Well, here we are back in Rio after our month in the UK which ended just as the heatwave began. 2 weeks conferencing and geologising for Patrick and then 2 weeks holiday. As ever, it was great to catch up with friends and family and Dorset was as clean and green and quiet as we remembered - just what we needed in fact. By the time we left, most of the niggling jobs at Limestone had been dealt with (sorry, Graeme & Irene for the one that wasn't!); Hugo's wor...

"One of the most famous birdwatching sites in Southeast Brazil" is what the bird book says. How you pronounce it is altogether less clear!! It was a long holiday weekend in Rio (Corpus Christi) and we needed to get out for the day. Others trail up the Amazon - but for us, taking the bus to Itatiaia National Park is as good as it gets. Rain greeted us on Friday as we got up. For some reason rain in Rio equates to traffic jams - and the 75 mins we'd left to get...

This last weekend proved to be one of the most memorable ones! We went with a group of International Club friends (French, Dutch, American, Australian & fellow Brits) to Ilha Grande. This was no ordinary tourist trip but a special gourmet weekend organised by Bonnie and Vic, who have a boat and house down there, Bonnie having been married to a Brazilian in a past life. Ilha Grande is on the Costa Verde, about 2.5 hours drive from Rio. Ilha Grande - the b...

Watching football in Rio. We get more football here than at home - today Bayern vs Barcelona (2-0) at the moment! Hugo and I leapt for joy at Luis Suarez's 97th minute equaliser for Liverpool vs Man City at the weekend. Of course we also saw the famous biting incident - though didn't pick up at the time why the Brazilian commentator was referring to Mike Tyson!! In the same week, Hugo became the first Corbett to score a goal against Brazilian opposition. His Co...

Easter has been and gone and Patrick and I are on our own again - for a while at least. A friend from Romanno Bridge, Maria Halliday, spent 10 days with us for some r&r after sight-seeing in Peru and a strenuous trek to Machu Pichu. It was great to see a familiar face from Scotland and to catch up with news of Maria's family and mutual friends. We showed her some of the Rio landmarks, tasted some of the local 'delicacies' such as pastels and caipirinhas and i...