Pousada Vila Pitanga Buzios

... the list goes on..... And it gets funnier- each posto is also home to/ the designated congregation point for your Samba club (as fanatical a following as soccer..in fact, they samba and soccer clubs are linked and if you support X soccer club, you need to go to all the soccer clubs events as well as the samba clubs!)...... so there are massive flags for each respective samba club at every posto

* Holding the bodybeautiful in ...

... We were fortunate that CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying and FIFA Confederations Cup games were going on while we were in Brasil. However, to get the real sense of futbol in Brasil, a visit to the Estadio do Maracana is required. The gigantic 90,000-seat stadium in the Maracana neighborhood was built for the 1950 World Cup (in which the host Brasil was stunningly upset by Uruguay for its second World Championship), in which 200,000 paying fans saw a ...

... striker funny and he went down like a sack of sh*t!! Very harsh. Anyway, Flamengo's number 7 'Juan' scored from the spot and it was 1-0. However, 10 minutes before half time, Botafogo bagged 2 goals in 2 minutes to take a 2-1 lead! This was a major surprise, but certainly made a game of it. In the 2nd half it was just end to end attacking - there was no defensive play at all. It was like watching a basketball match...except they couldn't handle the ball....and the nets were ...

... one of the smaller waterfalls. That evening I went back to the hostel, and had something to eat finally, was such a busy day I didnt even have time to eat until 8pm. I ended up having a pretty big time with 2 Australian sisters, and a Swedish girl and an Israeli girl, as well as couple from Australia. We played drinking games and were up most of the night. I was exhausted after it cos I hadnt properly slept at that stage for 40 odd hours. So I ended up staying in bed till 5pm the following day!

... we were intending to just buy a drink and chat while Chris ate...this resolve continued until Chris started ordering item after item off the menu and insisting we try some then ended up paying the bill at the end which I am sure was a horrific total that I do not even want to know. The whole evening just spiralled out of control and while it should have felt a bit dodgy with a 4 to 1 ratio it felt safe and it ended up really just being a crazy but fun night out ...

... overlooks 4 very nice secluded beaches) to Araial De Carbo (where we took a boat cruise and checked some beaches on an island or two) to Buzios (A magnificent stretch of Brazilian coastline with Buzios being the final destination and having the best beach of them all. We hired a buggy for this one). I was in paradise. I was meant for the ocean. I body surfed a wave for the longest ...

... but close enough that she understands). She says yes and then I say "Eu sol Americano" (I am American), pretty weak line, but with Portuguese and my feeble mind my options are limited. She actually doesnŽt seem too in to me at first so I go get another beer at the bar and then she comes over and starts talking to me. She speaks no English which sucks, but IŽm used to it by now. I end up dancing with her and trying to get in good with ...

... it was ok. [LYNNEŽs COMMENTS: This loss seemed minor when a few days later I managed to put the memory card into our camera the wrong way...and then break it. Fortunately we have a second one and IŽm keeping my fingers crossed weŽll be able to get it fixed next week in Berlin. The incident resulted in multiple emails and phone calls between me, my parents, and Nikon. I used to think I was savvy...but what an idiot I am!] Later that night (Sunday, 5/21), we went for another fine ...