Christ the Redeemer, and his right hand points directly south to Ipanema beach.
BUT - based on the picture you posted, it should be Copacabana beach - the wave-like tiles in your picture are the same as those which line that beach, and the tiles on Ipanema are a different, more square/pod design. Also - Copacabana has that same view as in the picture of the hills and towers.
How did I know all this? Well there aren't a lot of songs about famous beaches (and I knew this one from knowing a lot of music), and so I immediately searched on Ipanema, but in the related results, I saw that the tile design was more similar in Copacabana. I pulled them both of up on Google maps, and they're both RIGHT THERE. I did a search in Google Maps for the Christ the Redeemer statue, and then looked at it in satellite to see where its hand was pointing. And I spent a lot of time in street view comparing tiles and views from the beach.
So...30 seconds to confirm that it was this beach, but since I haven't been able to decide between the two for what YOU think is the correct answer, I guess I get an "INCOMPLETE".
You said something really important: you can't see the Sugar Loaf (the rocky mount in the left of the picture) when looking to the sea in Ipanema - this could be found through strolling around Google Street View.
DeleteImage search [steatite statue points toward ipanema beach ] and came up with pictures of the famous statue. I guessed on the word Ipanema.
ReplyDeleteWent in to maps to verify the surroundings. Found a match for the mosaic between the road and the beach.
Having got that far in less than 3 minutes, I wanted to verify that the beach was indeed named Ipanema.
Searched [rio de janeiro beaches map] and found this http://www.rentanapartmentinrio.com/map_rio_de_janeiro.jpg
What’s the name of the beach?
COPACABANA
4 minutes
The beach's name is Copacabana.
ReplyDeleteThe mountains in the back reminded me of Rio, so I used streetview to find a similiar view...
judging from the landscape, people in the picture, and your use of the pronoun "him", i figured out which statue you were talking about without search, and i went to google maps satellite view to see which way his hand points. looking south from there, i figured out which beach you were talking about because i like stan getz. about a minute.
ReplyDeleteif i hadn't known anything, i probably would've used
[steatite exterior statue beach]
which would've told me that steatite is soapstone, and under the 4th entry that the christ the redeemer statue in rio is clad with it. i probably would've followed the same method as above after that.
Is it the Copacabana beach?
ReplyDeleteTaking about 10 minutes to search, I started with "steatite beach statue" to find multiple references to soapstone. "soapstone beach statue" led to the statue of Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janiero. This brought me to utilize Google maps to locate which way the right hand of the statue points. The closest street is the Avenue de Medieros. A new search for "Avenue de Medieros beach" nets you a list of hotels stating local attractions, all referencing the street as on the way to Copacabana beach.
Had to spend the most time figuring out what steatite was, but after that, Google Maps really helped out.
Copacabana! Searched my own brain since I am Brazilian :) It felt as if it happened instantly, so I searched Google to find out how long it actually took for me to recognize the image.
ReplyDeleteFirst I tried:
[how long identify image brain] which gave me no good results in the first page. Realizing I could construct the search in a better way I then tried:
[time brain recognize an image]This did it! First result, an article from Science Daily, explains that image recognition can happen as quickly as 100 ms.
So there you go, it took me aprox. 100 ms to recognize this iconic image and about 3 minutes to find out how long it took me to recognize it.
The name of the beach is Ipanema.
ReplyDeleteI had an inkling from the description of the statue that it might be the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro, and the beach was probably either Copacabana, or Ipanema.
I searched for steatite statue and partially confirmed my hunch.
I then did a search for the Statue on google maps, and zoomed in to the satellite view to see that his arms point almost north- and south, but he's facing slightly north of due east. I then zoomed out to find his right arm points to Ipanema.
Not sure exactly how long it took me but less time than it took to type this post.
Could this be Ipanema Beach? The song title popped into my head from the clue. I looked up [ipanema beach statue] and Cristo Redentor, the famous Rio statue of Christ, popped up in my results. That made sense - that statue definitely dominates the landscape, and it has hands that point outward. Clicking through, I saw it was described as made of soapstone, not steatite. A quick search to define steatite revealed that steatite is a synonym for soapstone. I did an image search of [ipanema beach sidewalk] until I found a reputable image that showed the patterned sidewalk (not just the shoreline that is more commonly seen in photos) that seemed to confirm it for me. Took me about 3 minutes because of dumb luck guessing (that is, if I got it right!).
ReplyDeleteThe search took me three minutes.
ReplyDeleteI started by searching the word steatite and found it was another word for soapstone.
I then searched "soapstone statue beach" and scanned the results.The ninth in the list was "Rio de Janeiro Christ the Redeemer Statue" Given that Rio de Janeiro is quite a famous beach, I clicked on the link. The image showed the pointing hand, the statue exterior was soapstone, and the beach worked. I decided the answer was Rio de Janeiro and called it quits.
You're in Copacabana! The steatite gave it away. The first thing I wondered was "what the heck is steatite?" so I went right to the wiki page, which redirected me to Soapstone. It just so happens that on the soapstone wiki page there's a picture of the "Christ the Redeemer" statue you're referring to. The wiki page told me the statue is in Rio de Janeiro. I checked google maps for the statue location and zoomed in to street view to find the wavy pavement markings and the hills in the distance to verify.
ReplyDeleteAn alternative once we have soapstone is [famous soapstone statue]. 4th link lists the Christ The Redeemer statue, and from there the rest falls in place. Total time ~5 minutes.
This was an easy one: Copacabana
ReplyDeleteRecognized the wave patterns; and the richness of your hints did not leave room for any other conclusion.
Firstly, I had to know what steatite is, so I did a 'define steatite' query.
ReplyDeleteI found out it is another name for soapstone, so I tried the following query:
famous beach statue OR sculpture steatite OR soapstone
in the image search. The answer wasn't totally given, as there were only images of the (rather famous) statue, so I got into a satelite view of the statue, whose right arm pointed me straight to the sands of Ipanema Beach.
Although the patterns on the pavement of your picture looks rather like something from Copacabana Beach.
15 minutes.
Hi Daniel,
ReplyDeleteI searched [steatite clad statue], the first result on the serp was a pdf file about an entreprise from Rio de Janeiro.
On page 6 they show the "Corcovado" (which appeared also on the second result on the page, a pdf named "THE CONSERVATION OF THE STATUE OF CHRIST THE REDEEMER"). So the famous statue is in Rio. In Google Maps I can see that his right points to the Ipanema beach.
But… in street view the pavement pattern doesn't match the one we can see on your picture. The one on Ipanema is less "wavy". The other strip of sand, next to Ipanema and also very famous in a song is Copacabana where the pavement is exactly the one on your picture.
So, you, lucky man, were on Copacabana in Rio!
Copacabana beach in Rio Dejaneiro. The staue is christ the redeemer and it took about 5 minutes. I recognized the portugese pavement in the picture from some other pictures. Nothing special was involved. The very famous staue in a very prominent place just took me right to Rio.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach in Rio. Staute is christ the redeemer high on a hill.
ReplyDeleteTook me about a minute to find the beach, couple more minutes to try and find exact spot (no luck, at least not sure). Anyway, you'r standing at av. atlantica, copacabana beach. Finding it was kind easy, "steatite statue" gives an image of Christ the Redeemer, after that Rio de Janeiro, Brasil beach, go to street view, verify that it's there =)
ReplyDeleteMy gut told me that this beach was in Brazil, but obviously I needed to verify.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I had to look up what steatite was (soapstone). Then I did a search for [soapstone statue beach famous] and the fifth entry was the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio. Okay, looks like my hunch may be right.
