22:30 - I got up late this morning. After breakfast I made my way to the beach here in Copacabana and rented a chair and umbrella from one of the kiosk's. There weren't many people around today as I am guessing most cariocas are back at work after the holidays. I made myself comfortable and intended to start a new book, but I fell asleep for two hours :-)! When I woke up I found myself in the middle of little Italy. The umbrella people had put 3 youngsters from Naples to my right, 5 guys from Rome to the left and a couple from tuscany in front of me:-)! It was quite funny really. I had arranged to see Marco (my ex DB colleague that lives out here with his family) at his B&B, so at around 4pm I made my way up to Santa Teresa. This neighbourhood is up on a hill overlooking the centre and younused to be able to get to the top using a San Francisco like tram. However, these trams were never maintained and there was a big accident last year (6 dead). Since then they have been taken off service and only the tracks in the road remain for now. Marco was on good form...south america agrees with him. Castelinho is a really pretty guesthouse and Marco's done a really good job restoring it. We sat around chatting on the terrace for a while and he outlined a new project he's developing here in Rio. After that we went for a drink in a local bar (a very old and lovingly restored place). It was great to see him :-)! By the time we finished our beer it was pretty dark, so I decided to make my way back to the hotel and went to Porcao for my last meal here in Rio. Apparently it's a must! I have to say that they nearly force food down your throat :-)!!! It reminded me when Alessandro (Marchi) in London took me Rodizio Rico. He loved the place. One price and eat as much skewered meat as you like. On the way back to the hotel I took a look at the Copacabana evening market and finally managed to buy a baseball hat to replace the one I left in Puerto Varas a few weeks back. Tomorrow night I leave for Santiago and then onto Easter Island so I plan another easy half day at the beach in the morning. I might even manage to read more than the ten pages I read today!