With so many awesome memories of Rio, sat on the bus winging our way away from there, it was hard not to feel a little down. The carnaval was for me one of the real highlights I was looking forward to during my time out here and it certainly didn´t disappoint. Of course im not one to dwell on the past...well except for that time I had my pants pulled down in the school library in front of everybody, unfortunately that haunting memory will stay with me forever. At least im not bitter! So with renewed vigour we made our way [View Full Entry]

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So here we are then boys and girls. Sao Paulo, the big apple, the big smoke the big cheese, the big erm city...im clutching at straws a bit there. So Brad and I arrive into Sao Paulo about 11pm in the evening and straight away we jump on the metro. Now so that some of you are aware, Sao Paulo has a pretty bad reputation for crime. Particularly street crime. In fact they have so many red-light robberies (you pull up at the traffic lights in your car and whilst you are at a standstill, somebody thrusts a gun in your [View Full Entry]

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A collection of my favourite piccies from my time in Rio.... Now as those of you have been reading my blogs will have noted, over here in Brazil, they are very keen on snacks that come served on sticks. From the mighty sausage to the usual chicken and meat fare. The best has to be cheese on a stick, thats right cheese on a stick! Best of all you don´t have to move you just sit on the beach whilst the friendly ´Quejo Man´ (thats cheese man to you loveable Brits) comes over and cooks it right there and then in [View Full Entry]

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Trip 3 to the Maracana!! and it´s a biggy! Fluminense vs Flamengo. Flamengo are Rios biggest and best supported team. Fluminense on the other hand are their arch rivals. Thus the FluFla derby was born! Early on and the atmosphere outside the stadium is electric...we are down with the end with the nense fans, who are already in high spirits singing and chanting outside the stadium. We sit in the shade with a few cold beers because man it´s a scorcher! Inside and it´s back to the familiar grandstand where me and Chris were nearly teargassed last time, told you we [View Full Entry]

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4 days of hardcore partying are bound to leave a mark on anybody. By the time Carnaval was over I think it´s fair to say we came, we saw and we got well and truly mullerered. So what do you do when all the partying stops?! Well first you have a meal out with the friends you made in South America, as most of them are now leaving the continent all together. You spend a wee bit of time feeling down and looking back on all the cool things you´ve done, but realising they are over (I blame the depression on [View Full Entry]

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Day 4 of the Carnaval and the idea is as follows, we get afro wigs, Brazilian flags and make some kind of silly outfits out of them! Cool idea huh...after all everybody in this town is in party mood!! Now obviously the plan doesn´t just involve dressing up like fools and sitting around quietly in our respective hostels, far from it! We are off to a Beer Ball at the Scala nightclub in Leblon! Now basically that means you pay 50 Reais (about 15 of your hard earned British pounds!) and that gets you entry and as much beer as you [View Full Entry]

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So last time I wrote, you may recall that Chris and I totally lost Brad, Ben and the others...but we managed to turn the situation around and have a great night and following morning, getting to bed around 9am! (after finishing me brekkie of course!) Well you can imagine how happy we were to see them when they called at our hotel at 11am. This is Rio baby....who needs more than 2 hours sleep! Obviously first things first, we told them how awesome our night had been and how we were better off without the pair of them...losers! Still I suppose [View Full Entry]

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If you guys thought we were rubbish in losing Brad for a day when we first arrived, that was nothing compared to the start of Carnaval day 2. Clearly hungover from the previous nights antics, Chris and I were how shall we say, somewhat less than spritely in the waking up and getting motivated stakes. Now the problem with us two being on Ipanema beach and everyone else being on Copacabana, is that its not easy to contact each other! There are seemingly no internet cafes in Ipanema and dozens in Copacabana! Also the guys don´t have a phone in their [View Full Entry]

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The eagle has landed!! Just kidding it´s only our arrival, though with the size of my nose you could be easily fooled. 8 of us (some of the guys we did our trip with) arrive into Rio at the same time and quickly disperse to our accommodation. Chris and I are in the upmarket area of Ipanema, two blocks back from the beach and all the others are staing one bay along in Copacabana. Straight away you can tell how big this city is, from the 20 minute journey we take. So me and Chris are led to out room by [View Full Entry]

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So people its been a couple of weeks since I last bared my soul to you (and for those of you who saw my facebook profile my pasty rear!) With about a week to go before Carnaval, we decided to head along the South coast of Brazil to the small colonial town of Paraty. Other than the cobbled streets, quiet bay and plentiful seafood restaurants, there´s not much here to do, but baring in mind Carnaval is just round the corner it´s probably for the best! The proverbial calm before the storm. Well you´ve pretty much established by now that we [View Full Entry]

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