Rio De janerio

The final blog the grand finale, how emotional, Mich and I were talking today and we both couldn't believe this trip has come to an end, it seemed like a month or two ago we said goodbye to mum and dad at Heathrow airport.

The 23 hour bus from Iguazu to Rio De Janeiro was very comfortable and we both managed to get some sleep on the comfy Cama seats, it was worth all the drama of going to brazil and coming back to Argentina to get a nicer bus for cheaper, and it was no problem at all.

We got to the bus station and haggled the price of a cab diver down from 40 reels to 30 reels and were on our way to Gloria at a very scary and quick pace! The cab driver found Larrisa's address and she was there to meet us in her apartment, she had a massive smile on as she welcomed 2 strangers into her home. We knew just by looking at her she was a kind and loving person, I still believe I can make my mind up about some one in 30 seconds and I'm rarely wrong!

Larissa is the sister of Lucas a lovely Brazilian guy we met in Chili and traveled with through Bolivia, he must have liked us to hook us up a place to stay, so thanks so much buddy, a life saver.

Larissa lives smack bang in the centre of Rio de Janeiro and only a 3 minute walk to the metro which is only 5 stops away from the beach, our eyes lit up when Larissa the legend told us this. Larissa is a professional musician, she play in an orchestra and teaches to, she has a great lifestyle always out and about with her friends watching or playing music and is hugely passionate about what she does. She a very passive person also, a real joy to be around, we got along great!

Her Apartment although in a bit of a scary area in Rio was ideal, we both had beds and a hammock to chill out in, a lovely shower and use of the kitchen and even a washing machine which we took full advantage of as we had no clean clothes left I think I was wearing the same pair of boxers for a while!! hahaha gross eh?

Within an hour or so after being in Rio we couldn't wait to get on a beach as it had been a couple of months, god we are spoilt!!! We walked to the metro, asking for a ticket in Portuguese was nothing like Spanish and we found the language barrier very hard for the 9 days we were here. We spent the afternoon tanning and swimming in the gorgeous sea, the weather was incredible 35 degrees C, we were in real paradise!

To be honest this is pretty much all we did in the day in Rio de Janeiro lazing around on the beach and playing with the waves on Copacabana beach and Ipanema beach. I loved watching the beach soccer they have some silly good skills, my clumsy feet would of got laughed at so I stayed well away!! Ipanema was our favorite beach made up of white sand and blue water, also a lot of thongs and no matter what size the women are here they were wearing them!! Also around the beaches people really love their fitness and almost all guys are ripped playing volley ball or beach footie, what a life style they lead! An apartment on the beach would be amazing here!

On the second night in Rio we wanted to get to know Larissa better so she invited us to a Jazz club where her mates play the double bass, this is where the incident happened, the most scared we have been so far, Larissa took us down a dark street on the way to a bar in Lapa and I was approached by 5 very big guys, one or two of them had their hands in my pocket, where my wallet and camera was located! At this point my heart dropped to my shoes my heart rate went as if I was sprinting 100 meters and sweat dripped off my forehead, horrible, the girls were OK as they were in front of me, the guys didn't seem to go for them, a relief anyway. I managed to twist my hips very hard and fast and looked one in the eyes like I was going to go for him, luckily we got away but it shocked me all night and for the day after. The ironic thing was 10 minutes before I was telling Larissa how safe our trip had been and we have had no trouble what so ever, bad Karma or what!! Still makes me feel horrible talking about it now, I though they were going to pull a gun on me, eventually we got to the bar in a lit area of Lapa, and Larissa told us about how she got held at gun point right outside her house once and had a few bad experiences. Anyone going to Rio, get a taxi in and out of Lapa for your safety.

Anyway we got to this exclusive jazz club and avoided the entry fee and had a listen to some jazz a new experience for us, was a good night but couldn't fully enjoy it because of what had happened.

After 7 amazing sun soaked days, blue skies and temperatures getting up to 38oc we decided to go and see the statue of Christ, we walked most of the way and got up a right sweat, after waiting with very impatient tourists, who really really pissed us off, pushing impatiently to get on the train worrying they wouldn't get a space. You know the people I'm on about, same in any country it's like why do people wana get on a airplane quicker than others, it leaves at the same time for god sake!
Anyway we took the funicular train up to the top and saw the amazing statue, well some of it anyway. Good news for Christo and bad news for us, he was having a 4 million dollar face lift and makeover so he was in scaffolding and wasn't as pretty to see as the pictures we had saw, but still 360 degree views of amazing Rio was worth it, although there were to many tourists so didn't stay long as I was in the mood to push an impatient person off the edge! Hahaha

Back to the beach, we took our tanning very seriously, how sad! We changed our pasty white skin to brown sun soaked skin, love it! On Saturday night Mich, Larissa and I met her mate Manwella and went to a samba club in Lapa. The walk there was scary again but we got there OK, this club was very old and traditional, with some unbelievable music and dancers, not the dancing that I do, mainly waving my hands in the air, some skilled samba dancing was awesome to watch and even have a go at. Mish looked good having a lesson from Larissa and we samba'd the night away till 4 in the morning, when we got a cab home and collapsed.

The next day we met up with Larissa in Ipanema and she took us to one of her favorite restaurants, here is a buffet with amazing food, being me I piled it on not knowing they charge you on how much the plate ways! My meal was £15, I was fuming, as this was almost a daily budget on food, Mich and Larissa found it hilarious but I didn't, well did really, also they are cheeky as hell here the plate ways a tone but to be fair the food was good.
Back to the beach to get even browner, time to whip out the tanning oil out!

The next few days we just enjoyed tanning on the beach with cold beers and coke zero's.

On the day of the flight it was April fools day so I decided to wind Mish up with a good April fool! I woke her from her deep sleep with a loud swear word! She sat up in bed startled and asked what was wrong. At the time of the flight British Airways whom we were due to fly with were on strike. I told her that the flight had been cancelled and that we could either go to Buenos Aires and catch a flight from there or we would have to wait a week! I must point out at this point that Mish was mega excited about going home as she had arranged for her sister to pick her up and her parents to come down for the weekend after not seeing them for a whole year! Mish was devastated and almost broke down into tears. I couldn't upset her for long so I broke down and told her April Fool!! She wasn't best pleased with me but was very relieved!
We spent the last day on the beach and then that evening caught a taxi to the airport, it felt so strange to be headed back home after such an epic year! How will we ever get back to a normal life after all that we have seen and done!

Can't wait to see family and friends!!

Signing out for the final time,

Ads and Mishee

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