Here is a look at my time in Sao Paulo in Brazil.

Day 1 - We arrived around 6.30am in Sao Paulo. The bus from Rio had only taken around six hours. Not use to our normal 14 hour night bus sleep we were both pretty tired. So we wanted to get to our accommodation as fast as possible. We had used a website called AirBnB to sort out a place to stay in Sao Paulo. For those of you unfamiliar with AirBnB it is a website where people can put up rooms for sale for people to stop in. Maybe the best way to describe it is that it's kind of like couch surfing but you have to pay for the room or bed in which you are sleeping. Anyway we would be staying with a Brazilian couple called Sara and Roger. Sara had sent me details of how to get to her place by bus. We waited at what we thought was the correct bus station for around an hour and there was no sign of the bus we needed. So we decided to cut our loses and get a taxi. Eventually we arrived. We were greeted by Roger, who towered over Earl and me. He must have been at least 6' 5" and this instantly put me off working my Adi Murphy charm on his fit missus. He was a friendly chap, and showed us to our room, for the first few nights whilst we were staying there Earl and I would be getting cosy in a double bed until the room with the two singles became available. This was currently being occupied by two Irish fellas. The flat was really nice, clean and you could tell we were in a nice part of town and Roger and Sara must have had a bit of dosh about them. Sara and Roger had gone to great lengths to make their guests feel welcome they had left us free drink vouchers, postcards, a welcome note with vital information, novelty Brazilian key rings and wristbands. Due to a lack of sleep though all we wanted to do was crash. After a few hours' sleep we decided to go out and take a look at Sao Paulo. Roger gave us a map and highlighted some places to go they included a park, Itiam Bibi and Vila Madelena - a place we would become to know really well but more about that later. We decided to explore our local surroundings so headed out into Itiam Bibi. It was a really nice is filled mainly with swanky restaurants. It looked to be the business part of Sao Paulo as well with many people wondering the streets in their business suits. We decided to skip the fancy restaurants despite the temptation of going and splashing out on all you can eat meat restaurants and steaks and went and did a weekly shop at the big supermarket where we treated ourselves to rice, noodle and pasta based dishes. That evening we could have gone out and partied with the Irish guys but we decided to show a bit of restraint as it was the opening game of the world cup the next day. Brazil would play Croatia in Sao Paulo and it promised to be an unforgettable moment with an unbelievable atmosphere. We had already seen people getting ready for the World Cup that day hanging flags from windows and selling memorabilia it felt very much like the calm before the storm so we opted to have a quiet one in preparation and watch X-Men: Days of Future Past, which was a really good film.

Day 2 - I woke up excited. My earliest memory of a World Cup is the 1994 final where Baggio blazed his penalty over the crossbar gifting the Brazil the World Cup. Since then the World Cup has been a massive event for me, it occupies my summer, it's no secret I love watching football if it's a Man Utd game, or even Preston North End vs Exeter City. I'm a Football Man. I'm Football Mad. And if I'm not watching it I'm probably organising a dream team or a sweepstakes. I was now at one, and it was in Brazil. It was dream come true. I think even Earl was a bit excited at the kick-off of the World Cup and he is not a massive football lover.

We asked Roger where the big party might be and he advised us maybe Vila Madelena and the Sara suggested the Fifa Fan Fest Party. This sounded ideal so we thought we would head there. I wanted to get an early start, experience the build-up, the atmosphere everything. So we jumped on a bus and headed down there. Everyone had told us that the Fan Fest would be unmissable on the bus. But we appeared to miss it. A girl in a Spanish top had kindly said welcome to Brazil to us obviously noticing my England jersey. So I asked if we were heading in the right direction, and that's when she informed us we had missed the bus. We were near the end of the line though so we jumped off the bus and then she put us back on the right one and asked the driver to let us know when we were at the Fan Fest. She was very friendly and even gave us both a hug goodbye when she left us and she had only known us maybe ten minutes. I wish I had asked for her name or some sort of details as she was really friendly and also pretty attractive. But it turned out we would never see the Spanish top wearing Brazilian Red Head again. Anyway we finally made it to the Fan Fest. It was pretty much like a festival with a big stage at the front, with a massive TV screen above. There were also loads of beer stalls, food stalls, an amusement ride and tents with different things in.

