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......Bringing it home in fine style
Blimey, this is really nearly it.... Is so strange to think that in a matter of hours I`ll be back in Blighty jumping on the tube, grabbing a copy of the Guardian and raiding Boots Chemists for my much missed favourite toilettries and make up.
And I now fiiiiinally have a return date for when all these fun activities can commence; have got a seat on a plane leaving on Monday 10th - so pencil Tuesday 11th into your diaries, I`ll be home!
But as long as I`m across the other side of the Atlantic the blog will keep going and have to say it`s been the most lurvely week in Rio, so am really pleased to have seen out my final days on a travel high. The weather has continued to be absolutely super and this city with it`s party vibe and tropical backdrop just keeps growing on me.
Again, the benefits of spending a good week somewhere rather than racing through and ticking off the must-do`s have really been felt and I`ve had a proper holiday in Rio with all the vital components of beach; sightseeing opps; meeting loads of cool people; lovely meals out; and great nightlife packed in.
I must confess that sightseeing has been the least indulged element of the above list... but one highlight was a group of us going up Sugar Loaf mountain on a pretty terrifying cable car to admire the views over the city and back over towards the statue of Christ. We went at sunset and then sat drinking beers once nightfall came (so exciting that there was a bar at the top!), and Rio looked amazing twinkling and buzzing away beneath us.
And another real highlight was venturing back to the football - after the trauma of the day in Buenos Aires (see BA blog for the tale of how me and Jen nearly froze to our seats) -and it was brilliant! Soooo glad I went along cos we had the best night from beginning to end. The driver who took us there was this crazy Brazilian guy who was brought up in New York so he had this mad accent and I couldn`t take him seriously (cos it`s just not right listening to Americans talking about football is it?). I sat in the front and was officially his "co-pilot" as we zigzagged our way through the jam packed traffic while he just babbled away to me the whole time. I was laughing so hard my face ached...
The only disappointment was that it was a really low crowd in the stadium, not sure why really, but at least we were in the real fan`s end so it was still a great atmosphere, loads of singing, dancing, massive flags, and flares!!
There are definitely not enough flares in english football, or indeed enough guys walking round the stands practically forcing you to buy cans of beer every two minutes at 75p a pop. Think I will suggest both of these to the FA cos they really gee everyone up....
Had a night out in Lapa yesterday which is the area where all the best clubs and bars are clustered and there`s loads of samba dancing places too. We had a really fab time and witnessed lots of cool moves which of course none of us were confident enough to try and replicate. Didn`t have much of an alcohol courage boost cos I was taking it easy after a rather large night out in Ipanema the night before. But who needs cocktails when you have the buzz of the beautiful Rio crowd to keep your spirits up into the wee small hours....
Keep trying to fit in a bit of shopping before I head back but I can never quite be bothered - fancy that?! But there`s just too much else going on here to keep one occupied and the beach is always calling so I just keep buying Havaiana flip flops cos they`re a nice easy purchase and such a bargain over here.
Right, off to enjoy my penultimate night of the travels now, so will sign off and try and think of something suitably epic with which to fill the very last blog entry...
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