What an amazing day!

We arranged to meet up with a friend of a friend called Marcio. He arrived in a taxi driven by a friend of his and we were dropped off in the centre of town. First of all he took us to see a set of steps that an artist had taken over as his own and completely covered with mosaic tiles. He changes the tile constantly and there were some brilliant ones- good old Princess Diana put in an appearance and people now bring him tiles from all over the world. Loads of bands like U2 and Snoop Dogg have filmed videos there and it was really cool- if only some artists would take over the streets in London! Onto a yummy lunch of Brazilian steak with ground Manioc flower it was so good and one plate was more than enough for two.

A tour of the central area followed and we walked for miles and miles, down to the harbour, through the museun of modern art, past antique places, cathedrals and through beautiful parks with him constantly pointing things out along the way and telling us stuff we would never have learnt. He then announced that we would go and see his friend who lived in a Favela so off we set towards a huge one on the hillside.

The hills are so steep that at the bottom of the Favela is a huge line of motorbike taxis waitin to give locals a lift to the top. We decided that three on one bike might be pushing it a little so turned round to see a tiny VW campervan with enough seats for six full to bursting. Room for 3 more the lady says so in we squeeze making 18 in total- 2 kids on each lap and faces squashed against the window as the old engine heaves it´s way up the hill!

At the top we meet Marcio´s friend who sets off at full speed up and down the tiny narrow streets. He knocks on a door and we hear a very well spoken voice of an English man... `come in come in´ It´s a man called Bob who amongst many things used to be the BBC correspondent for Brazil. One night when driving his ill maid home 30 years ago he saw the amazing views from the top of the mountain and decided that this was where he wanted to live.

Since then he has lived as an artist and has built an amazing house with guestrooms called the Maze which really is a labyrinth inside- tiny floating wooden stairwells leading onto big mosaic terraces and huge pieces of artwork everywhere- absolutely stunning. he sat us down with a beer in fron of a huge open Verandah looking out over the Sugar Loaf and proceeded to talk for hours about the highs and lows of Favela life. He certainly has some guts- a highlight being when a major drug trafficker tagged his door with graffiti and he stood over him until the guy had repainted the whole of his house!

He obviously has a huge amount of respect though and has done an amazing amount to improve the Favela- In 2000 he saw an oppurtunity and suggested that the BOCE Police should move into the abandoned house at the top overlooking the whole of the Favela. These police are different from the ordinary ones and are unique in that they are not corrupt so actually have the respect of the people. Since then there has been no drug crime at all and the residents are very greatful.He holds a Samba party every month so that´s where we´re booked to go next Friday- staying with him in the Favela for 2 night afterwards you´ll be pleased to hear!

We watched the sun set and the moon rise with the best view in Rio before walking back down to get a pizza and see Marcio off. Marcio did live in London for five years and speaks amazing Englich (an exception here) and is now setting up his own business as a tour guide under the name my friend in Rio- He is the most amazing guy and such a great guide- we would recommend him to anyone visiting and we can´t wait to see what he has in store for us next time! Will try and do pics tomorrow as 1.15am now! Loadsa Love