So after the first game of passion I decided to come back to the Maracaña for a local derby. The stadium was full to capacity other than the bottom tier which was under renovation, there must have been 120,000 all over the stadium, in the stairwells, blowing their trumpets and playing the drums. Unfortunately the team we were supporting lost but as each of the 4 goals was scored you could literally feel the stadium move and copious amounts of beer (at least that’s what I hope it was) thrown all over you. Thankfully because it was a local derby the [View Full Entry]

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So as I explained Favella is basically shanty town and Rio is over run by Favella´s. The day before I went on the tour I saw the film 'Cidade de Deus´ (City of Gods) which is basically a true story about the gang war that goes on in one of the bigger Favellas in Rio (If you haven’t seen it you must, even though it is all in subtitles it is wicked - and perfect preparation for my Favella tour). The Favella we saw runs about 30% of Rio’s drugs and is estimated to turnover approximately US$ 5m per month and [View Full Entry]

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Ok so am not sure that words are going to do this night any justice but I will try to explain the best that I can so you can imagine. Background: Favella basically means shanty town, look at my Favella Tour for more info. The Favella Funk party is basically a nightclub in the middle of one of the biggest Favella sites in Rio and there is approximately 3,000 people partying hard in this big Favella, straight to Gay and from poor to rich. Hence the reason why you are not allowed to take cameras in because apparently Brazilian football stars [View Full Entry]

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On arriving in Copacabana the first thing that I must tell you about is my hostel Stone of a Beach, definitely one of the best hostels I’ve ever stayed in with wicked staff, good food and the hot tub on the roof terrace......(hence the reason why I got stuck there for so long! So decided to go to a futbal match (how the Brazilian’s spell it) and watch the local side Botafogo. Brazil currently has four local teams and they all play big matches at the Maracaña which is currently the biggest stadium in the world with a capacity of 180,000. [View Full Entry]

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The Convent Stairway These stairs are a mosaic made of over 2 thousand especially made tiles which were broken with a hammer, the 215 steps and are a tribute to the people of Brazil by being in the colour of the Brazilian flag, green blue and yellow. The artist began in 1990 and when he nearly finished in 1998 he decided to make the stairs a constantly changing work of art and therefore invites people from all over the world to send in a tile and he will send a photo of the tile in the step. The current tiles are [View Full Entry]

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So the rain finally lifts and we decide to rush through the two most famous sites in one day (to be honest one day is enough anyway). Christ Redeemer: For those of you who don’t know in Rio there is a statue weighing over 1000 metric tons of Christ which looks over the city (The bay of Corcovado). This has got to be the most ironic thing that I have ever seen; Rio is full of crime, drugs, and poverty and is renowned as one of the most unsafe places to travel in Brazil, Christ would be mortified if he was [View Full Entry]

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So unfortunately my first impressions of Rio continue, we have rain for 3 days solid and find ourselves getting very depressed (no excuse I know but Birmingham is sunny). So there is absolutely nothing to do other than get drunk and try and stay as dry as possible! [View Full Entry]

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Before I begin I think I should just explain that the journey really began on the Friday 13th October 2006 when I finished work (work - if that´s what I can say I was doing). As per usual I left everything to the last minute but up to this date all the important stuff was done (or so I thought). From this Friday I was a nightmare (sorry mom) trying to pack and update my ipod......I finally leave for the airport with my ipod still not updated, infact on the journey it crashed and was blank. Thanks to Nashie (for sorting [View Full Entry]

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Apologies - currently unable to restore. If you have a backup please edit this entry and save/publish. There is a small possibility that this entry will be restored - only small. [View Full Entry]

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Apologies - currently unable to restore. If you have a backup please edit this entry and save/publish. There is a small possibility that this entry will be restored - only small. [View Full Entry]

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