Well I cannot believe I am in Rio and I have to fly home tomorrow. I arrived on Friday afternoon and the sun was shinning walked down to copacobana beach. The beach is right there packed on the other side of the road tou can see Sugar Loaf mountain from it. On Saturday we went to favella we got motorbikes to the top they have the best views they are all on the hills. We went to the biggest one there are over 350. They are all shanty towns, but they have water and electricity, the streets are very narrow and the houses all buit on top of one another. To get to the top of the hill we all had to go on motorbike taxis (with no helmets) we climbed high up the hills the views were stunning. We walked back down through narrow streets and saw everyday life and a few guns. It was interesting to see. In the afternoon we did a city tour went to the corcovado (jesus on top of the rock) Buit in the 1930s, it was so hot the road up was quite bumpy as there is a train goes up. What a view it was lovely and the statue is very big when you stand at the bottom, like all majour sites in the world there are loads of tourists pushing, standing taking pictures. Then we went to the macaranda stadium the biggest football stadium in the world it was closed as there was a match the next day (sorry boys but you will just have to come and see it yourselves). The flamencos a rio team one the match the next day. We went to the canival procession road to see the seats and the museum, the carnival outfits are amazing I would love to go sometime. You could try on the outfits, unfortunately I do not have the Brazilian figure so did not try one on. Then we went to the cathedral of San Sebastian, it was bult in the 1970s and does not look pretty very concrete. We then went to Sugar Loaf mountain to see the sunset it was lovely seeing Copacobana, Ipanema and leblond and the corcovado. We had to say farwell to our little group and what a farwell we had dinner at the Sheraton with its own private beach ( the 2 other girls in the group stayed the night there so invited us for dinner). The last two days have been dull and today rained so I am getting aclimatised for the lack of light.

I have loved every minute of my travels and if I had the chance I would do it all again. I have been so lucky to see so many amazing places and meet interesting people. It seems like no time since I was at Glasgow airport and in 48 hours I will be back in Scotland. Thank you all for taking the time to look and for all the lovely messages. I still do not know what I am going to do when I go back but I am sure it will all work out. My time away has not been wastfull, I have seen things that make me appreciate how lucky I am. I will put my Brasil photos on back at home and will write a bit more. I will let you know what I end up doing and if anyone knows of any handsome rich man who would like a date with an unemployed 30 something female with a tan and a backpack just let me know. It would be helpfull if he was an airline pilot (get me an upgrade to first class after doing 22 flights in 1 year). I forgot to say Merry Christmas and Have A Very Happy New Year from Rio. Catch up with you all when I get back and I will write some more and put pictures on. Chow for Now.