Hi all,

Just getting ready to leave Rio so this is my last blog from here. Car hire didn´t quite go to plan so we have opted for the good old bus. We leave here on Wednesday morning and go by bus to Iguassu Falls where we have decided to stay for 5 nights. We found really good accomodation (next to a water park) which we thought would be fun to stay in. It also has a gym, pool etc so we thought why not! Here is where we are going to be staying - http://www.hotelpanoramaresort.com.br/english/ We then get the bus to Argentina which is another long bus trip.

The last few days have been very cultural. We have spent most of our time visiting museums, art galleries, palaces and cultural centres. We have been taking it easy. It feels like we have been in Rio for ages and are ready to be moving on.

Included in our sightseeing was a trip to the gem museum and replica mine. It was here that my wonderful husband decided he wanted to buy me some jewlerry. Upon entering the shop (more like a gallery of jewlerry), I thought there is no way he is going to pay for a piece out of here. Everything was in glass displays with no prices displayed. The only piece I could see that I would actually wear was an emerald pendant surrounded with diamonds. Once the sales guy clicked onto the fact AJ might actually buy something, we were treated like royalty. We were given free drinks and snacks and told to take a seat whilst we were shown all the jewlerry. AJ asked if the emerald pendant could be made into a ring and the sales guy said yes (and for the same price as the pendant - not cheap I might add!). We have a private car coming to our apartment to collect us tomorrow evening when the ring will be ready. I feel like a very lucky girl at the moment! Now I have to ensure I don´t lose it on our travels!

We then went back to the Sushi bar we once had lunch in and ordered more sushi and a superb meal. This sushi bar had such good food and you had loads of choice, from chinese, thai, indian, european meals for reasonable prices. Highly recommended for anyone visiting Rio (it was called Opium Sushi Bar).

That´s about all the excitement and happenings from our end. Will be spending the rest of the day packing :(

Speak again soon,
Lee-Ann and AJ