Next I went to Google Maps, found the statue and followed a line from his hand to the beach. The beach was not explicitly labeled, but when I right-clicked, I could choose '"What's here?" and it gives me the location.
The location of the beach? Ipanema.
Probably an easier way to do this, but this was my method. And the best part, I learned a new feature of Google Maps (What's here?).
Overall, this took me about 7 minutes.
Because Sugar Loaf was in the picture, I knew it was either Impanema or Copacabana. Through limited searching on Wikipedia, I determined that this was a picture of Copacabana in Rio and the sidewalk is called the Portuguese pavement wave.
ReplyDeleteIt took me about 3 minutes. I guessed that the Statue was Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janiero, so I Googled steatite rio statue and found that steatite is soapstone and that is what the statue is made of. When I Googled rio de janiero beach, the one that came up was Ipanema. I checked the location of the beach and the statue on Google maps to confirm that his right hand is toward the beach.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach in Rio.
ReplyDeleteThe Statue is the Christ the Redeemer Statue.
I searched "Statue steatite coast" to discover it was the Christ the Redeemer Statue and then searched for the statue in google maps and confirmed image with street view.
Too many clues - Ipanema - no research necessary
ReplyDeleteIf you took the picture, you were at Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. If the picture is not yours, but the description is accurate, you were at Ipanema.
ReplyDeleteThis took me about a minute, most of which was spent waiting on Google Earth. (It's rather slow on my computer.)
Search for [beach statue steatite], and find a blog post about Cristo Redentor in Rio that mentions its being covered in steatite.
Located the statue in Google Earth, saw that its right hand points directly at Ipanema, which I would say is a "world-famous beach that’s famed in song and story," but does not have a view of the rocks and cliffs seen in the photo. Those are only visible at that angle from the next beach over, which is Copacabana.
I came ot the exact same conclusion, Dennis, although I took an extra few minutes trying to understand why the discrepancy seemed to exist. The hand of the statue definitely points at Ipanema, but the picture's view almost certainly seems like it had to be taken from Copacabana.
DeleteThe beach is Ipanema beach! I found this in just a few minutes. I didn't know what steatite was, so first I googled that and learned it's also called soapstone. Then I googled "soapstone statue and beach." Here I got lucky -- one of the hits is amazing facts about the statue and mentions the nearby beaches of Rio de Jeneiro. Then I looked up the beaches there and found Ipanema beach, which of course triggered the memory of the song.
ReplyDeleteI searched for 'steatite statue' and saw in the images results, the Christ the Redeemer statue. I opened google maps and searched for 'Christ the Redeemer, Rio de Janeiro' and followed the right hand of the statue to the beach. I then searched for 'Ipanema, Rio de Janeiro' and saw that that was the beach, but when I zoomed in, I saw that the pattern was different. I panned right to the next beach over and the pattern matched the picture which was at Copacabana.
ReplyDeleteThe beach the statue, Christ the Redeemer is pointing to is Ipanema, but the picture is from Copacabana beach which is to the east of Ipanema.
The boardwalk pattern on Ipanema is hexagonal, while the pattern in the picture is wavy.
I should be disqualified having lived in Brazil for 8 years, but I tried to find the location of the picture. I searched [steatite statue beach]. #8 Christ the Redeemer Statue - Celebrate Brazil Culture. Searched [christ the redeemer statue]. Clicked on Google Maps. First, I dragged the street view dude to the statue, but couldn't see. Zoomed in, followed the right hand out to...
ReplyDeleteIpanema (famous for Tom Jobim's song - A Garota de Ipanema).
But searching for the image, it better matches Copacabana with Sugar Loaf in the background.
Copacabana. 2 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI googled "statue steatite". In the images listed in the main results page was a picture of the Christ the Redeemer statue. I recognized the statue as being famous and since his hands are pointed out and you had mentioned the statue pointing, I then searched "Christ the Redeemer". In the People Also Search for block was a picture of the wavy pattern in the pavement next to the beach, just as in the photo above, with the caption "Copacabana".
I should add, I think your blog posts and your followers' subsequent searches are polluting the search results :)
ReplyDeleteAlso, the captcha in your comment system is terrible!
I rescind my earlier answer. 5 more minutes of searching, uploading the image to Google-search by image told me that it is Copacabana, not Ipanema.
ReplyDeleteGood day, Dr. Russell and everybody.
ReplyDeleteI have to tell that I had an idea when reading this post so it was a bit easier than others
Searched[steatite Statue ]
Found: Christ the Redeemer soapstone statue in Brazil
[Christ the Redeemer near beach]
Found: Copacabana and Ipanema
Searched with your image adding description copacabana.
Found image that is very similar
http://www.worldtourismplace.com/copacabana-beach-resort-in-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/
[Ipanema]
found: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ipanema
The song is ""The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema")" Which It is believed to be the second-most recorded pop song in history, after Yesterday by The Beatles.
[Copacabana Beach]
Found. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copacabana_(Rio_de_Janeiro)#Copacabana_Beach
That has a image with the same pattern like the one you posted.
[Copacabana nickname]
Found: http://www.rio.com/practical-rio/copacabana
And here my answer:
What’s the name of the beach?
A= A Princesinha do Mar or Princess of the Sea in Copacabana Brazil.
I know the song is about Ipanema but all the information that I found suggest you are in Copacabana.
Enjoy your trip!!!
Copacabana. Took about 3 minutes. Searched [steatite statue beach]. Christ the Redeemer statue was about the 3rd hit. This seemed likely, so I searched [beach near cristo redentor] and found the answer. Then I looked at google maps and some images of Copacabana beach and those strengthened my hunch that this is the one.
ReplyDeleteThe important clue was steatite, that lead me to Cristo Redentor. I followed his right hand to Ipanema in maps. Street view however didn't match the image so I tried Copacabana instead and got a match there. All told it took about 3 minutes, most of it in street view.
ReplyDeletesince i didn't know, i had to find out what steatite was. then a search for soapstone statues led me to christ the redeemer. a search for famous beaches in rio de janeiro lead me to copacabana, which a google maps search confirmed is on the right side of christ the redeemer. also the wikipedia entry copacabana showed the portuguese pavement wave patterns seen in the picture, further verifying the answer.
ReplyDeleteI guessed this - partly. Those hills area very peculiar shape, and I thought I'd seen them in photos taken from the Christ the Redeemer statue above Rio de Janeiro. Looked up images for Rio which I knew would bring up that statue, got it's name, checked it out on Wikipedia, followed the link in the article about soap stone and found it's Sunday name is steatite.
ReplyDeleteIpanema beach is down below the statue to the South (as the statue faces East).
I simply selected your text "famous statue that’s clad with an exterior of steatite", right clicked to open a google search on that text. Took me straight to the result "Cristo Redentor" which I had already suspected. Still, I took an extra minute or two to make sure that steatite was really soapstone (the wiki article only mentioned soapstone), and I also took a minute to make sure his right hand actually did point at Ipanema Beach, the correct answer. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteIpanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ReplyDelete1. Google image search for 'famous beach statue'.
2. Look for statue with a right hand that could be could be said to be pointing. Quickly found the famous statue in Rio De Janeiro.
3. Google image search for 'riod de janeiro beach walkway'.
4. Look for distintive walkway shown in picture above.
5. Click on photo of walkway to discover name of beach.
Total search time, between one and two minutes.
Hi everybody !
