We have been here for just over 48 hours and what an amazing place and also totally different to anything I have ever experienced before.
The drive from the airport was crazy with the taxi driver doing about 100 miles an hour and the sides of the motorway and skyline being covered in fevellas for as far as the eye could see. Thousands of Brazillian families living in unfinished buildings with their electricity being wired through the street lighting which they steal so do not have to pay for. They are like nothing I have seen before completely different to the slums of India I saw 4 years ago.
Pete, Alison, Jackie and Patrick all arrived safely to our tiny (tiny is an understatement) apartment in the late/early hours of Monday night/Tuesday morning.
Tuesday saw us walking up and down Copacapana and Ipenema beach which are extremely beautiful and also means that Patrick has been serenading us with the theme tunes of both for the last 24 hours! Tuesday evening we went to a Brazillian grill where we ate sausage, steak, chicken, pork, chips, rice and some bizzare flour item, we are so much and it cost £11 each!
Today (Wed) has been amazing. After Jackie, Alison and I read hundreds of forums on how I get to the Christ the Redeemer and it sounded like hell we had a really successful adventure. We took the metro and then the bus and then an amazing train which is the oldest railway in Brazil up to the top!
Once at the top I could not have been prepared for the breath taking views that lay in front of us. What a gorgeous city Rio is with hills, the sea and high rises. Pete and I went crazy with the camera and between us took around 300 photos!
Once down from the statue we went into the centre and walked all over the place and ended up in a famous coffee house which we wished we could have transported Mark & Frances Simmons too as they love a good coffee and also Natalie as Nathan has a thick chocolate ball covered in more chocolate which was unbelievable (he took a photo for you Natalie).
A highlight of the day was watching an office building of 7000 people conducting a fire drill!
A beautiful day in a stunning city with great company.