Oi Brazil!! It didn't take long for another bus to come along and we headed 20 minutes to the town of Foz Do Igacu!

We couldn't believe our luck, this hotel we had found had a buy one night get one free offer, we had our own room and fresh towels!! We had struck gold!!

We left our bags and went out to explore. We got to the first big supermarket we have seen in South America and got cash and fruit! We spoke to a group of tourists we spotted from Igazu and they led us to a yummy buffet dinner spot they had been the night before!
Gauchos buffet was amazing for $24.95 (£6) we had a massive buffet with servers cutting amazing unlimited meat onto our plates and delish ice cream for dessert. We were stuffed!! We headed back to the hotel and showered and crashed it was the best nights sleep in a while!!

The next day we didn't feel like doing much. Ed got some money changed up and we wandered around the local street markets. We had a wander around the supermarket again and got something from the bakery for lunch! We then found a free zoo which we enjoyed walking round. It had crocodiles, a jaguar, monkeys and birds it was a lovely afternoon in the sun. It was the Brazil game this afternoon so we got back in time to watch the game with copious Brazilians!!

What a game!! It was painful to watch! The company we were in were so so sad and attempted to try and pull the plug on the telly! An emotional afternoon with tears!! We had grown very found of the Germans on our travels however Brazil in the final would have been incredible! At the end of the day the best team clearly won!!

After the game we headed to the bus station to book our 24 hour bus to Rio zzz!! We had a light dinner as we hadn't done much and I spent the evening catching up on diary and blog writing before falling asleep.

I was sad to check out of this hotel! We grabbed breakfast, packed and check out! Ed looked up our hostel details for Rio which he happened to book for the month of June! DOUGHNUT!!

Surprisingly I didn't go too crazy as mistakes happen and got straight on a PC to look up hostels that still had spaces left! This came at a big price! We found somewhere and then headed out to get lunch and snacks for the journey! We got back in time for the Holland vs Argentina game but had to leave half way through :(!

We got a taxi to the bus station and then boarded our bus. It wasn't good and we had to endure this now for the next 24 hours :(. Some Argentinians jumped on and were eager to hear the score! An hour into our journey we found out they won which we were happy about!! The bus went nuts and the boys celebrated holding their flags out the windows off the bus. It was so lovely to see!!

The journey was very long. We managed to fall asleep late but still had a good nights kip. We had a great time chatting away to the Argentinian boys, they were a little older than us and told us a lot about the Falklands. We acted as though we knew nothing to keep the peace, Ed was struggling!!

Anyway we finally arrived in Rio just over 25 hours we were done. We looked forward to arriving at our hostel and showering!! It was raining so much outside and we still had a 45 minute bus journey! We were told to take the tourist buses as the local bus station was in a very rough area.

After a crowded bus journey to Copacabana we wandered streets and finally arrived at our hostel around 10pm!! It was awful! We slept in the basement where they had brought extra beds to sleep the crowds of the World Cup. It had a vile stench to it, music was blaring from the bar above and we had to make our own beds...all for £50 a night when we normally pay a 10th of this!!

We were so tired we had (COLD) showers and hopped into bed we hoped the weather and the hostel would miraculously change come the morning!!

The next morning we tucked into a basic breakfast, which we shared with the local monkeys it was very sweet actually. After breakfast we met our room mates 2 Argentinians, 1 German and 1 Columbian.

Ed and I headed out to find our bearings. We were very near both the beach and the metro! As we walked we saw a friend we had made back in Lima and Ed's Uni friend from back home. We were gobsmacked!! The streets were packed with people. We wandered along the beach and saw the fan fest site where games are shown. Argentinians had taken over, the city was a blur of white and blue!! The estimated 100,000 bellowed their football chants of which Ed and I had grown found of.

The weather wasn't that great so we didn't get in the sea but we enjoyed the best part of the day people watching on the beach. Locals pranced around in their tiny speedos or thongs and sipped on Capriahna cocktails!! We watched as volley ball/football games took over the beach. It was everything we had imagined! The Brazilians were now German fans and therefore chants against one another were taking place, it was great!! All friendly too which surprised us!! Football here is religion!!

We headed back that evening after heading to the supermarket for dinner essentials. The kitchen was the size of my downstairs toilet at home, we struggled but eventually made a tomato pasta with ham and cheese, the budget is running low!

We spent the evening planning the rest of our trip and booked hostels as places were filling up due to everyone having the same plans after the final. We struggled to get to sleep this evening as the bar was open until 2am, we lay there telling ourselves only 2 more nights to go!! This was definitely the worst hostel we had stayed in and yet it was the most expensive!!