ReplyDeletefirst i searched:steatite statue beach then search :soapstone statue ,in one of results i found out about Cristo Redentor (statue) in Rio de janiro :"Cristo Redentor (English: lit. Christ the Redeemer, Portuguese: Cristo Redentor, standard) is a statue of Jesus of Nazareth in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; considered the largest Art Deco statue in the world and the 5th largest statue of Jesus in the world. It is 39.6 metres (130 ft) tall, including its 9.5 metres (31 ft) pedestal, and 30 metres (98 ft) wide. It weighs 635 tonnes (625 long,700 short tons), and is located at the peak of the 700-metre (2,300 ft) Corcovado mountain in the Tijuca Forest National Park overlooking the city. A symbol of Brazilian Christianity, the statue has become an icon for Rio de Janeiro and Brazil.[1] It is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, and was constructed between 1922 and 1931." wikipedia
you were at Copacabana beach : I searched statue in google map and followed his right hand
to reach there !!!
I believe this is Ipanema beach.
ReplyDeleteProcess: I googled the words steatite statue, and one of the first images in the results was of Christ the Redeemer in Rio. (I notice that Google was smart enough to search for soapstone too, another name for Steatite).
I searched for the Christ the Redeemer statue on google maps, zoomed in to figure out which hand was his right (Panoramio images made that simple), then followed it's direction roughly toward the beach. The hand technically points to the Copacabana beach, which has a similar but not identical sidewalk design pattern as your picture. I also wasn't quite about to reproduce your view using street view. But Ipanema Beach is next door, and more or less has the right view:
http://goo.gl/maps/yLUZ8
Well this looks easy, I hope.
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and the Christ the Redeemer Statue. I looked up
[statue that’s clad with an exterior of steatite] as that seems to be a good start.
Correct, and seatite is soapstone. As for the beach I thought Ipanema which "became widely known by the song "The Girl from Ipanema" ("Garota de Ipanema"), written by Antônio Carlos Jobim and Vinícius de Moraes."
But Ipanema does not have the sidewalk with the design. But Copacabana beach does.
So the beach is Copacabana, the statue Christ the Redeemer, and the city is Rio.
This took longer to write up than to do.
Gary
Copacabana Beach.
ReplyDeleteSearched for a "famous Steatite statue", had an feeling it would be "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio de Janeiro due to the look of the mountains in the photo. So when it came up in the search I did a google maps to it, looked which way it's right hand pointed and followed that to the coast. Did a quick search for hotels on Avenida Vieira Souto, and looked at some brochure info, which listed one close to Copacabana Beach. Which I recognise from a song. 3-4 minutes to find.
I already had a hunch once you mentioned beaches, and a famous statue pointing, that we were talking about the statue in Rio, although I didn't know the name of the statue.
ReplyDeleteBut, starting from scratch:
Image search on [statue steatite] told me it would likely be "Christ the Redeemer" in Rio.
Web search on ["Christ the Redeemer" statue rio pointing] got me to a mapsoftheworld.com entry saying that the statue overlooks both Ipanema and Copacabana beaches, both of which I knew had songs written about them.
Google map search on "Christ the Redeemer" got me to the statue in Rio quickly, and showed me where Ipanema and Copacabana beaches were in relation to the statue.
Google map "street view", right at the statue, got me a ton of vacation photos, which seemed to show his right hand pointing toward a lake, which, based on the map, would mean he's pointing toward Ipanema beach. It took about 7 minutes.
And I'm glad you chose Ipanema as the one being "famed in song and story", since I think that "The Girl from Ipanema" is *way* better than Barry Manilow's "Copacabana". :-)
ReplyDeleteStarted 12:26, finished 12:39, so 13 minutes. And I do blame my slow work computer for being slow and dodgy. I started off searching generally, then learned that steatite = soapstone, and then kept getting side tracked by Christ the Redeemer, so I finally moved to visually scanning through image searches for something closer to a statue near a beach, when I came across am image of a guy next to the Muso statue on Copacabana beach, and spent a minute verifying that was right.
famous beach statue steatite pointing at
famous beach pointing at statue steatite
image - http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-w4ocV242KNY/UJEPFrTxksI/AAAAAAAAKtY/Qf_cl6oizLA/s1600/mystery-beach.png
statue steatite
Wikipedia: steatite soapstone soaprock
statue famous soapstone pointing at beach
statue famous soapstone pointing at beach right hand
Cristobal Colombus - Barcelona
image-statue NEAR famous beach
image - soapstone statue NEAR famous beach
image - soapstone statue right hand pointing beach NEAR famous beach
image - soapstone statue right hand pointing beach Copacabana
image - statue beach Copacabana
Copacabana: searched for steatite and "famous beach". 4th link: most beautifull places in Brazil. It took me 2 minutes
ReplyDeleteJust had to read the description and know where you are. A bit too obvious. I will not spoil it for others by writing the answer.
ReplyDeleteObviously, the type of statue is the most important clue - I started with a general google search for "steatite statue beach," and turn up a number of results - Christo Redentor was in several. I refined the search to "steatite exterior statue beach," and verified that this statue meets all the descriptors.
ReplyDeleteThen I looked up the Satellite image of the statue of Google Maps - the statue's right hand points to a beach whose name I know from story and song.
So, I think you were on la playa de Copacabana. This took me about five minutes.
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. I've been there. But you can tell by the wavy design of the floor tiles and the scenery.
ReplyDeleteRio de Janeiro - Ipanema Beach
ReplyDeleteHow I figured it out - Those mountains in close proximity to the beach is what tipped me off. I thought it was Rio, Then I had to look up what the beach name was.
You're at Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The giveaway is the unique landscape (the peaks are unusually-shaped); the rest of the clues only confirmed the guess.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach. took me one google image search for "Beach with waved concrete sidewalk". took about 10 seconds.
ReplyDeleteIt is in Rio de Janiero, Brazil. It is Copacabana beach. I have been there.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach. I searched wavy walkway on beach. Came right up.
ReplyDeleteBTW, about 1 minute.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach
ReplyDeleteGoogled steatite - found to also be called soapstone
Googled soapstone statue - Found #5 was Christ the Redeemer
Googled Christe the Redeemer beach - got travel results for Copacabana beach...
Grand total 3 minutes while eating a snack.
Rio baby.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken, this is Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I assumed it was Rio at first glance, but just to make sure I took a screenshot of the buildings on the far left. I then used to screenshot to run an image search on Google and the first link that came up was a travel agency. It gave me the name of a hotel in Rio de Janeiro. Finally, I looked up the hotel and I found which beach it was located in. I hope I'm right.
ReplyDeleteyoure on a beach in rio
ReplyDeleteyou can identify by the patterns used in the side walk
That's Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Took 2 seconds because I recognized it.
ReplyDeleteIt's Copocabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteA search for "statue steatite beach" yielded Christ the Redeemer as the statue (and that steatite is also known as soapstone). From there is was a quick search on google maps to find out what beaches were nearby and a few more minutes on Google Streetview looking for a landscape that matched that of the picture to confirm the beach.
For personal satisfaction I perused the area in Google streetview for a bit and figured out that the picture was likely taken across the street from the Rio Othon Palace.
Copacabana Beach, Rio De Janeiro
ReplyDeleteCopacabana, Rio de Janeiro.
ReplyDeleteI've been there!
Rio De Janeiro, the statue is Christ the Redeemer, used google to search for prominent steatite statues near beaches and Rio De Janeiro is the only beach apparently that has a soapstone statue anywhere near it - took about 5 minutes to figure it out ...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana/Rio de Janeiro/Brazil
ReplyDeleteI'm brazilian =)
Copacabana Beach - about 8 min - Tried to search the image through google images but wasn't getting anything. I then searched "black and white swirl boardwalk" in google images to find a similar picture on an apartment renting site promoting the Copacabana Beach's boardwalk
ReplyDeleteGoing to venture it's the Copacabana Beach, along Avenida Atlântica, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteTook about 10 minutes to solve, mostly querying Google Maps.
