Ahh Rio... I don't know why I didn't look the weather up for here?? I really should have because it's been about 26-29c during the day and it sits around 20 overnight!!. Of course we packed mostly warm clothes, lucky we have some t-shirts. Today has been a day of just wandering around the Copacabana area which is huge and we took our clothes to a laundrymat got the washing done which will do now until we get home. Every other store here sells the famous flip flops (thongs) the Havaianas. And well priced. They are made in Brazil and are the thongs of choice...so we got a pair each and paid about $25 for the two pairs. Of course bikinis are cheap here too, but I think it's because there is not much too them .... the women here wear their bikinis like dental floss....but not topless as it's considered in bad taste. While the weather is quite warm there is alot of cloud cover most days. This is their winter!! So is dry and 'mild'. During summer it gets up to 45c and rains for about an hour a day!!.

Well yesterday was a full day out. We had a private tour which started with a drive along the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon to the station to ride the scenic cog railway which takes you to the base of the 125 foot tall statue of Christ the Redeemer on corcovado Mountain.. The train ride was great and took about 25 minutes to go up and up. A little group of musicians boarded at the half way point and played music, was loud and vibrant as we went through the tropical plants of the Tijuca forest. Everyone takes pictures of this huge statue at all sorts of angles. People were laying on the ground !! It was built to celebrate 100 years of independance but it took them longer than they through so it was unveiled for the 110 years!! Next we continued on a driving tour through the city and passing many famous places. We stop at Saint Sebastian Cathedral...not your normal one. See the pic's..from the outside it looks like a big cone but go in and see the lovely leadlite windows, huge and impressive.

After that it's off to ride two cable cars to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain for a 360d view of Rio. From there you can see everything...when the clouds move out of the way. Fantastic views but hard to take good pictures. After about an hour it's time to go back down and we go visit the Sambadrome, site of Rio's famous Carnival parade. Again amazing. The whole area purpose built for the Carnival which happens 40 days before Easter. When not in use for the parade the seating stands and underneath are used as primary schools. Did you know that the Samba school (group) which wins the parade get prize money of $10 million US dollars. But it cost them around 5 million to do it...huge huh. From here we can also see Rio's modern monument which apparently represents the shape of the Brazillian womens bum....big upside down arches.

Tomorrow we leave for a short plane trip to Iguacu to visit the Brazilian side of the famous Iguacu Falls. Well that's about it for now, going to go out shortly for some dinner and our last night here in Rio..... has been a nice short change of pace. xxx