The opening game of the World Cup also was the start of a challenge I had set myself. My aim was to have a photograph with a fan from every country participating in the World Cup. I did have a few rules to my challenge; they had to be wearing an official shirt from their country. I also wanted the fans to be in a big group, have something quirky about them maybe fancy dress or face paint, if they were a group in home and away kits that was a photo opportunity and I also looked favourably on if they were good looking women. The Fan fest proved to be a great start to my challenge. I ticked off a Mexico when I spotted a guy wearing a sombrero and sporting a handle bar moustache (unfortunately not a real one) and I then dragged Earl around the Fan Fest venue and got photos with fans from Chile, Croatia, Cameroon, Japan, France, Switzerland, Ecuador, Argentina, Iran, Bosnia, Australia, Chile, Germany, Russia and Algeria. I had done over half of the countries in one day. This would be easy! Especially ticking off obscure countries like Cameroon, Bosnia and Iran (The girls were incredible who I got a photo with for Iran too)

It was approaching game time so I took time off from the challenge to appreciate the game and the start of the World Cup. The place was buzzing there were Brazilians everywhere the crowd was a sea of yellow. That could also be down to the amount of Colombians there too. The game got underway and things didn't get off to a great start when Marcelo put threw his own net and gave Croatia the lead. Brazil hit back though through their Golden Boy of the moment Neymar. The game looked as if it was going to end in a draw, until a controversial penalty was awarded in Brazil's favour. This sparked some Brazil fans to declare Fifa like the Mafia and given them the nickname MaFifa. I just thought it was one of those things, you get bad refereeing decisions all the time or maybe I just don't like to believe that there is any corruption especially in such a prestigious tournament. Brazil went on to win the game anyway 3-1 and the party was definitely started. Horns were being blown, Brazil chants were echoing around Sao Paulo. The Fan Fest then put a band on, people were dancing, singing, and everyone was in high spirits. The carnival atmosphere I was expecting was here and it was everything I had expected and more. Rather than carry on with the celebrations though Earl and I took ourselves home, we passed parties in the street, parties in bars, parties everywhere. The problem was we were shattered; we had been stood up in thirty degree heat all day. There was no wear to rest our aching limbs really at the Fan Fest. Maybe I'm just getting old but all I wanted to do was sit down. So we headed back had some dinner and then chilled out with our second Marvel film in as many evenings - The Amazing Spiderman 2.

Day 3 - Day 3 promised to be great, for me anyway. There were three games, Mexico vs Cameroon, Australia vs Chile and Spain vs Holland which was the final four year ago in South Africa. We had been recommended a pub called Boteco Sao Bento to watch the games so headed up there, we didn't know what to expect but when we got there we were greeted by hundreds of Mexicans in the pub watching the game. They were a lively bunch and it made for a great atmosphere in there and they took the roof off when Peralta scored in the 61st minute. It was also hear where we first encountered a Chopp beer. A Chopp is basically just a draught beer, unfortunately though in Brazil a draught beer comes with half beer half head. Being English and not use to this culture, we assumed the our beers at the bar were to be topped up once the foamy head had gone down to a suitable level, but no our beers were swiped by two other gentlemen. It was several lessons to be learnt, never order a draught if you want a full beer and keep your beverages close to you.

After the Mexican game we were joined by a friend we had made in Rio - Scottish Chris. He had travelled down to Sao Paulo as he would be flying back to Bonnie Scotland in a few days' time. So we decided to meet up and watch the football together. The Spain Holland game was next. It was the toughest group for me, as they were joined by Australia and Chile. I had made the bold prediction before the World Cup had started that Spain the current World Champions and European Champions would not advance past the group stages. My claim was laughed at by pretty much everyone I told, even Earl and he didn't follow football. My prediction looked like a shot in the dark when Spain took the lead thanks to a Xabi Alonso penalty. But the Netherlands turned the tables and walked off with a 5-1 victory thanks to a destructive performance from Arjen Robben and Robin Van Persie who scored an absolute sensational header. Maybe the best header I have ever seen scored. It gave me a huge bit of personal satisfaction that my bold prediction was off to a flyer. We stayed in the bar for the third game and watched Chile beat Australia. What struck me the most about this game was the poor atmosphere, there were a few Aussies in the bar but they didn't even make a noise even when they got back into the game when Tim Cahill scored. The Australian fan making the most noise was an old English chap sat on the next table to us. Maybe one of the best things about the whole day was the Mexico fans, even during the remaining two games the Tequila fuelled Mexicans chanted Mexico after every goal.

