Another red hot day so we decided to go to Ipanema beach, it was only a short walk round from Copacabana! The Dois Irmãos (Two Brothers) are at the west end of the beach & were such a magnificent backdrop. We walked all the way along the beach & couldn’t believe how many footballs were in the air, locals of all ages were playing the Brazil version of keeping the ball up wow it was amazing to watch no wonder they are so good with the ball.....even the girls! There was volleyball too & football over the nets we loved watching them! We witnessed a robbery just in front of us on the walkway, a lad on a bike mounted the pavement & ripped a gold bracelet off a Brazilian who was walking just in front of us, it was a real eye opener & reminder that even though it looked like paradise we needed to be careful. In Rio you could see the huge favelas just behind the tourist areas & the beach offered a public place where all classes mixed. We enjoyed the sunshine & a few beers on the beach before the tide started coming in quickly disrupting the families games & beach picnics! We watched sunset over the beach from the Arpoador rock which was a small peninsula between Ipanema & Copacabana, we walked back to the hotel & watched basketball it was the start of the finals between Golden state warriors & Cleveland cavaliers, Le bron James team our new team we had started following whilst we have been away.