Beach, photo looks tropical, and a prominent statue with two hands pointing in (unknown) directions suggests the Christ the Redeemer statue overlooking Rio. Curiously enough a google map search for that statue, utilizing their satellite imagery shows his right hand pointing south to Copacabana Beach. Up close satellite view (and street view) show the same swirly sidewalk and a large lengthy beach with a similar backdrop.
That took about 4-6 minutes. The last bit was actually getting the name of the beach. a google search for "beaches in rio de janeiro" brings up a Frommer's guide, which lists Copacabana as a beach with a curly designed sidewalk.
It's Ipanema in Rio, Brazil. I cheated; I've been there enough times to recognize it right out.
ReplyDeleteThe very famous statue is, of course, the Cristo. Sugarloaf's around somewhere too, but I can never remember which lumpy bit it is. There's a tram ride up to the Cristo that's a lot of fun.
"The Girl from Ipanema" is a nice song, isn't it?
Copacabana Beach, I went to google search and looked up "White Boardwalk Beach", this didn't take me in the direction I wanted, so I switched to boardwalk Mountain (thinking the mountain was in st. lucia). Finding that this wasn't Jade Mountain, I went back to searching Google Images and discovered a "best boardwalks" list which pointed me to Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janiero. If I had read all of your clues I think it would have been faster, but I would say this took less than 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThe beach is ipanema in rio de janeiro, although i might have to admit that i been there I was not quite sure if it was took from copacabana, your clues about the sugar loaf christ and the famous song was what i used to search online (google it)!!
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, Rio De Janeiro. Famed song(remembered from a movie ). Did a search Rio De Janeiro beach. looked in images and compared the your image with ones on Google images. it took me 2 mins to find it.
ReplyDeleteAnswer: Copacabana
ReplyDeleteHow: It's from my country, I knew it
How long: 1 sec.
Rio.
ReplyDeleteFound it in about 15 seconds by google image searching for "beach with black and white sidewalk".
Took 30 seconds, where do I post how and where?
ReplyDeleteIt is Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. Why? Well it looks just like that place and 10 seconds finding and looking at an aerial image at Google confirmed it. I was probably 90% certain before looking but it pays to double check.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach. The most beautiful beach in the world.
ReplyDeleteIpanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The beautiful people and the statue hint gave it away...
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI prefer not to say. I'm brazilian and live at that beach` city for a long time, it is one of my playgrounds. Obviously it isn`t necessary for me use any form of search. I`ve to say, this is one of the most beautiful and famous beach around the world
ReplyDeleteLooks like Ipanema Beach, Rio De Janeiro, Brazil? Took about 2 minutes if that's right.
ReplyDeleteCOPACABANA!! ;)
ReplyDelete5 seconds. and the tool I used was my head / memory! because this "wonderful city" is where I live!
Cheating my way around, the statue you mention is way too popular so I knew at least the city, next just searchd for a beach and found a pic based on the black and white Sidewalk.
ReplyDeleteAlternatively, searching Black and White sidewalk beach on google images leads to the answer.
Its Rio De Janeiro
ReplyDeleteCopacabama
I have been there and also I recognized it by the hills in the background.
http://www.brazilbookers.com/brazil-carnival/beaches-rio-de-janeiro/beaches-in-rio.asp
The name of the beach is Copacabana.
ReplyDeleteThe pattern of the sidewalk and the tallest mountain were the first info.
I made an educated guess, before read your other hints, and googled for [maps copacabana]. I wasn't sure of the name of the beach.
I found a map in :
http://www.visitriodejaneirobrasil.com/mapsofriodejaneirobrazilbeachesneighbourhoodssatellitemap.html
The last picture of the site is a map. I compared the format of the strip of sand and the position of the tallest mountain in the photo. I noticed that mountain was the Sugar Loaf. Also, the only beach you could take a picture and make the Sugar Loaf appear in that position was Copacabana.
Done.
Copacabana Beach. 2 minutes. Inferred Christ the Redeemer from 'very, very prominent statue'. Googled 'Rio de Janeiro Beaches', Wikipedia entry was the fifth result.
ReplyDeleteThe hills in the background together with the black and white Portuguese pavement style should make it Copacabana beach.
ReplyDeleteSearch tactic:
- look up the Portuguese tile patterns (query: portuguese street tiles)
- end up with this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Copacabana_Pavement_Mosaik.jpg)
Which confirms the location, although I was pretty sure it was Copacabana without the looking for the tiles (but this was definitive proof as I feel similar topography can be found in South China).
This is actually cheating as it requires prior knowledge of the typical black and white Portuguese pavement style. But well...
time ~10 sec.
Cheers,
K
copacabana. I suspected this was the answer just from the description but a quick image search of the name of the beach came up with plenty of images of the swirly sidewalk shown in the picture.
ReplyDeleteRio de Janiero. Took me about 10 minutes. I've never been there. There is a scene in the movie 'Fletch' at the end where he's walking on a beach in Rio. From what I remember though, he's walking on the other side (ie, he'd be at the far end of this photo looking at the camera). Anyway, something about how they pan out after the scene reminded me of this.
ReplyDeleteGoogle Image search for "rio de janeiro" turned up sugarloaf mountain which looks like that big one in the back. Google Image search for "rio de janeiro sugarloaf" returns this image which has the identical sidewalk pattern, hotel, and mountain.
http://freephotooftheday.clientk.com/wp02/wp-content/uploads/2007/08/sugar-loaf-copacabana-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-3.jpg
Copacabana Beach, I believe. After TinEye and google reverse image search failed to find a match. I searched for three keywords on google. Swirl, Sidewalk, Beach :-)
ReplyDeleteTook 1 min total.
http://www.profimedia.si/picture/artistic-swirling-patterns-in-the-sidewalk-along/0044659033/
Ipanema in Brazil? Took about 1 minute and I searched by typing in "beach with patterned boardwalk" to google image search. Clicked on an image that looked like the boardwalk and got the name of the beach.
ReplyDeleteRio de Janeiro - Copacabana
ReplyDeleteI recognized the walkway.
Is it fair if you know the answer because you lived by this beach for the first 23 years of your life and need to searching skills to get to the answer?
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach. Search string was "beach mosaic sidewalk". Looked for the mosaic pattern that matched up, then verified by searching for more pictures of Copacabana Beach. Took about 45 seconds. Did I cheat or something? Seems like that should have been more difficult.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, Rio De Janiero. I found it in about 3 seconds by googling "beach with wave design in sidewalk".
ReplyDeleteAh, so since the comments are moderated, I can post here?
ReplyDeleteIpanema. Didn't even read to the point about the statue and the song you mentioned in the blog post.
Google image searched "mosaic beach walkway" an image appeared in the second row of search results and it was labeled "avenida‑atlantica" which I popped into google maps and it came right up.
Time, 30 seconds or less.
You are on Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro Brasil. It took me about one and a half minutes to figure it out (I spent five months in Rio I just had to remember if it was Ipanema or Copacabana).
ReplyDeleteIpanema, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit of guesswork at first. The mountain in the background of your photo reminded me of the terrain in Rio, so I Googled "Jesus statue Rio" to get to the Wikipedia entry for "Cristo Redentor". It said the statue is made of reinforced concrete and soapstone, but you said to look for a statue made of "steatite." I searched "statue AND steatite" and learned soapstone is another name for steatite.