After that we walked out the pub and were treated to Vila Madelena. Vila Madelena is just an area in Sao Paulo, It's not a specific bar or venue, just streets. And it just so happened to be that the bar we were at was situated on the corner of one of these streets. I'd like to see a photo of my face as I walked out of the bar as I was amazed, there were people everywhere, and traffic had to be stopped in the area due to the many people being there. There were Brazilian fans, fans from all over, of course tonight Brazil would be Orange after the demolishing of the current World Champions. There were people selling beers from cool boxes / eskies everywhere. It was an unreal sight. It was like stepping out of your local and the street just being one big party. It's hard to find the words to describe it to you maybe just go on google images and search Vila Madelena Party, or Vila Madelena Drinking to give you a better idea.

Day 4 - Day 4 was a massive day! Massive! England would begin their world cup campaign. It would be a tough game against Italy. I woke up and already had the big game nerves. I'm sure any football fan will be able to agree with me about game days and when you wake up, put on the kit, lucky underwear or any other superstition, get to a pub, sink a few beers, soak in the atmosphere, then boom ninety minutes of every emotional imaginable, nervousness, elation, anger, sadness, joy, confused, concern. It's these sorts of things that make football more than just a game, it's a religion.

We had two games on before England though. Colombia vs Greece was first, Colombia were to be today's Mexico providing the atmosphere and colour for the early part of the day. Chris then met us for the Uruguay vs Costa Rica game, of course being Scottish he arrived in an Italian top. It was just banter though and I honestly think he was secretly supporting England. Costa Rica surprised everyone with a 3-1 victory over Uruguay and that's when the adrenaline started flowing, England was on next, could we put all past disappointments behind us? I thought we scored early on when Sterling hit a fierce drive but it turned out it only hit the side netting making my wild celebrations look daft. The next thing I remember we were 1-0 down, a cleverly worked corner ended with the Italians 1-0 up and Scottish Chris and the Italian Contingent going mental. They weren't going mental for long though as Daniel Sturridge almost instantly hit back. 1-1 and it was game on. We had belief. Unfortunately, Mario Balotelli ending up hitting a winner for the Italians giving them the 2-1 win. I was down; it wasn't the ideal start to our world cup. But there was belief; we had a good performance. We had played better than when Italy beat us on pens two years previous in the Euros and on another day we could have got something from the game. There were two games left and I was confident we could beat Uruguay and Costa Rica. We had suffered a blow, but we weren't knocked out yet.

We decided to take our night to the streets of Vila Madelena which were again filling up with people drinking, and partying the night away. We had one eye on the Japan vs Ivory Coast game on the big projector in the streets and the other eye on the partying and swarm of hot Brazilian females roaming the streets. As nights out generally go there are normally one or two funny incidents to reminisce about the next day, this night however semt to have a trolley load. I had become a bit complacent with my world cup challenge, probably after my hugely successful first day, but I spotted Greece fan, they were a rare breed. Even at the ground it looked like there were only a handful of them. As many folk pointed out they probably couldn't afford the trip due to their economic down turn. Anyway that's not one of the crazy stories the first is that we became friends with what can only be described as Brazilian Hooligans. They supported a Sao Paulo based team called Santos. They thought Earl looked like Brazilian and Real Madrid left back Marcelo. They chanted Marcelo; they thought I was John Terry. They chanted Terry. As Chris was Scottish they called him Whisky and chanted Whisky. Then we all joined in with mas Santttttttooooooooossssss chants with them. We finally got away from Santos boys and headed for a pit stop to get a Churrasco (Steak and Cheese sarnie) It's hear where we encountered a Brazilian Hobo who had a passion for Rock n Roll especially The Beatles. We joined him in renditions of Hey Jude, Day Tripper and It's Been a Hard Day's Night. I advise you all to watch Earl's video on the matter. Just as we thought things couldn't get crazier we literally saw a women with the biggest Babylon's I had ever seen. They were the size of water melons. I'm sure you have seen the photo on Facebook; one is probably the size of my face. Chris was lucky enough to get his head nestled in them. We saw two hot hot lesbians kiss and a Colombian drug lord, it was incredible. Then presumably deep in chat on how crazy the night was we did a full walk around an oval on our walk home and ended up back where we started. It's funny looking back on it now, but at the time we were gutted we were knackered and just wanted our own bed. We didn't make the same mistake twice and finally got home from one of many epic nights in Vila Madelena.

