Miramar Palace Rio de Janeiro

<br>Freak torrential downpours may have impacted to some degree on our opinion of Rio which was not terribly high. Breaks in the weather allowed for a quick trip up the Sugarloaf (leave it, David...) stunning views despite low clouds but, unsurprisingly, a costly tourist trap. Overheard a priceless conversation on the ascenting cable car between two Americans where a squat jock in wrestling sweats mistakenly indicating a small, unassuming bay ...

... probably thought we were muppets, to the tram which took us the top of the Corcovada - muy mucho huge. By the time we reached the top the light drizzle at the base of the mountain had turned to full blown hurricane and blizzard, but we did manage to breath taking glimpses of the scenery below between the swathes of cloud and rain. We still counted it a worthwhile experience although it would probably have been about 6.243 million times better on ...

... need! maybe he has a sister, or maybe he thought it was cool cool that i was a traveler, or maybe he was just heading in my same directions... very akward at first but thankful at the end. don´t worry though, im not talking to random people and will not be having another escorted excursion tomorrow. i then went to find one of my meetings and theere were no people there so i went back bought some food and made myself a fab dinner... took a shower under ...

... of days sitting on the sand, I thought a lot about Brasil and her future. I didn't see enough of the country to come to any fair conclusions; my time was spent in Iguazu and the relatively-affluent Rio de Janeiro State. I need to travel to the North and the Amazon Region to really assess the future for all her citizens. <br><br>Without a doubt, this massive landmass is incredibly resource rich. Shut off from the world tomorrow, Brasil could take care of ...

... for a bit first which were full of vendors selling drinks and snacks. Down teh back streets jazz, samba and all kinds of live music spilled from the backs of bars onto the streets Musicians gave it their best with the drums or sax and hundreds of amororus couples of friends accomanied the beat with their feet tapping or sambering to the rythm. Then Alice and Rachel and I decided to go to Democraticus, but the first thing was to find it. I asked two young, friendly Brazillian guys ...

... The core fan group had drums and sang their fan songs throughout the game. We sat near them and we were clapping and singing with them during the game as it was impossible not to get into the vibe too. Fluminense after the first half made 3 goals and won the game and with each goal the fans went nuts jumping, hugging each other and going off. The stadium does not sell alcohol which is a good thing given the fanaticism soccer has in Sth America and especially Brasil. The ...

... buddy from outside of London called Tim. A little intro for Tim is necessary- prob about 25 years old, from Oxford, Tim was to get married a little under a year ago when it fell apart close to the time. He decided to take the three week honeymoon in Australia as some recuperation time and has been traveling ever since. Along the way the car has been sold and the house followed shortly after. He is a self proclaimed hedionist with an abnormal talent for ingesting toxic ...

... backpackers we'd clubbed together with for a taxi headed off to their respective hostels. We did the main touristy things; visited Sugar Loaf Mountain and Christ the Redeemer, and hung around on Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, but didn't make it to a footy match at the Maracana Stadium. Carnaval lasts for 5 days leading up to the start of lent and is basically a load of parties all over the city. It kicks off on Friday night and we went to a bloco (street party), of which there are ...

... only cost 15.90, but the food wasn´t that wonderful. I felt a lot better afterwards though, having had a proper meal. Back at the hostel I caught up with the guys that were heading out to the football at Maracana. We walked down to the subway station and caught a train to ´Maracana´ station. The subway station was very clean and new, and so were the trains. The tickets to the football cost R30, but we could sit anywhere. We had arrived ...