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Hello there,
Well after a most enjoyable 24 hr bus ride from Campo Grande after the Pantanal, we arrived bright eyed and bushy tailed in the lovely Rio. We opted to stay in Ipanema and found a hostel owned by a rather strange but friendly lady, in a little side street. Ruth being our best negotiator managed to squeeze a few Real off the price, but compared to the rest of our travels we were paying a bloody fortune. None the less, it was clean and very conveniently located in a big old house.
Our first afternoon, still dazed from the bus journey, we headed out to the beach. Not wanting to standout, I of course opted for a racey little number, tight lycra, what fun. Unfortunately though, the fashion police (Ruth) could not stand the competition so insisted I changed into something less revealing. A lazy afternoon followed and evening. We were supposed to only have a quick nap, but woke at midnight and even in Rio that is a little too late to eat.
An early rise and complimentary cheese sandwich for breakfast and a trip to see christ. We hopped on a local bus and literally flew through the streets of Rio. No one was safe especially those waiting to get on who usually had to dive out the way of the oncoming bus. 1hr later and we were on our way up the first viewpoint. Awesome views over almost the whole of Rio, quite incredible. We then joined the other tourists and went to take a few photos of christ. It was not really as big as I imagined, but still very impresssive. We enjoyed more great views from the top and top some spectacular photos. You can actually take a helicopter ride over Rio and right up to the statue for next to no money, but unfortunately they were fully booked that day. It was excellent value, only 300 dollars for 8 minutes, a real shame we could not spend all that money.
Ruth had a full day of sightseeing planned, but I had other ideas. It was Englands last group game and so I told her that she could treat herself to some window shopping whilst I watched the rugby. What fun we both had. Ruth looked at clothes and I drank beer and watched the rugby. Drinks and food that night topped off a lovely day.
A slow start to the morning, thanks to a couple of foggy heads. A good cheese sandwich for breakfast soon sorted us out and by 12 we were ready for anything. A Rio team, Flamengo, were playing at the legendary Maracana stadium that night, so were decided a bit of samba football was in order. We met another English couple later and got the local bus to the stadium. It was similar to going to a stadium like Wembley. Walking up, surrounded by hundreds of people singing and cheering, it was an amazing sight. After a quick frisk by the local police and we were in. The stadium was quite incredible. It holds over 200,000 people and even with only 50,000 in it, an awesome sight and sound. Throughout the game the fans did not stop singing, dancing and setting off flares. They also had plenty to say about the football and often booed and swore at their own players when they did not think they did the right thing. It was quite incredible just to be amoungst them and they certainly had more rhythm than the brits at a match. The game ended with a 1-0 win for Flamengo so a happy Rio that night. The football was good but the atmosphere completely blew it away.
The next day we went off on a walk along the coast and to Copacabana. There were plenty of people strutting their stuff along the beach and it made for entertaining viewing.We walked almost the length of the beach and after a few empanadas, settled onto the sand to catch a little of the afternoon sun. A quick dip in the rather cool water and we were both quite well cooked. I had burnt my arms and backs of my legs and ruth had burnt the backs of her legs as well, so we were both a little lobster lee. We had planned to go up sugar loaf that day, but neither of us could stand anymore sun. We met the english couple again that night for drinks and food, which made for a pleasant evening.
The next day we planned to leave for Isla Grande, a litttle island 5 hours south of Rio. We took along Jules and Carol (English couple) for the ride, as they had time to kill and fancied a few more days on the beach. We were going to get a bus then boat to the island but our taxi driver persuaded us into going straight to the port and between 4 it did not cost too much. A rather idyllic boat ride, during which I did not even feel sick in spite of a rather bumpy ride and we arrived on a beautiful little island. We strolled along the beach with our ruc-sacs taking in our glorious surroundings and counting ourselves very lucky once again. We had reserved 2 rooms for us, but upon arrival this was not the case. We both had a room with bunk beds in, looking rather different from the fabulous pictures on the internet. A few beers would help ease the pain and so we trudged off to the bar, poor us. After a while the cleaner started chatting to us and as it turned out they had 2 lovely double rooms available, when we were told they weren´t any. She was pleased the room s were filled and Ruth´s smile returned.
Most of our 2 days were spent strolling on the beach, a little chilly swimming and eating, much to my annoyance. The highlight however was a big eat all you can bbq with steak, chicken, fish and pork. I did not really want to eat all I could, but it is a shame to see food go to waste. Ruth thought the same but with Caipirinhas, a few too many and she was full of it. Dancing away mostly on her own, offending the Irish by shouting about how she could not understand a dam thing they were saying and generally being a nuisance. My personal favourite was her solo dance to Elton Johns Crocodile Rock, what a sight. Needless to say she was rather delicate that morning.
After 2 relaxing days it was time to get to Curitiba and see Ruth´s friend Marina. So we hopped on another boat and a bus bound for Sao Paulo.
Hope everyone is well and looking forward to seeing you all soon,
Take care
Lots of love,
Greg and Ruthxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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