We spent Sunday day on the beach before saying a tearful farewell to all the kids on the beach. I think they were happy to see us go as it meant they got our surf boards! Sunday night we went to the maracana to see Botofogo v Vasco, 2 local teams. It was the first game at the maracana in a year, as they have been renovating it, although the bottom tier isnt finished yet, so we were really pleased we got to go. It was red hot but luckily managed to get seats in ...

Just come from the beach after watching our last sunset in Rio, as tomorrow night we are at the maracana. We have still been on the beach, however Jill has been mainly sat in the shade as she has peeled rather a lot. On tuesday we went on a tour round downtown Rio, the one part of the city we havent seen. The tour was on a jeep and we got to drive along all the beaches and back past sugert loaf mountain. Downtown was a mix of skyscrapers and old colonial building...

Another week has passed, not a lot to report im afraid other than we have been relaxing on the beach all week, back to red hot sunshine and blue skies. However we have been good and been going to the gym in the hotel, and eating lots of fruit. We would like to wish Craigs mum a Happy 60th birthday. Thursday evening we took 4 of the local kids off the beach, our brazilain friends, to the shopping mall, that has a big amusement arcade. It was meant to be a treat fo...

Well we have left the comfort of the Sheraton now and moved to a hotel nearer the centre of Rio. Its on Ipanema beach which is next to Copacabana beach. Our hotel is right on the front and our room on the 11th floor looks out over the beach and sea. You cannot believe how many people are on the beach its absolutely rammed or at least it was leading up to New Years eve, its a little quiter since, mainly cause the weather has gone pants. Its still red hot but ...

Well surprisingly we have spent the last few days on the beach sunning ourselves. Today was the day Craigs been dreading as he finally was no longer in his prime and hit 30. he managed to have 4 birthday cards, which beats my 1! We headed to the beach, and popped back to the hotel at lunch. I had organised the hotel to put ballons, banners and cakes in the room for him. No i didnt choose the colour of the balloons, thats not intentional honest. We then headed bac...