We we have moved into a flat on Visconde de Piraja in Ipanema this week. Thanks to lots of hard work by various parties, we seem to have done this in record time so we can now get on with life! Also secured a cpf number for Pat - needed even to buy a kettle in this country! Next weeks domestic agenda is to secure cpf for Kate and to open a bank account!

Tonight we are due to meet up with Kate and Greg Stewart and next week see Kirsty Morton. Greg and Kirsty were both former students and are about to leave Rio. They were very supportive during our move here. Moving on is what a lot of folk here will be doing!

The flat is well located for the sea, local shops & public transport for Patrick getting to work but the kitchen is minute & not very well equipped so we have been to the Brazilian equivalent of Ikea this morning! A Swedish woman I met last week tells me it's not as good but for me it compares favourably with a lot else I've seen. The thing is that the rental market out here is just ridiculous. There's a shortage of places available in Zona Sul which is where many ex-pats choose to live, which means they get snapped up very quickly & for prices apparently now higher than New York!

We do have access to the outside which was a high priority for us. We're on the top floor of a building on a main shopping street but fortunately the flat's at the back and we have a roof terrace with views of the sea to the south, the two brothers mountains in the west at the end of Leblon & in the distance we can see the hilltop statue of Corcovado to the north - all through/round gaps in buildings of course!

The living space is a bit odd but we have potentially four spare bed spaces which again was another priority. So all in all, we're hoping that once we've picked up some nice bits & pieces to combat the largely uninspiring interior and put things on the walls, it'll feel more like home. Also, Patrick says I need to stop thinking of our nice flat in Edinburgh & minding that someone's got the nerve to charge what they are for the type of place we've got out here!
Even though we're heading towards Autumn now the sun is still shining, the sky is still blue for most of the day & the temperature is mostly still in the high 20's. This makes up for a lot & we're heading for the beach this afternoon, not having been there for some time now.....