Day 5 - The next day started with a de-brief of the night before and finding out things did actually happen and we didn't dream them. It was also Father's Day back in the UK and I was eager to get in touch with my Dad. He is an absolute hero and I wanted him to know how much I appreciated him. I sent him an email but I wanted and like the personnel effect as I also missed his voice, his bad jokes and his stories of his escapades. Although I never fully open up to my Dad he is always there for me too, as well as my Mum and our voices I like to hear when I have a down day. So after watching Switzerland vs Ecuador we went in search of a Brazilian Sim Card so we could get in touch with our fathers. However, we didn't think the plan through very well. It was a Sunday and everywhere semt to be closed. We got lucky though as the big Supermarket was open and thanks to some google translating we managed to get a Sim. Our luck ran out though when it came too setting up the phone as my phone was locked and the Sim card was too big for Earl's phone. The Sim wouldn't work. I was hugely disappointed I couldn't get in touch with my Dad.

Feeling a bit deflated we watched France beat Honduras and then made our way into Vila Madelena again. We were meting Chris as it was his last night in Brazil. We watched Argentina struggle to beat Bosnia and then like the previous night's hit the streets. I raised several beers to my Dad last night - the legend that he is. I have no doubt he would be disappointed I couldn't get in touch but I will hopefully make it up to him. He literally is the best Dad ever. Not only is he a great Dad though, he is a top bloke. Top Banana!!

Day 6 - Earl not normally a football bloke had finally snapped, I had dragged him to watch every game so far, he had watched more games at the World Cup only four days old than he probably had in his entire life. He decided to make the most of another sunny day in Sao Paulo and head to bask in the heat down at the park Roger had recommended to us. I would have gone, but it was Germany vs Portugal. I had eyed up a local a bar at the end of the road so decided to watch the game there. The bar I had eyed up wasn't so much as a bar, it was more a bakery / smoothie bar which also had big TV's and sold beer. I suppose the name Mr Baker's should have given it away. Still it was interesting viewing, it also got me pondering another challenge in how many locations I could watch a game, a bakery, a pub, at a flat, fan fest and street party were already ticked off, I could also watch one in a supermarket, in a hut with the man guarding our set of apartments, in a gym, on a beach. I opted against the idea though; I didn't think I would get the same atmosphere in the likes of a supermarket or gym.

I re-met Earl back at the flat and after a spot of lunch started to watch Iran vs Nigeria. The first half passed and I don't think a single shot had been taken. It was a poor game. We had been eagerly searching for face paints for the next England game. So we decided to go out in search of them, we wouldn't miss much in the Iran vs Nigeria game as it ended 0-0. Our search for face points didn't prove much better though and also drew a blank despite treks in several supermarkets and toy stores. It looked like our faces would be there usual pretty selves and not have the St George's cross. So we headed back where we watched USA vs Ghana. Ghana was Earl's second team in the World Cup after he spent ten weeks there volunteering. Unfortunately they lost 2-1 to the Yanks.

