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Oi from Rio de Janeiro!!!
On our first day in Rio we arrived at our hostel and they tried to say we were wanting our own room which we didn’t as we had decided to slum it as Rio is a whole lot more expensive than the rest of South America. The staff were party good and spoke English though so we just went into a 4 man room which we ended up having to ourselves anyway as nobody else came so we were glad we had not paid more for it. Can I also just say that as they speak Portugese here we are going to be even more lost but as Craig only learnt to count to ten in Spanish 3 days ago I don’t suppose it will make much difference lol! We also had to have a cold shower as they were not working! I also forgot to mention that when we got here someone in uniform came over and asked Craig to open his bag and he said “Why?“ and refused until eventually the guy showed this badge and he was a cop - oops! We went out and tried to find some food mainly wanting a Subway as we knew there was one here or even a McDonald’s so we walked round for ages and eventually found McD’s so had one of them. After we walked down onto Copacabana beach which was gorgeous. They say Venice Beach is meant to be the place to watch the “young and beautiful” but this was way more like that, there was hot people everywhere lol and loads of girls wearing thongs which Craig made me take a photo of lol, also though there was loads of people that nobody should ever have to see wearing a thong lol! We had a walk along the beach and took some photos but we wanted to go in the sea as they had good waves so we took our belongings back to the hostel as it’s a bad place for crime and went back to the beach for a swim. The sea was lovely and we played in the waves till it was starting to get dark. It was so funny, Craig was standing at the edge and a huge wave came and knocked him right off his feet and the couple next to us were killing themselves laughing lol! At night we went out to have a walk along some of the main streets in Copacabana and we thought we were on the same street as earlier but we were not so we had walked way to far and it was starting to look a bit sketchy so we walked down and back along and that was when we saw it…. In the distance….and smelled the aroma and looked around…..and it was….SUBWAY!!! If anyone had been watching us they would have witnessed the most pathetic people on the planet, we just looked at each other with gaping mouths, smiled and high fived and went for our sandwich which was amazing lol!
The next day we got up quite early as we were not sure what we wanted to do but knew we only had the one day to do it in so we could get to Sao Paulo for our flight. We got up and went to the laundrette to do our washing of which we have loads - look out for a repeat performance Emma and Huntly lol! Then we had breakfast at Bob’s lol! We had asked and knew there was football on at the famous Maracana so we were going to try and do that at night so we thought we would try and see Christ the Redeemer as we were not too bothered about the Centro as we have seen plenty of cathedrals now! We asked at the hostel and it sounded so confusing but we went out and attempted it anyway but the bus they had said just seemed not to exist and we asked at the metro and it didn’t go and we had to walk miles to go to about a million banks as ATM’s are so annoying here we have to keep transferring all my money to Craig as my card wont work!! The shops looked cheap and we had some money we were going to use to buy clothes for going back to work etc in NYC but it looked cheaper here so we thought we would go for a wee look but oh my God they have the most stupid system here, Craig needed work shoes and they were all like 30-50R about £10-15 but when we looked closer it says in really small writing x3 then in big writing 50R then in small writing 150R so everything is three times the price, what a stupid idea! We couldn’t actually find much but I did get a long dress than I wanted since Oz so a bit late and Craig ended up getting a pair of good, cheap shoes in C&A of all places lol!! We went back to the hostel and dropped off our stuff and headed back down to the beach for the final swim in the ocean of our trip and it was good! Copacabana is the funniest place, there is such a mix of people and there is always someone random walking about, old fat guys who have been to the beach just walk back home in their trunks and people walk the bustling streets in bikinis and there are some sights, quite a lot of homeless and mentally ill people as well by the looks of things. After the beach we headed back and got ready for the football which we were really excited about and hoped that we would be able to find our way there and get tickets. We went for tea at a buffet place which was quite good but cold. Then we headed for the metro. The game we were heading for was Flamengo v International and we saw a guy with a Flamengo top on so we just followed him lol! The train was so busy and stop before ours we had to change trains and you should have seen it everyone pushed against the door waiting to get out so we grabbed hands and were shoved with the current of people to the stairs and up them and to the platform to wait on the connecting train and when it arrived everyone shoved right onto it, it was quite scary. We got off the train and followed the crowds to the stadium which was pretty huge and cool. We went for tickets in the cadeira azul which I knew was lower level and something to do with blue but we wanted lower as the guide book says all the die hard fans sit in the upper section and people throw bottles of pee and stuff like dead chickens so I wanted to sit in the sap area lol! Our tickets were only £7 each to but we saw we were not sitting together which was a nightmare but we eventually got in and you could sit anywhere and we were cheesing, we had actually made! I was more happy for Craig as we missed Boca and all he wanted to do was go to a game in Latin America so he got his wish! The atmosphere was amazing the stadium was only about two thirds full and we were there an hour before it started for tickets and the fans were just going mental singing, dancing and chanting, it was such an electric atmosphere. All of the chants and songs had the same tune but different words so we attempted to sing along and clap anyway which was pretty funny! We also got wee hats and a flag which was cool. When the game started I spent half of it watching the fans, grown men were having tantrums in the aisles etc if things went wrong and they would kick the seat and everything. Nobody sat in their seats everyone stood on them instead and I was actually quite surprised at how much I knew about the game lol! It ended up goalless which was pretty frustrating as nobody took a shot at a goal very much, Craig said they played it safe. On the way back we got the metro again, I thought it would be finished as the game started at 9.50pm and we got back on the train at midnight. It was the last train and we didn’t even know if we were going the right way but we were and when we changed everyone darted for the last connection and I was actually pressed between 3 guys with nothing to hold onto and one of them was practically cuddling me but at least it meant there was no room to fall over. We stood on it for ages without it moving and every time more people came to get on it all the fans on the train would yell abuse at them lol! We got home and were quite proud of ourselves for navigating our way there on our own. It was quite late but we had to pack our bags although we had less stuff this time round as all of our clothes that were on their last legs we have just started to bin now rather than carry them home when we are not going to wear them!
This morning we got up early and got some food and a taxi to the bus station where we saw christ on our way in and managed to get a photo although from far away but chuffed that we saw it none the less. We got our tickets for Sao Paulo and went to find the gate which seemed to not exist and had to ask about a million people till we found it. I threw out a bra last night that had broke and then when I woke up on the bus the wire in the one I was wearing had came out too, I think I may need some new clothes lol! I slept most of the way and we got here about 5pm and got a cab which was by far the most we have been conned so far. We drove for like an hour round and round the city and after a while it seemed we were being taken for a ride or the driver was lost but when we passed a sex shop that we had already passed 15 minutes previously Craig erupted and asked the guy what he was doing as we had already been here. He drove 5 more minutes and then let us out in the street pointing in the general direction of where our hotel supposedly was and then left with 52R =£ 17!!! We got to our hotel which is ok and found a skanky BIG Mac for tea and Craig got his head shaved while we are still in cheap land lol! Sao Paulo looks like a bit of a tip, homeless everywhere and every third shop is a peep show or porn theatre which is quite minging and they probably let out rooms by the hour here, if you know what I mean lol!
Tomorrow we plan to have a wee look round before our flight at night which we are already nervous about although we know it will be fine but we are glad we are coming to the end of all these flights, it will be a relief to be home and know we don’t have to go on one for a while lol!
Hope you are all well back home!!
Lots of Love
Eva and Craig xxx
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