Have You Been Tango's Yet ? Great to hear you're enjoying your S American travels. I loved your Iguassu photos, you're right they're even more breath-taking than the photos can show. Don't forget to go to a Tango show while you're in Argentina. Take care and best wishes for the rest of your trip.
Nice to here what Toucan do! Lovely to hear from you both again - I told mum you hadn't been eaten (after all the head hunters live in Central America not Argentina!) She was beginning to worry even so!
Nice to read what you Toucan do! - lovely photos, liked the Toucan - as you say it doesn't look real and not a Guiness in sight. Quite a beak on him - almost as if he borrowed it from his big brother .....and all without a Guiness in sight. Was he tame?
Pleased to hear to natives are so friendly and love to talk to you! Did they invite you into their homes? .... or was it just the schools? How different is the Spanish spoken over there?
Dad C
We were impressed by Niagara falls when we went to Canada - yours look much more impressive and on more than one level. We didn'y go on a boat but we did walk behind the water and, yes you guessed, we go wet too!
Damp hair means frizzy hair After your experience at the falls...... well, NOW I understand why you needed those second best hair straighteners. An essential for any girl caught under a waterfall. Mum xxx
I would like to point out that in Scottish vernacular a "bob" refers to a poo. Presumably "a big bob" could be used to mean a particularly big one...Enjoying your meal there, Steve?
come on mamma brazil was the best! loved the trek, was well worth it to have the beers, crackers, jam and sausage at the end! loving the travelling with you guys, looking forward to the beer and desert with you once we all stop faffing on the net! xxxx ps if anyone feels like giving us some love on our blog we would much appreciate- we only have 3 comments so far!! http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/roopa_anish
pps DONT REJECT ME STEVE!!!! (ill buy u a fresh cold skol..come on)
I am really enjoying your blog..you must be feeling very religious after all those churches! The bus journey sounds interesting ! Thought of you last week, and your appreciation of wine, when we travelled through France and Spain touring bodegas and champagne houses. You must visit Marques de Riscal,,, check the hotel, it is amazing. Glad you are having such a wonderful adventure....Helena xx
That little piggy went to Rio Sounds like you're having a great time, even with cold bus rides. Can't say I'm at all surprised Steve can still pack away the food, I don't think it's a talent either of us will ever lose. Enjoy the beaches we have gale force wind and flash flood warnings for over night tonight, so I hope your weather is much better.
Oh not Barry Manilow! Love the photos - but ever since mum saw the picture of Copacabana beach she has been singing 'that song' and talking about 'rat face' aka Barry Manilow! Can you distract her by posting some other photos quickly before I go mad or catch the same disease! We will get locked up skipping through Horsham singing that song! We are seeing Peter in a week and you know what he thinks of 'rat face'.
I knew about the favela's - having seen similar elswhere in the world. My friend at Sao Paulo University tells me university lecturers are reasonably paid so hopefully he is not leaving there.
Haven't heard of carioca's - can't make up my mind whether they are government, council, POSH folk or just a Brazilian take on a kareoke evening! Speaking of kareoke watch out for the four monkeys who go round singing 1960's pop songs (we paid extra for those)- better than the usual band of Peruvians with their pan pipes but it gets boring after 4 renditions of "i'm a believer".
Pleased you are both enjoying your journey sounds wonderful - you didn't say where you are going now! Sorry we couldn't talk on Skype the other evening - all working again now.
Dad
Haven't heard of the
Good old British comment about the weather Wow, you guys certainly got much clearer weather at Sugarloaf then we did - gorgeous photos, brings back memories.
Hope you are enjoying your trip so far and enjoy Isla Grande and Paraty etc.
xx
Stratford in the Sun Piccys are A-MAZ-ING,. Interesting to see places that are made so romantic in song titles, the reality seems different.
Strikes a chord about the Favela and Stratford. After all some teachers of your aquaintance have spent their entire childhood and a few more years, within spitting distance of the Stratford Barrio or the " 2012 regeneration project" as I see they are now calling it. In contrast to Rio so much dosh is now being poured into Newham to scrub the place up and Newham does have areas of gentrification, like Forest Gate Village. Need I say more!!Enjoy the next stop on your voyage of discovery. xxxxxxxx
That's v.interesting about Rio and the rich, poor divide. The more of the world one sees the more unusual our mass of the middle class appears to be, good ol' Blighty...
