Wednesday, 2nd June

Samuel Oliver Kuwertz was born today. Packed up, night bus to Rio met Roberta from Wimbledon. Had Cama seats which we could get used to, loads more leg room and super comfy.

Thursday, 3rd June

Arrived in Rio around midday, got a cab with Roberta and Caroline to Girl from Ipanema Hostal. Unfortunatley it's a public holiday so there's not a choice of rooms, ours is grose so we won't be spending much time in there. We all went straight to Ipanema beach for a few beers then back to the hostal. There are a few hostals all set in an alley so everyone can sit outside, had a few drinks and met people from the other hostals went to a bar til 4am, good night.

Friday, 4th June

So hungover, we took it easy this morning then headed over to Sugarloaf Mountain. We caught the cable car up in time for sunset which was amazing from so high up. Once at the top it started getting darker so the lights around the City started coming on, as well as on the Christ the Reedemer Statue. We could see across to the other side of the bay as well as back to Copacabana beach.

Saturday, 5th June

Oh no rubbish weather! Both pleased we did Sugarloaf yesterday, wouldn't be able to see a thing from up there today. Walked up to Leblon beach, cinema not open til later on and not showing anything that good, had a juice booster and feel much better. Went to the Maracana Football Stadium to watch the Flamengos play the Goias, it rained a bit but us Brits stuck it out nearer the pitch. The Flamengos scored in the first half and the atmosphere was crazy, flags waving, everyone shouting and jumping around then in the 2nd half the Goias scored 2 and the stadium went silent apart from the 10-15 supporters on the other side of the pitch. It ended 2-1 to the Goias and as we left the Flamengo fans were coming to the front to rant at the players.

Sunday, 6th June

Lovely sunny morning so went round to Copacabana beach, lots of people already out jogging and playing volleyball. Had a drink on the beach and walked along the seafront. A few people had made sand sculptures which were really impressive. Packed and flew back to Santiago, went for drinks and supper with Claudio and Karina to a new bar near us. It was really quirky, one of everything hanging from the walls and ceiling including a silver boot 70's style.