Back to Wikipedia, click on the link for the longitude and latitude of Cristo Redentor. Click on Google Maps Satellite view, check out the orientation of the statue—right hand points towards…hmmm, couple of beaches on the lagoon. But, hey, at the far south end, on the ocean, is Ipanema.
All told, maybe 90 seconds to determine. Am I right, tho'?
Ipanema Beach
ReplyDeleteI just know
Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil :)
ReplyDeleteUsed google image search, with the phrase "ocean with black white sidewalk"
ReplyDeleteScrolled through images and found 3 images of beaches with the distinct tile pattern found in your picture.
This lead me to following sites:
http://tossoffbowlines.wordpress.com/2012/10/15/rio-history-in-the-sidewalks/
http://blogs.worldbank.org/sustainablecities/rio20-and-its-shades-of-grey
http://africanmindtrip.wordpress.com/2011/11/28/the-magic-that-is-copacabana-beach/
Answer - Copacabana Beach
Took less than 5 minutes.
Dangit, no I'm not.
ReplyDeleteI should have looked further. The tile pattern along the beach in the photo doesn't match the tile pattern in the satellite view of Ipanema. You have to go further east, around the promonotory, and then see the swirly pattern of tile is actually on Copacabana Beach.
Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteIt was easy to answer that, just because I'm from Brazil
First time here so forgive me if I'm not doing this "properly" or if I'm missing the point: Copacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteI did three Google image searches and the second was successful:
wavy line bike path beach pattern
beach bike path design
beach bike path design mosaic
It took about 4 minutes in total: type in search, scroll down a bit, refine search, repeat.
Ipanema Beach, in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil.
ReplyDeleteI've never been there, but somehow knew just by looking at the picture (the hills/mountains in the background kinda give it away), and the hints confirmed it.
"Tall and tan and young and lovely,
The girl from Ipanema goes walking
And when she passes, each one she passes goes - ahhhhh"
Sugarloaf mountain - Copacabana Beach. Googled 'bumpy mountain beach' and looked for terrain matches.
ReplyDeleteIpanema. Took me about 30 seconds.
ReplyDeleteThe mountain with the statue of Jesus on it was the giveaway, even though the statue can't be seen. The shape is a giveaway. That and the sunset showing that it's an east-facing beach.
Copacabana beach in Rio.
ReplyDeleteI did a Google search for "famous statue exterior of steatite" and found a link that described the Christ the Redeemer statue, then went to Google Maps to see an aerial shot of the statue and surrounding beaches. Of the two, only one has the Portugese pavement from your photo (which I could see by zooming in). Went to Wikipedia to confirm.
Took about 5 mins.
Copacabana.
ReplyDeleteHow I found it was through a Google search thinking of St. Lucia, but then I went and looked at Top 50 beaches and noticed that it seemed eerily like Brazil and found out that it was Copacabana. Took me 17 minutes to find it. Thanks for the puzzle.
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDeleteSearched google for "steatite statue", it came back with a picture of Christ the Redeemer statue. Confirmed that statue was covered in Steatie (Soapstone) and then searched for "Rio de Janeiro beach" to find a pic with a swirvy looking sidewalk by the beach. Confirmed at : http://www.worldtourismplace.com/copacabana-beach-resort-in-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/
2 or 3 minutes.
balneario beach
ReplyDeleteSearch for "statue steatite" hit Christ the Redeemer, do search on that and hit picture showing the distinctive pattern of the walkway. took maybe 20 seconds
Ipanema, looking northish -- it took me a few seconds, because I've been to both, but I had to search to figure out which one was the farther south one. I searched for Copacabana first (https://maps.google.com/maps?q=copacabana+rio+de+janeiro+brazil&hl=en&hnear=Copacabana,+Rio+de+Janeiro,+Brazil&gl=us&t=m&z=13), and the map showed Ipanema was farther south.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana!
ReplyDeleteI searched on Wikipedia for steatite, where I found it is also known as soapstone. The Steatite page had a photo of Christ the Redeemer, so that was easy. Then I went to the Wikipedia page called "List of beaches," scrolled down to Brazil, recognized "Copacabana" from the song, clicked on *its* page, and saw the distinctive swirled mosaic featured in the photo above.
Took me less than five minutes.
Waikiki Beach? About 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteFirst I tried "famous beaches in songs" and seemed open ended. Then I searched "statue pointing at beach" and ended at a page with honolulu.gov cameras, and one pointed at that statue.
This is Copacabana Beach in Rio!!!!
ReplyDeleteIpanema.
ReplyDelete2-3 minutes.
A search for "steatite statue" led to a few results referencing Christo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer), for which "prominent" is an understatement. The Wikipedia page for that statue has a photo that shows a view of a couple of bodies of water in the background. A look at the area on Google Maps strongly suggested the photo was taken looking to the south, toward Ipanema.
Would that be Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas?
ReplyDeleteThe kind of guessed the place would be rio de janeiro, so I went with that first. I knew Rio had the Christ the Redeemer statue. I did google search to find out that the statue is made of a soapstone which is steatite. Google map showed me that the statue's right arm is pointing to the direction where the lake is located. The google map photos showed the similar mountain and the building shape.
Not sure about the song and the story part.
Ok, to be more specific (sorry, jumped the gun) - Googled 'bumpy mountain beach', found a similar-looking geographic feature, googled 'Sugarloaf Mountain beach' and searched for a similar viewpoint (buildings/mountain in place). Copacabana beach is is. At the Coooopaaaaaa...
ReplyDeleteThis is Copacabana Beach in Rio!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo search required. I know it well. You can see Pao de Acucar in the distance and the signature wavy sidewalk.
The beach is Ipanema beach in Rio. When you said "world-famous beach that's famed in song" I immediately flashed to the one episode of Amazing Race I saw. In it the woman who originally sang "The Girl from Ipanema" was sitting on the beach waiting to give the next clue. I looked at google street view and google satellite images to confirm the location.
ReplyDeleteI searched for Seatite statue and gave up. Then I guessed at the statue. That took me to the city. I used google maps and found a popular beach name. I then used satellite view to identify the cool pattern in the sidewalk. 3 minutes.
ReplyDeleteCopacobana Beach, Rio de Janeiro
ReplyDeleteThe shape of the hills in the background immediately made me think of Rio. To confirm, I queried 'steatite statue beach' and the first result immediately confirmed that the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer above Rio is in steatite. A quick 'beach rio de janeiro' later confirmed (via the wavy stone pattern in the picture) the identification.
Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil with "s" and not with "z".
ReplyDeleteThis is Copacabana Beach in Rio!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo search required (I know it well). You can see Pao de Acucar (Sugarloaf) in the distance and the signature wavy sidewalk. No doubt where this is! :)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/34/CopacabanaPavement.jpg/220px-CopacabanaPavement.jpg
ReplyDeleteThe beach is called Ipanema Beach, Rio de Janeiro. The statue is the Christ the Redeemer, or "Cristo Redentor" statue, located atop Corcovado mountain. The statue, in fact, is how I found the beach. I started by searching for "steatite", hoping to find some sort of list of statues that were covered in it. That didn't give me what I was looking for, (though I did learn that steatite is more commonly referred to as soapstone) so I searched for "steatite statue". Still, nothing promising on the first page. Next was "steatite statue near beach". The seventh result was an article titled "Vandals Cover Rio's Christ Statue With Graffiti". That gave me the name of the statue, so I Googled it: "Christ the redeemer statue". I checked the Wikipedia page, which gave me coordinates which I plugged in to Google Maps. I zoomed in to see which way the right hand pointed, then zoomed back out and followed where it was pointing, which led me to the beach. Though the name of the beach was in the labels of several nearby hotels and such, the fact that "Ipanema" was actually the beach's name wasn't immediately apparent, so one more Google search ("beach next to beach next to vieiria souto") gave me the name, mentioned in the title of the first result. Overall, this only took me about 15 minutes to nail down. The patterning in the sand (or next to it?) helped me be sure that it was the right one.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana (Rio de Janeiro)
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach - about 2 minutes. First I looked up the term "steatite" as I had no idea what it was. Soapstone. THen I searched "beach statue steatite" and the first hit was the "Christ the Redeemer" statue in Brazil. Not knowing what beach that is on, i searched just "Christ the Redeemer" and the first thing that came back ewas an image with the mosaic that you showed in your photograph... Copacabana Beach.