Went for lunch today with Chris, Amanda and a spherical Holly, all miss you, wish you both well for now :)
Nay x x x
Oh it is you! Peter, so it is you! I thought it was Oliver, but there again he is only a little monkey. The best way to find out is to offer the monkey a pint of beer and an ice cream - if he takes the ice cream first it's O, if her takes both at the same time it's P.
You will notice the monkey is the same kind as those Grandad Baker used to talk about sitting on the roof of the tube - tails poking through the ceiling for you to hold onto.
I thought the local tipple might involve rum - sort of fits with the hammock and the limes. After a few of those drinks the room sways like a ship, hence the hammock.
So where are you off to next? (The monkeys will be watching over you.)
Dad
Monkeying around Seeing as Mum and Dad used to refer to Steve and I as a pair of Monkeys, I'm glad someone got in the joke at someone else's expense before mine.
Looks like a lovely time and the high steak diet sounds perfect to me. Steve, would love to see a photo of your per weight buffet (are you as much of a pig as we used to be), bet you can't beat the plates from malta!!!
Damn and blast! Rumbled again! I actually spent quite a few months out there training with the monkeys to make sure I was convincing (Yeah "Edinburgh" yeah). "So you just bash the fruit like this, against the tree right? No cutlery?" Either way, I would certainly rather be running around in treetops in Rio than in the library...Think Senhor Macaco (good Portuguese, right) has the right idea. Looks awesome.
Monkey business Have you got Pete dressing up again? We thought he looked familiar. The local tipple is much like a pilsner. Not bad if you like refreshing larger, which we know you don't. The other local tipple is a cocktail called caiprinha, a rum type liquor served over crushed limes, sugar and ice.
Like the pictures! Mum and I like the pictures, oh and the captions. I trust you've several more to show us in due course. Having never been to South America, we are prepared to be educated, although visions of TCR with coconuts and palm trees is taking a while to accommodate. The flash packing group eh... what did you expect?
Photographer's paradise Looks wonderful - a photographer's paradise! Was the monkey following you for food - just like the monkeys on Gibraltar, snatching what they can? In reality, you realise he was just our spy, a distant relative (notice the family resemblance) keeping you both safe - say hello to him for us! We have hired a whole troop of them so you will see them everywhere you go outside the towns - watch out for them!
What's harder, getting into a hammock or getting out? Answer - it depends how much you have had to drink! Probably it 's there to amuse locals - watching the tourists trying to get into it (and then out)! They take bets on how many times they fall on their faces. Sometimes they give you a free drink first - worth it for the entertainment. What is the local tipple by the way?
Dad
Perfect Grooming I had a feeling those second best straighteners you asked me to look out would make it to South America! " Virge will bring them home," Yeah....Right. xxxx
Oh if only! If only Tottenham Court Road was like that - I will never see it in the same light again! Then again Ipanema is the home of the bikini. Can't imagine the Big Issue sellers along T-C Rd in string bikinis with 'Brazilians'.
Never mind the wine - bet you can't get a decent pint of beer either and what about getting a cup of tea?
My friend in San Paulo led me to believe meals are mostly steaks and that the Brazilians have a high meat diet - sounds much better than that. In fact it sounds lovely.
Any dancing yet - it is the home of the Samba and Bosanova(?) ? How are you getting on with the language ? Do many of them speak English - which I suspect is the case? I used to have a number of contacts in Brazil and their English was good.
Any photos to share? Was "Christ the redeemer 'as impressive as it looks?
Dad
Flight meals What are you complaining about?
You escaped the on-board quiche!
Pleased to hear that you have arrived safely and hope you saw the sunset and also, by any chance, the legend that is the Girl from Ipanema? Did Steve say " AAA!" as she sambaed past?
Await next blog with baited breath!
Love to both. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Triple cheese and almond sandwiches?! I'm surprised such a combination hasn't made it to Scotland...I hope you're watching 'Free Willy' surely up there with 'Hook' on the classic kids film chart. It's so sad when they free the killer whale although in reality killer whales are pretty vicious. Did you know a killer whale has teh second largest brain of all mammals?? OK better get back to working now...Glad all is OK.X
SteveAndEllie
Steve and Ellie
Tango fever!
Hi Pete, nice to hear from you and not to worry... we´ve gone tango mad in Buenos Aires! Will save details for our next blog though!