Day 7 - The day got off to a perfect start, I had been tipped off on a place where I could acquire some face paints. After a quick game of charades with the shop assistants I got pointed in the right direction and had the treasure we craved. Now it was off to Vila Madelena. Brazil was up again in their next game, this time against Mexico. Now what I forgot to mention earlier was the fact that in Brazil when the team played they either got a full day off work if it was being played in their hometown or half a day bank holiday if it was anywhere else. I liked this, but it made places extremely busy when Brazil played. Our local pub the Sao Bento were queuing down the street to get in, the next pub wanted twenty quid for entrance alone. The huge projector outside wasn't working. I never expected it, I was rattled. So we headed back to a smaller pub to assess the situation and watch Belgium beat Algeria. After the game we decided to head back to the main action in Vila Madelena, we might as well we were there anyway. It had got much much busier, we battled through the crowds and found a place where we could see s screen in one of the bars. It was shoulder to shoulder busy. It was like being at the front row of a concert or festival. I think at one point I had eight different people touching me. Not even in a sexual way. It was also another blistering day in the heat. The atmosphere was great even though Brazil couldn't break through and find a goal. I'm almost glad they didn't as the celebrations would have been wild and I was only in flip flops, if they scored I'm sure I would have had a broken foot or something. I think from being in the sun I'd got a bit of sun stroke, so headed back to the flat where I fell asleep during an exciting (excuse the sarcasm) Russia vs South Korea game.

Day 8 - More football was on the agenda today. Starting with Holland vs Australia, there was a Belgian bar close to us with a massive projector screen, wanting to see what the bar was like we decided to watch the game there. Despite a brave effort Holland beat Australia, the Belgian bar was decent too and we enjoyed the game with a few Stellas. Well we were in a Belgian bar; we had to go Belgian didn't we. The next game was Chile vs Spain, so we headed to another place close to us called Vava Veia. The most notable thing about this bar was the amount of cow related items it had. There was cow ornaments, cartoons of cows on the menu and even a cow themed clock. They also had ironing boards as there table outside and Listerine mouth wash to use in the toilets which I thought was a great idea until I got back and had a taste of my beer which then had a not so great minty taste. This was a big game or me; if Spain lost they were out. I would be a football god, mastermind, and oracle. And they did they lost, with not even much of a fight. I had written myself into football history. Well not as much but I had made an educated prediction which people thought was crazy and I had got it correct, of course I would have to brag about this on FaceyB. My betting streak continued as I got an accumulator up for the day when Croatia beat a very disappointing Cameroon. My day wasn't exactly perfect though, I missed out on a free ticket to the Uruguay vs England game as I only get messages when I have Wi-Fi. Still I had tickets vs Costa Rica. It would be ok. We would have an early on that night though as the next day would be crazy. It was England vs Uruguay. A must win for each team.

Day 9 - Big game day had come around again, this time we were armed with face paints. Earl had opted for half English half Brazilian; I had gone Three quarters English and a quarter Brazilian. The Brazilian was a bit of a tribute for the great tournament Brazil was putting on at the moment. We were going to go to the fan fest again but the weather forecast had threatened showers for the day so we thought our faces would be better protected in our local at Vila Madelena. We made our way to the party place of Sao Paulo, where we were swarmed by reporters wanting photos or interviews, which we gladly gave. We watched Colombia beat the Ivory Coast, Colombia were fastly becoming one of my favoured teams at the World Cup. It was then game time we sat with a group of English guys from Ipswich. I'm sure you all know how the game went as we ended up losing the game 2-1 thanks to a fit again Luis Suarez. I was gutted. The night was meant to be for celebration. We had purchased a litre bottle of rum for £1.25, we wanted to be drinking it in celebration instead we were compounded with misery, faded dreams. We had a slight chance of going through but we would need a favour from our pasta making friends the Italians and for them to beat Costa Rica handsomely. Luckily though we had a bit of a distraction from the football for a short while, we had made friends with some Colombians on the next table, which let me tick off having a photo with Colombian fans, they had also made friends with an eighty year old sugar trader and his one eyed friend. That is not a euphemism by the way. He did have a one eyed friend. Every time we had visited Boteco Sao Bento we had resisted the urge to spend money on the awesome slabs of meat coming out from the kitchen. Instead we stuck to our squashed ham and cheese sarnies. This night the sugar traders ordered some meat and invited us to their table to share the meat with the Colombians. England may have lost but we got to try the succulent meat we had been craving. It's all about the small victories. The Colombians left not being tempted to fiesta with us in the streets, so we tried to lift our spirits but were met by jubilant Uruguayans and other disappointed English fans. Reluctantly I ticked off Italy and Uruguay from my World Cup challenge list, but it didn't feel great. I was cheered up though meeting a crazy guy from Blackpool; he had travelled with other friends, who he had lost on this night from Vancouver to Brazil by bus. He was full of great quotes like he had pins and needles in his eyes and a collidascope of s***. Still the night would be lost upon me and my disappointment so I sulked off back home to wallow in defeat.