The next day was Saturday and as if the streets could get any busier, they did! We walked down to the beach to get tickets to see Christ the Redeemer but waited in a mile long queue! A man came to talk to the crowd and said the wait was going to be a minimum of 4 hours and the weather wasn't even that great! We made the decision to do it another day and headed to Lapa instead.

Lapa is one of the oldest parts of the city and one of the most dangerous (at night). We headed by metro to visit and wander it's beautiful buildings and cobbled streets. We also visited the Escadaria Selaron which is a famous colourful set of steps a Columbian designed. Well known today for featuring in singers Snoop dogg and Pharrel Williams music video. It was VERY busy but we managed to get pictures.

It was the Brazil vs Holland game this evening so we made our way back to meet our roomies! One of the Argentinians had checked out and a German had checked in. We got friendly and the Brits and the Germans headed to the fan fest. We seem to attract the lovely Germans on this trip!

The atmosphere was crazy!! We found a spot to view the game and had a few beers it was a fun evening. Before the game began we had kiss cam and singers on the stage it was very entertaining. It was another tense game and again crying Brazilians left the arena as Argentinians teased them!! We got talking to 2 Americans near us in the crowd and as conversation went we found out it was actually singer Macklemore!! We were trying our best to go along with them to party with Man City but failed :(! We were given a business card however and told to contact him if we ever visit New York!!

After the game we all headed to a street bar for a few Capriahnas to help us sleep better! Rene our German friend had never stayed in a hostel and this had put him off for life haha!! He is very desperate for a final ticket and has been asking strangers all evening! Some guy had sold one for $6000 so the chances of him getting one was pretty slim!! We headed back late and as we had been busy all day we managed to fall asleep through the blaring music!!

Today was the final, it had come around so quick!! We woke up early rushed showers and breakfast and the four of us headed to Sugar Loaf mountain! The weather was amazing so the views were incredible!! The cable car took us to the top with 360 views of the beautiful city! We captured as many as we could before heading down for the afternoon game!!

Rene was still pestering strangers for tickets even an 8 year old child haha!! We got back to the city and us girls went to grab beers and lunch for us all whilst Ed went shirt shopping and Rene went in search for his ticket! We got ready for the beach after the boys return, Ed had a Argentina shirt and Rene had no ticket :(! Just before leaving our Columbian room mate returned....with a ticket! He had paid $1500 and we were concerned it wasn't real!

Once Rene heard about the sales near the FIFA office he was off we waved goodbye and wished him well!! We set a meeting point and a time just before the game in case he was unsuccessful!

We headed down to the beach walking amongst the mayhem. The sun was beaming, it was a beautiful day! We enjoyed sunbathing until an hour before the game where we found our viewing spot. The ratio of Argentinians to Germans was insane!!

Rene never returned so we hoped he had a real ticket to see his country in the final!! We had a great evening sipping on beers in the sun. We had gathered a crowd of Germans around us and Brazilians. We partied and enjoyed the tense final game! We managed to find out Rene had got in and paid $2800 for a ticket!! We were very pleased for him!

The Argentinians had now started to get very loud and offensive and we were warned to watch out if Germany won. As time went on Germany obviously won and Argentinians surprisingly walked away, we were worried things would escalate but of what we could see and experienced it was fine.

With Ed's Argentina shirt and German face paint we were unsure who we wanted to win. We has always said let the best team win!! We were very happy for the Germans as we have met and made so many friends during this trip from there!! We cheered and celebrated and stayed out for another hour or two drinking and socialising with people from all over the world. We waved our German friend Lisa off for her flight home and made our way back to the hostel. I was so tired and a little tidily and I fell asleep. Ed however went out like a lad on the town haha!

I awoke at 6am when Ed got back! He has been to a samba street party in Lapa till the early hours. He was very drunk and I had to put him to bed haha!! I'm happy he had a brilliant night as I was a little too scared to go out in it all and glad Ed had a group of boys to enjoy it with!!

The next day I got up and had breakfast alone as Ed was sleeping, I showered and packed our things. We checked out Yey!!! I was excited to see the back of this place!! Ed went down to the fan fest for food and a look around the football souvenir shops! I came over all funny and was violently sick, once he returned we sat around for another hour hoping it would pass, it didn't but we had to catch our bus to Buzios!!

We got to the bus station via taxi and I was very sick! I skipped eating for the day and we boarded our bus at 5pm. We had a horrible journey up the coast! Ed then started to feel bad and when we got off the bus was violently sick too!! We spoke to our friends later that evening once we had checked into our new hostel and they were all too very sick all day, we presume it was the alcohol we were drinking on the beach as we didn't feel hungover and I had a relatively early night!! We went to bed very early in our lovely new clean hostel!! It was now holiday time we wanted to relax and enjoy the beaches of Rio before heading home!!