Hi everyone, Still in Rio, leaving tomorrow morning so we thought we'd update you on our last few fun-filled days here to bring a little sunshine to your monday morning! Friday was the official start of Carnaval. It kicked off with a bloco (street parade) through the steep cobbled (wet and slippery - it had rained all day) streets of Santa Teresa. We lined up ready for the start at the published time of 4pm which in Brazil means 5 ... or 6 .... or 7 ......

Hi everyone! Good to know you have logged on to see what we're up to! Anyway, as you will have guessed we arrived safely. The flight was better than expected as we both got a decent amount of sleep - there were no screaming kids to keep us awake on the plane - in fact about 80% of the passengers were 18-35 yr olds heading for Carnaval! We arrived at our hostel in Ipanema around lunchtime yesterday and spent the afternoon exploring the area (whic...