12/5/09 We checked out of the Vila Carioca hostel and took a taxi to the Hotel Bandeirantes, Copacabana, where our tour group was due to meet up and we would stay our first night. When we arrived there were a couple of sheets of A4 stuck on the wall in the reception lobby, informing us that there would be a welcome meeting in the lounge at 7pm where we would all be introduced to each other and a lot of information given out. Reception gave us a form each which we...

9/5/09 Today we had a lie in while we decided what we wanted to do for the rest of the day... We spent so long that we realised it was now too late to walk into Centro because once we'd walked there we wouldn't have long before we'd have to come back again, so in the end we wwalked down to Leme. This is really just part of Copacabana beach; the portion right at the side, on the other end to Copacabana Fort. It was around 30 degrees again. There's a fort here too...

2/5/09 We had a lazy day today, having a rest after all the walking we've done in the past few days. 3/5/09 We walked into Centro again to try to visit the Museum of Fine Arts, only to find once again that it was closed! We had a closer look at one of the entrances, and noticed a sign saying that it's closed until 8th May. Centro was very quiet because of it being a Sunday. You may have read somewhere that Rio, like the rest of Brazil, is football mad, and that ...

27/4/09 It rained nearly all day today, plus most of Rio's attractions are closed on Mondays, so apart from a quick trip out to get a couple of interesting cakes and go to the supermarket, we just took it easy, went on the internet etc. 28/4/09 Today we walked into Centro for the first time, to see some of the historical sights and visit the National Fine Arts Museum. The first thing we did was try to find the museum, but we couldn't find it anywhere! The map re...

20/4/09 Our flight to Rio today, via Sao Paulo. The flight to Sao Paulo went well, apart from at the luggage check-in when Dave realised he'd lost the tourist card which you get on arrival and have to fill in and give back on departure. The woman took pity on him in the end and gave him another one to fill in and give to the other people. In the shops near the boarding lounges Dave bought himself an engraved Chilean copper ring and a bookmark, but I didn't buy an...