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In the last week we have been in Sao Paulo and Rio, so a real city marathon! We arrived in Sao Paulo on the 19th February and because of Carneval everything was closed and the streets deserted! Luckily, we were staying in a nice and comfortable hotel as there was really nothing to see or do in Sao Paulo. It is not beautiful, but then all big cities here feature ugly 70´ies sky srapers and some areas as the Jardims seem really nice. Everybody warned us about Sao Paulo being so dangerous and you cannot use public transport etc. However, we were walking around freely and enjoyed using the public transport, especially the tube. A bit pathetic, but it reminded us of London...

Our next stop was Rio de Janeiro for a couple of days and we visited Botafogo beach, Copacabana etc. For being honest, the beaches are not that nice and again these ugly skyscrapers everywhere. For a change and to save money, we had to stay in a hostel and it was quiet an experience. We are all used to bunk beds, but the new trend is to use triple bunk beds and stuff as many as possible in a tiny room. Funny enough the bunks are not secured to the wall and if you are lying on the third ´floor´, it is very shaky. We had a laugh with the other 8 guys in our dorm about the conditions here and you are even paying for this!

Of course, the highlight for us in Rio had to be the Maracana stadium, the biggest football stadium in the world! I am sure you were all waiting for more pictures of us in front of stadiums, in the dressing room etc. However, the Maracana is really beautiful and we actuallywent to see a football match. As the teams playing were 1st division, the stadium was really empty and this was a bit weird. All teams in Rio play their games in Maracana and most of the time the stadium is rather empty, but at least you can always buy tickets on the same day.

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