ReplyDeleteBTW I'm from Brasil and that was easy. It's in Rio that is the most visited city in South America.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro.
ReplyDeleteAbout 5 minutes.
First I googled "Famous Beach Statue", and fortunately clicked on Brazil first. The islands I could see from the cliche top-down photo of the statue, looked very much like the islands in the background of your photo.
For further confirmation, I googled "rio de janerio beach wavy pattern", which led me directly to Copacabana Beach (http://www.drfphoto.com/photo/11132/ is almost identical to your photo)
Ipanema Beach. A quick Bing search found the Cristo Redentor. From there I checked out the bing map and saw a few likely beaches. When I saw the wavy lines on the sidewalk I guessed I was correct. Have you found The Girl from Ipanema?
ReplyDeleteAnd that's why you can't trust your gut. Copacabana is also the name of a song, and the pattern of the beachwalk is exclusive of "Copa".
Deletecopacabana i just searched beach sidewalk ...second image that came up
ReplyDeleteYou are on Copacabana Beach in Rio, Brazil. I found this in about 25 seconds by doing a google image search for "wavy lines sidewalk beach" the third result was that exact pattern on the beach there which pointed to a site showing the sidewalk at the beach.
ReplyDelete1) Searched "statue steatite" on Google and found search results for Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janiero.
ReplyDelete2) Searched on Google Maps for "Christ the Redeemer Rio" and followed the statue's right hand south. Ended up on Ipanema Beach. I know the song "The Girl from Ipanema," so thought that could be the "fabled in song" clue.
3) Searched "tile on Ipanema Beach" in Google Images - didn't match the photo.
4) Zoomed out of Google Maps and found Copacabana beach immediately east of Ipanema.
5) Searched "tile on Copacabana beach" in Google and found this: http://www.copacabana.info/mosaic-tile-of-copacabana.html
6) Second-guessed myself and searched "Copacabana beach" in Google Images to make sure the skyline matched up. :)
It took just about ten minutes.
I think the beach is Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. I put the photo into the Images search box and looked at similar photos. The closest I could find was at http://chrisjur.wordpress.com/2007/12/ which identified the place as Rio de Janeiro but not the beach. I then searched for [beaches in Rio de Janeiro] in Images and found a match for Copacabana at http://www.worldtourismplace.com/copacabana-beach-resort-in-rio-de-janeiro-brazil/ The search took about 6.5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteIt's Praia De Copacabana (Copacabana beach), Avenida Atlântica, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ReplyDeleteStreet view: http://goo.gl/maps/LGpJR
Place founded with using of plugin "Search by Image" by Google and Google Street view.
The photo shows a very distinctive outline of two mountains Urca and Sugar Loaf (Pão de Açúcar).
That's Ipanema beach, Rio de Janeiro.
ReplyDeleteI got it with two searches in less than two minutes. First I looked for statue steatite on Google and got Christ Redeemer. Then searched for the statue on Google Maps and followed from its right hand.
Being Brazilian doesn't count as cheating, right?
P.S.: it took me longer to post this comment than to find the answer.
Honestly, I didn't even read your clues. I just looked at the picture and figured a few things:
ReplyDeletePicture was taken during the late afternoon around sunset (there are never that many people out at dawn). The sun generally sets in the west. More like west-northwest in the southern hemisphere. You are almost definitely in the southern hemisphere or close to the equator, just due to the time of year. So this beach almost definitely faces east or southeast. That rules out a lot of places.
Those kind of islands in the distance are typical of SE Asia and Brazil. First I looked up "famous beaches in SE Asia". I realized there were tons of them and most were too remote to be the one pictured. Knowing that this was obviously in a city and that most cities in SE Asia don't have beautiful wide open beaches in them I figured I should check Brazil. So I opened up Google maps and started with Rio. Very quickly I noticed the beaches had interesting tiled sidewalks, and it wasn't long before I landed on Copacabana. Which is the next beach over from Ipanema.
When I went back and read your clues, it was a lot more obvious. I have not been to any of these places, but spend way too much time looking at pictures of them and dreaming of going to them.
I was starting with Google Image. Came out with no good result. The next thing I did was, searching with these keywords : "beach statue right hand points to sand", and most of the results was referring to Oxon Hill wich has relation to The statue called "The Awakening". I was curious because the background scenery has no similarity with the picture above. This only took about 5 minutes. Until I realized that the clue "... a world-famous beach that’s famed in song and story. ", made me remember about the song. It's Ipanema Beach.
ReplyDeleteI want to make sure, so I went to Ipanema Beach using Google Street View. It tooks about 10 minutes finding the right spot. Here it is:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/4285847/ipanema%20beach%20-%20Google%20Maps-6.jpg
The landscape looked like Rio
ReplyDeleteTried search random beach spots in Rio -> gave up.
Search Google Images for "rio janeiro beach black and white mosaic" second image matched your photo.
Googled for Copacabana black and white mosaic to find images confirming your location.
Being Brazilian, it's an obligation to know the waved mosaic in "Pedras Portuguesas" that is so characteristic to Copacabana - totally different from Ipanema's ones. Therefore, it's unfair to participate in this week's challenge, even though I have a point: one who tries to set a straight line from the Cristo Redentor's, right arm would get to Ipanema beach, not Copacabana, and then one would get to a false answer, besides Ipanema being also [part of] the name of a beautiful Tom Jobim's song.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro. First googled (image) the steatite covered statue and came up with the Cristo Redentor then I googled for pictures of the Rio de Janeiro boardwalks and came up with the Copacabana Beach. About 3 min.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Highly vertical topography of the hills and islands in the picture so close to a beach in a city immediately suggested Rio to me. Also,the reference to a prominent statue (Christ the Redeemer)on a similar highly vertical rock formation and the subsequent confirmation that that statue is composed of a combination of concrete and soapstone (steatite) affirmed my guess. The vaguely latin look of the boardwalk and its denizens suggested latin america. My first guess was Ipanema, so pulled up a pick of that beach on google images. The board walk was similar but had a different pattern, lending confidence to Rio guess. Reviewed google maps and saw that the topography of the islands and promontories in the pic were likely to the east at Copacabana. Street View revealed the exact spot on Avenida Atlantica where the photo was taken.
ReplyDeleteForgot to mention...took maybe 2-3 minutes to find and confirm location. Took longer to draft this post, log in etc.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach
ReplyDeletefirst search in google images
"famous beach with statue that points to the beach"
second search images
"famous beach with statue that points to the beach black and white sidewalk"
found some pictures that looked like the sidewalk.
found a picture at
http://www.google.com/imgres?start=139&hl=en&safe=off&biw=1920&bih=933&tbm=isch&tbnid=gUnHpVUKXONOBM:&imgrefurl=http://www.hintmag.com/blog/labels/Pia%2520Catton.html&docid=yJk6WDYxFCHR0M&imgurl=http://www.hintmag.com/blog/uploaded_images/avenidaatlantica-791121.jpg&w=400&h=246&ei=7pqRUIKQIa_BiwKLlYGoDA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=546&sig=104137234287258144190&page=4&tbnh=127&tbnw=198&ndsp=51&ved=1t:429,i:166&tx=76&ty=88
clicked throuogh to the website and found the description for Copacabana
http://www.guiadobrasil.tur.br/en/?regiao=1
~5 minutes to find.
