Rio de Janeiro!

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Hi all,

Hope you enjoyed the photos from Argentina, apparently the website has stopped letting you know when we have updated the blog but we are still updating it - so keep checking!

Had a fantastic 6 days in Rio, stayed in a great hostel in Botafogo, five minutes from Copacabana and close to Santa Teresa and Lapa (our favourite place to go at night!)

We arrived in Rio on the first day of the Carnival so we jumped in head first and arrived right in the middle of all the madness! We were greeted by ´Bloco´s´(the street parties) going on everywhere every day but we managed to get tickets to the Sambadrome which is the epitomy of the carnival.

We were in section 6 which was the cheapest section and absolutely packed but the floats, dancers, costumes, music etc etc was still totally mesmerising. When we were trying to find our section we somehow ended up right at the end of the parade, backstage it seemed and we got caught up in the middle of all the floats - but seeing them up close was amazing - the sheer size of them and the attention to detail on them was just amazing.

We also managed to fit in a trip to the famous statue of Christ the Redeemer - we had a great view of it from near our hostel but up close it was even more impressive. We also took a couple of cable cars up to Sugar Loaf mountain to take in the impressive 360 view of Rio, not to mention hitting Copacabana and Ipanema beaches!

We had a great week and didn´t feel scared, nor did we run into any trouble at all - i suppose we were some of the lucky ones! Apart from the night at the Sambadrome most nights were taken up in Lapa - a huge street party with live music, we also celebrated Phil´s 22nd - a fantastic birthday not only in Rio but during the carnival as well! We also managed to squeeze in a football match at the Maracana...

All in all a fantastic week - one of the best! Enjoy the photos,

Love Phil and Kathy xxx

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