Day 10 - Craving Bacon, we had purchased Bacon and Eggs at the supermarket, thinking we would be massively hungover after the England game we saved the feast until then thinking this would be the perfect moment. I wasn't as hungover as I might have expected, but the taste of bacon and egg sarnies instead of muesli, cereal, or other breakfasts we had been having was nothing short of an absolute delight.

I then decided to go to Vava Veia to watch Italy beat Costa Rica, or so I hoped. If they did the dream was still on and our game wouldn't be dead rubber. We had a thin hope. That was destroyed though when Fulham's forgotten man Bryan Ruiz headed in a winner to beat Italy 1-0. It was over. England was out. And to make matters worse I was sat next to some annoying Americans, I had never met an American yet who knew anything about football and they are pretty arrogant. Apparently a story I heard from a Portuguese fan was that a group of Yanks were at a bar and taunting people from other countries saying they could buy their country. I'm sure not all Americans are dickheads like this but it only takes the odd few to ruin a reputation or give a bad image. I headed back to Earl, who had stayed home to get his s*** together as it was our last day and night at Sara and Roger's. We then watched the France vs Switzerland game which I had a ticket for, I decided to opt against going seen as though I had a ticket to see England vs Costa Rica and it would be too hard to get to Salvador seen as though the games were close together. As Murphy's Law dictates I missed a cracker. Infact I missed the highest scoring game of the tournament, a 5-2 victory to France. I took positives from it though, I wouldn't be able to support France so if I had have gone I would have just been a disappointed fake Swiss fan.

Tom, Jack and Rory were in Sao Paulo they had come down for the England vs Uruguay game so we arranged to meet them for a few beverages. We were also joined by Tom's mate from back home Harry and Rory's missus Laila. We met up in Paulista, it would be a nice change going out somewhere different and not just Vila Madelena as good and as mental as it was. We met in a bar called Ibotirama and then moved on to a bar which I can only remember b the meat cleaver door handles it had. We moved on to a place to get food and then went to a club called Casa 92, which I think was on the out skirts of Vila Madelena. We managed to get free entry and VIP access thanks to one of Laila's friends. It was a great club and the music in the VIP section was rocking, it was right up my alley, songs from the Libertines, Arctic Monkeys, Fratellies and Kings of Leon were all being blasted out and we rocked the dance floor until the sun came up. I'm also sure Earl won't mind me telling you all that he hooked up with a 38 year old Frenchie and took her back to the flat for some loving leaving me with the couch. I know I'm a great wingman.

Day 11 - We had to be out of Sara and Roger's by 11am. They had new guests arriving meaning we couldn't stay there any longer. It was a challenge and the bacon and eggs were definitely a good cure to the hangover, the lack of sleep though was a different matter. We still had a few days left in Sao Paulo so we booked into a hostel called Green Grass. Unfortunately this was the other side of Sao Paulo. It was that far away I'm not sure it was actually in Sao Paulo. We got there and a nice Brazilian girl called Isabel checked us in, the hostel was basic, we had been used to living in a flat, our own room it would take some time to get back into the swing of hostel life again.

After a quick power nap we went to pick up our world cup tickets for the dead game against Costa Rica, still I'd rather be going to this game than none what so ever. We collected the tickets and it happened to be close to the Fifa Fan Fest and we got there just in time to see Lionel Messi hit a last minute winner against Iran. We stayed there to watch Germany vs Ghana, which was a thrilling 2-2 draw and Ghana were unlucky to not get anything more out of the game. The fan fest was also fruitful again for my challenge as I managed to tick off Nigeria and Ghana fans. We went back to the hostel to watch the not so classic game between Nigeria and Bosnia. We then retired to bed as we were both pretty shattered from the antics of the night before.