Copacabana Beach in Rio. I searched google for famous steatite statue beach which gave me Christ the Redeemer statue. Searched for Christ the Redeemer statue in google maps. Looked for direction of the hands. Zoomed in on the beach and verified the wavy sidewalk pattern. Used street view to verify the view in the picture.
ReplyDeleteI searched "Beach wavy sidewalk" in google images... nearly every result was "Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil"
ReplyDeleteI don't see a statue in the picture... I was there a few months ago, pure coincidence, it's copacobana beach, ipanema is a few hundred metres in the 4 o clock direction of the camera
ReplyDeleteSearched "famous beach swirl mosaic", second result was a website to find apartments in Rio de Janiero which described the beach perfectly and told me it was Copacabana. For good measure, I also did an image search for "steatite statue" which came up with a giant statue of Jesus Christ in Rio de Janiero. Took me about 7 minutes.
ReplyDeletegoogled "steatite statue beach song story". second link down showed the Christ the Redeemer statue and mentioned copacabana in the summary. As both the statue and the beach are pretty famous, I googled copacabana images and found plenty that matched. took ~5 seconds maybe. I can't seem to find where anything says his right hand is pointing at the beach though.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach in Brazil. Less than 3 minutes via web searches. (I ignored for a moment my suspicion that it was a beach in Brazil based any prior knowledge and attempted to use just the clues provided).
ReplyDelete1) You first mentioned Steatite... confirmed via the type of stone and landmark statues that use this material... Christ the Redeemer was the most notable example...located in Brazil.
2) Beaches in Brazil near Christ the Redeemer - yielded Copacabana and Ipanema. Both having songs about them...
3) Image searches of "sidewalks of Copacaban" and "sidewalks of Ipanema" - then compared the sidewalk pattern against the referenced image and the search results.
Confirmed Copacabana is the most likely beach being referenced (Steatite statue, famous beach, song)
30 seconds. Copacabana. I thought I recognized it, and I knew about the statue (although not its coating), so I googled "steatite statue rio" which gave me confirmation.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, Street view of exact location
ReplyDeletehttp://maps.google.com.au/maps?q=Rio+de+Janeiro,+Brazil&hl=en&ll=-22.975645,-43.18746&spn=0.001221,0.002064&sll=-35.461655,150.150995&sspn=0.137722,0.264187&t=h&hnear=Rio+de+Janeiro,+Brazil&z=20&layer=c&cbll=-22.975724,-43.187507&panoid=N97rRvvh8EWG2xwWnFUKJg&cbp=12,69.8,,0,1.17
Copacabana in Rio de Janeiro. I recognized the pattern on the sidewalk on Ave. Atlantica and the Pao de Azucar on the left. Although it could very well be Ipanema or Leblon.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach obvi
ReplyDeleteI didn't know it off the top of my head like some people. I looked up pointing steatite statue and found Christ the redeemer. Then went to google maps and followed where he was pointing until I got to Av. Vieira Souto. Looked up that + beach and found Ipanema beach. Looked at the picture and saw that you were really next to it. Looked for wavy lines on google maps. Found copacabana beach. Done.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
ReplyDeleteI searched for "wave pattern on beach sidewalk" it was the first search result.
copacabana beach. i knew cause i ahve been there and recognized it. got mugged there.
ReplyDeleteI google image searched "boardwalk with wavy pattern". It took my about 35 seconds to find a picture that fit the pattern. Copacabana in Rio, Brazil. The mountains in the background confirm.
ReplyDeleteI searched for "steatite", "statue", "beach". One of the links had brazil in the title, which is what I was looking for based on the people in the pics. The link had pics of rio de janeiro, which then lead me to beaches which I then googled images and looked for similar beaches. Copacabana. About 3 minutes.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach. It took me about 1 second, as that picture is taken pretty much in front of my apartment. The large building on the other end of the beach is the Windsor Atlantico Hotel. My office building is just next to that one. Also, pao de acucar is the large mountain in the distance, that's another popular tourist destination.
ReplyDeleteThe wavy patterns are well known to be in Rio, at least here in Brazil, it was easy to define which was the right beach with a simple google image search.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach.
ReplyDeleteSearched for images of Copacabana as the image looked familiar and the reference to a song reinforced this
Copacabana beach, maybe 2 minutes. I immediatly recognized christ the redeemer, so my first instinct was to use google to keyword, "Christ the Redeemer Beach" This turned up no results so i thought to use google earth. I searched Christ the Redeemer, and 30 seconds later i was on street view on the same beach.
ReplyDeletetyped in: beach wavey sidewalk in google images. clicked on the first image link to flickr and it named it as "Copacabana" beach in Rio, Brazil. Took about 15 seconds total.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro... One second! The sidewalks were 'draw' as black and white waves. Just as a curiosity, this kind of sidewalk is considered an art mastered by the Portuguese and this 'waves' pattern are a trade mark of Rio de Janeiro sidewalks. The Sugar Loaf on the background just gave the clue (geographic location) of which beach it was.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I was born in Rio so...
I searched google images for "famous beach hills wavy boardwalk" and got "Praia Vermelha - the red beach in Rio de janeiro" by identifying the hill in the distance. This took me about a minute. Another few seconds of searching "famous beach rio de janeiro" came up with an image of the wavy street pattern - "the Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, the city of the 2016 Olympiad, Brazil, South America" (NOTE - I am a very visual person anyway and use the image search more than the webpage search.)
ReplyDeleteCopacabana beach specifically the Bench located at
ReplyDeleteAv. Atlântica, 3196 - Copacabana
Rio de Janeiro - RJ, 22070-000, Brazil 83 m W
1 Second... Copacabana. Been there.
ReplyDeletePraia De Copacabana, I recognized the reference to the statue and the hills in the photo, and Googled "Rio De Janeiro". From the main results page, there was a link to Christ The Redeemer, so I clicked that and then the maps view. I zoomed in on the sat view, then followed the right hand pointing to the beach and zoomed in on Google Maps. I looked for one with a sidewalk with wavy lines and a street view that shows a similar vantage point (I lined up the hotel with the mountain in the back). This is likely where the photo was taken: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=christ+the+redeemer+statue&hl=en&ll=-22.975641,-43.18746&spn=0.00887,0.015814&safe=active&fb=1&gl=us&hq=christ+the+redeemer+statue&cid=0,0,11369764793252905694&t=h&z=17&layer=c&cbll=-22.975724,-43.187507&panoid=N97rRvvh8EWG2xwWnFUKJg&cbp=12,77.43,,0,6.2
ReplyDeleteThe point here is how we search, not just that we get the answer. So taking it a step further I eliminated each clue that helped me identify the location then started again.
ReplyDeleteThe text based clues gave it away without any searching so let’s remove those.
Then the wavy walkway was easy enough to help identify it so let’s remove thatby cropping the picture.
