We have moved north along Ipanema Beach to the Hotel Mercure for Carnival. This hotel is more in to the party goers. We spent most of yesterday on the beach under an umbrella in a chair - yes I (P) even managed to break one! I swam at 8am and 6pm - and with all the times in between - was v refreshing!! You can drink a lot of beer without thinking about it in the hot and well supplied beach environment! Quite a few colourful characters on the street last night - clowns, robots, supermen, angels, Romans - you imagine it and you can probably find it here! Anything clearly goes!! We joined the crowd following the samba wagon - a lorry carrying a sound system and dancers - around a few blocks. We ended a fine day with pizza and ravioli (we ate traditional Brazilian fejoiada - beans & rice - on fri night) - and two episodes of The Killing!