Day 12 - Earl woke me up the next morning to get the free breakfast, the advantage to being back in a hostel was that breakfast was now free. It wasn't anything special just some cereal and a ham and cheese toasty but it was free and we were on a budget.

Football was on the agenda again as we went to watch Belgium vs Russia next door to the hostel at like a restaurant / café sort of place. Belgium snuck a winner at the close of play meaning they would qualify to the next round. That evening we had been invited by a Brazilian friend to a Nike party, it had free booze, either Stellas or cocktails and also had free food, fries and mini burgers which were an absolute delight. Two young Brazilian football players were also there these were Lucas Paizon from Chelsea and Marquinhos from PSG. The event was pretty decent, but I suppose anything is with free food and alcohol. I'm sure I'd even enjoy watching someone knit if these things were involved. There were two local rappers also there and a 10 year old kid DJing, and freestyle footballers doing some awesome skills and kick up. The booze was definitely flowing and I decided to help out the cleaner mopping the floors. My work for the night didn't end there as when we hit the streets of Vila Madelena I helped a guy called Adriano who couldn't speak a word of the Queen's sell some beer. I did fairly well making a few sales and I'm sure I put some food on the table for him and his family that night.

Earl ended up taking the woman who invited us to the party back to hers, it's fair to say she had her eyes set on me but she was bat s*** crazy. Literally. She even had to have the medication she took on her phone case. I wasn't keen at all, so asked Earl to take one for the team. He didn't mind at all. I'm sure Earl won't mind me saying that his standards aren't that high and I think his direct quote was 'I don't mind I just like Sex' and fair play to him for that. So as Early took the Crazy lady home I got a taxi back with Johnson and ordered a take away pizza. Got talking to the night shift guy at the hostel who turned out to be from Newark and he advised me of a website called workaway.com which is where you work for hostels or different places for free accommodation and food. It would be a good tool for us to use on our travels.

Day 13 - We were leaving Sao Paulo today so had to be checked out of our hostel by 12pm. Earl though was nowhere to be seen. He was still with the crazy lady. So I was left to check us both out. I was sure Earl would be ok so I headed to the fan fest. I wanted to meet a Spanish fan. I was getting worried about my challenge. I had been far too complacent and now teams were getting knocked out I wouldn't know if I would see another shirt from that team again. I got to the fan fest and it was just a sea of red and orange shirts for the Holland vs Chile game. I was nervous. I didn't think I could find one, but at half time I managed to bag a picture with a Spanish fan. Now I had opportunities before to have photos with the Spanish but every time I had been cheering for the other team in front of them and didn't think it would be appropriate for me to have a photo with them. So instead of having a photo with one of the few hot Spanish chicks I had seen over the past few days I ended up with a balding Spanish guy. Still the challenge was still on and I only had nine more to get. I watched the rest of the game and the Dutch got the 2-0 victory. The fans were going nuts at the end of the game and I particularly enjoyed the guy dressed as a 1980s Ruud Gullit.

I made it back to the hostel and I didn't have to call the police as Earl was there. He had finally returned from the crazy woman's he never got to give her any Eejay loving but he did return home with a pillow case she gave him! Sorry if you are reading this Earl's mum and it spoils your present. We decided to go and find somewhere to watch the Brazil vs Mexico game but literally in the town called Belem where we were staying there was nothing! So we decided to watch it next door, where we watched Belgium vs Russia the day before. It wasn't the best place to watch a game but it would be something and have an atmosphere. Unfortunately the atmosphere was ridiculous klaxon horns and all sorts of various horns. I have literally no time for horns. I do not see the purpose in them at all at Football or watching a game, it doesn't do anything, and it's just annoying. With the amount of high pitched honks and horns going off we retreated back to the hostel to watch the second half. Brazil came out on top with a 4-1 win and the sound of fireworks filled the air of Sao Paulo. Or maybe the fireworks were just because it was now time for Earl and me to leave; we were heading up to Belo Horizonte where we would be seeing our only game of the World Cup England vs Costa Rica.

So until then stay safe and take care

Adi

xx