And let’s disqualify anyone who has first hand familiarity with the location. :-)
Now what do we have? A beach, buildings (likely Hotels) indicating a destination location, and finally an interesting topography. With these clues I made the assumption we were in the tropics. Armed with this I went to Google Maps, overlayed terrain and looked for coastal areas that had both a significant city AND had mountainous terrain that reached to the ocean. I started with South America and not having heard of any likely destinations on the Pacific coast I immediately look at the Atlantic side and see that Southern Brazil is a very likely place to look more closely as there is wild terrain that meets the sea. Based on the modernized building I would start at the largest cities like Rio de Janeiro. From there Googling images of Rio de Janeiro and Beach yields a closely matching image.
I recognised this as Rio. Searching the material on Google images brought up the statue so I pretty much knew. Unfortunately, less than a minute.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, The mountains are very recognizable as well as your description of the statue which is Christ the Redeemer. The only place I went was Google Maps.
ReplyDeleteIpanema Beach. It was tough to figure if it was ipanema or copacabana. what settled it for me was googling "ipanema copacabana beach map," hoping to get some kind of tourist hand drawn map with the beaches labeled. That's what it got.
ReplyDeleteI started off by googling seatite statue, which confirmed that you were in rio. One minute for this part, 5 more to be certain it was ipanema, not copa.
I found out that you are on Copacabana Beach. I found it in about 4 minutes by searching "famous beach hills wavy sidewalk."
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Like Jason before me, I simply did a Google Images search for "beach with waves on sidewalk" and had the answer in well under a minute.
ReplyDeleteI actually found the picture 1st on lifehacker. Googling brought me here, where you all had already found/posted the location! All I had to do was read through these comments. :D
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, certainly not Ipanema. It took me no time at all to identify Rio, because I have been there and walked on that calçada. I spent some time on both Ipanema and Copacabana, however, and forgot which beach had the wavy pattern on its walkway, so Google Maps came to my rescue.
ReplyDeleteZoom in on the beaches, and you'll see that Copacabana has the waves/hills on the walkway, while Ipanema has more of a hexagon pattern. Time: 30 seconds of load and zoom-in time.
Copacabana Beach, certainly not Ipanema. It took me no time at all to identify Rio, because I have been there and walked on that calçada. I spent some time on both Ipanema and Copacabana, however, and forgot which beach had the wavy pattern on its walkway, so Google Maps came to my rescue.
ReplyDeleteZoom in on the beaches, and you'll see that Copacabana has the waves/hills on the walkway, while Ipanema has more of a hexagon pattern. Time: 30 seconds of load and zoom-in time.
i would have said ipanema, but rio for sure without googling
ReplyDeleteCopacana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. I did a search for famous beaches, then added statue to it, and when the Sao Cristovao came up, and I saw 'statue nearby', I realized it had to be that statue, followed the right arm in the map, and ended up with Copacabana. It took me about 15 minutes, but I got distracted with a few cool looking beaches in Thailand :p
ReplyDeleteSearched for "Brazil Jesus Statue" (based on your clues of statue, prominent location, and right hand pointing)
ReplyDeleteWiki'd "Cristo_Redentor"
Google Map'd the Coordinates
Followed the path of his right hand until I hit sand and water
Zoomed in until I saw that side walk
Zoomed out a few clicks to get the name
Just the hills in the background made me think "Rio." From there, I knew that the beach in Rio is called the Copacabana.
ReplyDeleteRio de Janeiro.
ReplyDeleteAl. Atlantica looking NE along the beach
I recognized the reference to the statue of Christ The Redeemer.
I went to Google Maps and started up the beach periodically switching to street view until I found the view matching the picture.
Maybe 10 min.
That's Copacabana Beach in Rio.
ReplyDeleteFirst, there's the walkway, which is quite unique. Second, that's the Windsor Copacabana Hotel, on the left. Third, I live here. =D
Copa copacabana Beach Rio. Search string was simply "beach surrounded by rocks and wavy pattern on sidewalk".
ReplyDeleteSearching "steatite" came up with the wikipedia page for "Soapstone" which stated the Christ the Redeemer statue in Rio de Janeiro was clad with the stuff.
ReplyDeleteAfter that all I had to search for was "Rio de Janeiro swirl pavement beach" and I had my answer in the first link. Copacabana Beach!
Search time: 2 minutes.
That would be the Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro like everyone is stating. I will take it one further and state that the picture was taken in front of the Temporada Copacabana hotel between Xavier da Silveira Rd. and Bolivar Rd. on Atlantica Ave. I used Google Street View to pinpoint given the angle of the building and mountain in the background.
ReplyDeleteThe name of the beach is Ipanema, situated in the city Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil. I found this by just looking at the picture and because of the song hint. The name of the song is "The girl from Ipanema" or in portuguese "Garota de Ipanema".
ReplyDeleteYay, my first guess was that it was Rio, and I was right :)
ReplyDelete1 second. Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brasil. The the wavy pattern of the tiles is famous - and I'm Brazilian ;-)
ReplyDeleteIpanema Beach.
ReplyDeleteSearched "steatite statue beach" in google images. Looked for the approximate shape of mountains in pic. Saw answer on first page. Gave me "Corcovado Brazil"
Google Mapped "Corcovado and zoomed in really close to see statue's hands. Zoomed out to follow direction of hand. Found beach.
Zoomed out to get name of city. "Rio de Janeiro"
Googled Rio de Janeiro map. Found it. Ipanema Beach.
3 min.
I guessed it before I finished reading the description, which I suppose shows how human free association and a decent general knowledge is still the quickest finder of answers! To confirm (and pretending I didn't have a pretty good idea already) I Google searched for 'steatite statue beach' to find reference to 'Christ the Redeemer' within top five hits, then searched on 'Christ the Redeemer statue beach' to find http://www.copacabana.info/christ-the-redeemer.html - which I skim-read to give me the answer. Finally a Google image search found me virtually identical images to confirm the connection. Total search time: About 30 seconds
ReplyDeleteCopacabana just searched for "wavy tiles at beach" 5 minutes 1st tried to figure out the buildings
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
ReplyDelete4 mins.
Searched Google for 'steatite statue beach'.
3rd result was an Ehow article about Soapstone, and just from looking at the meta description in the Google result page it mentioned 'Soapstone can be found and carved in large or small pieces. Probably the largest example of soapstone used in sculpture is "Christ the Redeemer'
So then I Googled 'Rio de Janeiro beach'
1st result was 'http://www.frommers.com/destinations/riodejaneiro/2845020389.html' I scanned the article looking for any beaches I recognised and saw 'Copacabana'
So then I searched 'Copacabana' in Google images and the 1st results was a photo of the patterned pavement in the article photo.
Definitely Ipanema beach, Rio. It was a tossup between Ipanema and Copacabana after seeing the scenery (mountains) in the background. What sealed it was the term "made famous in song". "The girl from Ipanema". Just to be 100% sure I went to google earth and saw to what beach the right hand of Christ was pointing. All in all, took about 3 mins.
ReplyDeleteCopacabana Beach, found it in about a minute using a similar search as Steve and Gies just above. I've never been there, so it came purely from searching Google.
ReplyDeleteI'm going to go with Ipanema Beach. I first searched for "Statue with steatite", and as I already guessed, it was Christ the Redeemer. Then I searched for beaches near the statue, and a search brought up Ipanema and Leblon beaches. I then searched for views from Ipanema beach, and caught an image of Christ the Redeemer's right hand pointing towards the viewer. Then, "The Girl from Ipanema Beach" was my last search. All in about 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteI may be wrong, but I'll stick to this answer.
capacabana beach, brazil
ReplyDeletequery [world famous beach name song story]
Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I knew that as soon as I saw the picture, took me 30 seconds to confirm it with Google images.
ReplyDelete