Following our adventures into the Jungle we decided to take a pit stop in the Capital city of the region, Manaus. It is something of a surprise that the city is quite big and covers a large area. Manaus was the capital of the Rubber industry a hundred years ago and you can certainly see from some of the remaining architecture that it used to be a very wealthy town. It was the vision of the Governor at the time and became the first Brazilian ciry to have trolley buses and only the second to get electricity. Take a look at the photos of the city and you will see what we mean. Now,as a duty free port, it is a major electronics manufacturing region with Sony, L&G, Hitachi, just to name a few, all having major plants here. After the peace of the jungle it was something of a shock to the ears to come back here for a few days - this place is soooo noisy. It isnt helped by the fact that we are in the run up to some local and regional elections at the moment and the most popular way for politicians to get their message across is through portable loudspeaker systems. Every 5 minutes you are passed by a motorbike or truck with the Stringfellows sound system perched on the back and someone spouting policitical messages at full volume - not sure that we can see Tony take this on as a new form of spin! We are staying in a hotel about a hundred metres from some of the best architecture in the city. The Teatro Amazonas (Opera House) was completed in 1896 and is a spectacular building with the mosaic dome proudly in the colours of the Brazilian flag. All but the woodeen floors of the buliding(which not surprisingly were taken from the Amazon itself) was produced and shipped over from England, under the design of Italian architects. For all but a few years following the decline of the rubber industry here, it holds 3-4 operas every year and numerous concerts and performances. We have already been to 2 classical performances that were held for the general public and really enjoyed them. There seems to be some sort of cultural celebrations going on at the mement and every evening there have been performances in the Plaza under the floodlit Opera House. It has been wonderful to sit there eating our evening meal whilst being entertained by the wonderful Latin msuic. You will also see photos in the album of the churches and the Palace of Justice - another testament to the previous wealth of the City. The Churches we have visited have all had wonderful fresco painings in them and seem to be the only havens where the constant noises from outside can not penetrate. The general market, nearer the centre of the City had a beautiful Ary Noveau roof, which was designed by Eiffel and is a copy of the Les Halles market in Paris. It is an incredible place and very noisy with each trader thinking that the more he claps and whisltes at you the more likely you are to buy his goods! One of the highlights of our stay here has been the invitation we received to the wedding of our guide from the Amazon, Gerry. On Saturday evening he married his "missus" of 17 years and made it offical. It was great to see how it was done over here, in many ways very similar to weddings in the UK. Perhaps it was a bit more informal, with guests arriving in everything from long evening dresses to jeans and t-shirts. The one thing both of really noticed was how everyone was so relaxed about it all. The civil ceremony was due to start at 9pm and by 10 to only a third of the 250 guests had arrived. We had only planned to stay for an hour or two but soon discovered that that wasnt going to be possible. The alcohol flowed but by 2am we were bushed and had to make our way back to the hotel. We met some really great people at the wedding, including Gerrys Dad, who hales from none other than Manchester. We had a great time chatting to him about how he came to be over in Brazil and the differences he found when he last visited the UK a couple of years ago. One thing is for sure though - living here must be good for ageing well, Gerrys dad was in his 80s and his Mum in her mid 70s, but both of them looked 10 years younger. We will have to find out what the secret is. Our next stage in the journey will be the 6 day boat trip up the Amazon to Tabatinga, which is on the border with Peru. We booked our ticket and thankfully had the opportunity to check out our "suite" for the journey - its actually nothing more than a shoebox - God knows what third class travel would be like. Look forward to updating you again when we arrive.