The final stop has arrived! And possibly the best one of the lot!

Again i had to endure the boat from Ilha Grande, but it wasnt that bad this time- partly because i think i overdosed on sickness tablets! Ha!

Rio is beautiful! The beaches are amazing!! And the sea isnt as cold as Ilha Grande and Parati so it much better to go in! :-) But the waves are HUGE, Tom point blank refuses to go in.. All because of one bad experience in Cape Verde! Haha!

So i will try and do our day to day diary of our time in Rio starting with the first Sunday!

In the day we went to Ipanema (a beach neighbourhood) hippie market was really cool! Brought lots as usual and now really trying to figure out how to get it in my bag! Ha!

That evening we went to a party in the Favela it was amazing!! So we went with a few people we know- safety in numbers and all that, we were going into the Favela after all, which is about 30 minutes outa main Rio! When we arrived it was nothing like i thought! I feel bad for saying it but i thought they would be poorer! They had everything down there! Shops, drugstores, cars, motorbikes, and, obviously, bars and clubs!
The club itself was cool, big and just a huge dance space really! And you saw why inmediately! OMG! The blokes are HOT! No shirts on, all dancing (well)! Us girls just stood and watched! Trying to keep my mouth closed! Haha! In fact the only bad thing about the Favela party was the groping.. So the guys were hot.. Well some (majority) of them but they all had this disgusting attitude where they thought you were theirs! And they didnt need to ask! You would walk past and they would grab you- and im talking arm, body, hair.. Anything! At first i was like s***tttt! But one of the girls we were with had been before and told the rest of us to just tell them to do one! (universal language) haha! It worked.. And to be fair to them they didnt get aggressive or anything! (always a bonus!)

Monday-
Went to the copacabana beach but it was windy.. Just wandered round copacabana and then went to another market this time at night! Lots of shopping in Rio! Yay! Bit of a quite one after last night..

Tuesday-
It was supposed to rain today but it didnt! Wish English weather was like that! However it was overcast so we decided to all go to Lapa Steps and wander to yet ANOTHER market! Ha!
Lapa steps were incredible! The guy who does it was there apparentely he's there everyday because he's completely obessed with the steps! And is still adding tiles etc! You can bring him tiles from places around the world and he'll use them! Ha! Wierdooo! The steps connect Lapa and Santa Thresea which is cool and there actually pretty steep- although that might just be my incredibly s***e fitness levels at this stage! Ha!

In the evening we went to Lapa, and literally a warehouse. And saw carnival rehersal! Omg it was amazing! They didnt have costumes (obvs not!) but they were all playing the drums and we could join in and learn the dances! It was awesome!! I obviously wasnt very good! Although i reallly want to come back to Brazil for carnival now!! We then hit another club in Leblon (beach neighbourhood) which was ok, free caipirinhas made it better- it was a very touristy place thou!

Wednesday-
We went to see Jesus today, AKA Christo Redentor! Hes big! Haha! It was such a mission to get there but it was good fun, even if it was overloaded with tourists! Literally couldnt move! Good views of Rio too, its a strange looking city from above! Has a lagoon right in the middle and then is strangley spread out all over the place!

Thursday-
So today we chilled out Ipanema beach again- with all the beautiful people! It was cool! The waves are insane and make me want to have a bodyboard sooo bad! Tom still refused to go in.

We then went to a football match! Fluminense v Santos! Fluminense became top of the league! It was insane, they partied like they'd won the thing! Ha! It was wierd though, being a top team (think Man Utd) you'd think they'd fill the stadium right? A 44,000 seater stadium with only 15,000 fans in there!! WHAT!? I get its International weekend and their Independence weekend but come on!!! I thought the Brazilians were crazy about football! To be fair though their 15,000 fans made more noise than half of the premier league clubs do when full! They had drums, the biggest flags ive ever seen, absolutely no seating order so everyone just stands and goes wherever they want! Its brilliant!

Friday-
Brazils Independance day... Meaning the busiest, best night out in Rio! We went to Lapa street party with a small group of us! Luckily two of the girls had been before so they knew good food and drink stalls! Ha! Good job because there were sooo many!

It was awesome.. I dont remember a lot of it so ill have to be vague.. We basically drank caipirinhas, ate food (a lot of food), and danced! We also went into the most ganster club you could imagine (picture Save the Last Dance club) it was incredible! The lads in there were AMAZEBALLS at dancing! And they formed the circle (just like in the films) and each had a turn! Me and the girls naturally dived right in there for our turn.. We were fairly poor compared! Break dancing skills werent quite a match! Hahahahaha! But they didnt kick us out which was sweet of them..

Saturday-
One of the hottest days since we've been here and i felt soo ill! Felt like i had sun stroke coming on, NOT cool! We went to Red Leaf beach and i had to leave to go and sleep for two hours! Failure! Food didnt even pull me through! Ha!

In the evening though me, Tom and the two Aussie girls went to the Copacabana beach with wine and cheese and a load of bread and crackers it was chilled and cool! Literally went to bed sooo early though! Getting old! Haha!

Sunday-
We went to Leblon beach, and it was one of the best beaches in Rio i think.. The sea was calmer, (although Tom STILL didnt go in), and we managed to find a decent spot in the crowds to relax!! Ha!

Again a chilled night! Cooked and went for a few drinks but done all the partying for now i think!

Monday-
Our last full day! Soo sad! We just went to the beach to get the last bit of rays before we return to sunny sunny England!

We also went to another night market and brought a few things! Again! Have more Brazil merchandise than anything else! Haha!

Tuesday-
Time to leave.. :-(

Soo do not want to go home! We didnt do much today really.. I went and had my nails done and we then had an all you can eat buffet!! Tastttyyy! :-)

We then had a crazy taxi driver try and kill us on the way to the airport! Jesus he drove like a mad man posessed! I actually asked him to slow down twice- he laughed at me! Twat!

When we made it alive to the airport in what im sure is a record time of 25minutes! (hostel said it would take an hour!) we checked in to find we were sat at the back of the plane! and in an aisle seat!! I HATE the back and I HATE the aisle seats! So we bigger up Tom's back problem and he offered us an upgrade for €30.. Seemed ok so off we went to pay for it and this other bloke said it was €130 not €30.. I went mad.. We went back to the first douche and told him and all his response was 'my bad'.. That set me off even more! He then obviously realised he had really annoyed me because he said we could have them for free! Whhhayy! RESULT!

So now we are about to board and return to sunny England.. I cant say im excited at all! South America and the past three months have been absolutely incredible and i will never forget it.. We've met alot of really cool people (and a few weirdos ha!), and done some amazing things..

Has to be said though i never would have survived this trip without the following....

Ipod- for bus journeys
Kindle- beach
Blow up pillow- bus journeys
And Tom.. - my personal packer/bag carrier/person to b**** with!

So yeah thanks for reading.. Sorry for boring you all, night time reading has now finished, find a new book! Ha! See you all in England very soon..

Speak soon! Muchos love.

XxX