New Year´s Eve in Rio

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So my last blog ended with me having a few stomach problems and hoping I wouldn´t be the next one needing the doctor! After feeling rough for two days and frequent trips to the loo, we didn´t call a doctor but went to the chemist and managed to get the anti-biotics that Miles was prescibed for his diarrea. Three tablets to be taken one a day.

We had a six hour bus journey to Rio de Janeiro the following day, so to be sure of no incidents on the bus I chose to not eat until we were in Rio. Thankfully the tablets seemed to have worked and at the moment I feel OK.

Our hostel in Rio was OK, we thought we had a two bedroom apartment, but we had one bedroom with twin beds and bunk beds in the kitchen / lounge area. As I was poorly I was allowed the bed next to the bathroom, and the boys chose to have the bunk beds. After the first night though it was so hot, the boys brought their mattresses into the bedroom (where the only air-conditioning unit was) and put them on the floor.

During the day we walked along Copacabana and Ipanema beaches and got some white outfits for New Year´s Eve (just a t-shirt for me). In the evening all of the restaurants were busy and expensive so we just had burgers and pizza from a fast food place then found a bar to start the celebrations off. Before midnight we went onto the beach along with thousands of others, mainly family groups and other tourists. Another tradition is to throw flowers into the sea (not quite sure why) but it was quite moving.

At midnight we saw the most amazing firework display we have ever seen. It went on for ages and was truly spectacular. After the fireworks had ended we slowly walked and danced our way back towards the hostel along the beach walkway. We had taken some drink with us but there were loads of people selling beer etc. We talked to a few people (mainly using sign language as Portuguese is a very hard language to understand). Everybody was dancing and enjoying themselves in big family groups - nobody was drunk, or aggressive - it was a fantastic atmosphere. We eventually made it back to the hostel and collapsed into bed just before 4am.

After a late start on New Year´s Day we went to Christ the Redeemer statue, which looms over Rio and was one of the highlights of the trip so far. The views of Rio were stunning as was the statue itself. A great day was finished by sipping chilled white wine in the early evening sunshine sitting overlooking the beach.

The following day we went to the centre of Rio and booked flights to Iguaçu to see the Falls. We also went on the ferry across the bay to Niteroi for great views back to the beaches and Sugar Loaf mountain. We decided not to go up Sugar Loaf mountain as it cost too much and we weren´t sure that the views would be any better than what we had already seen.

So that is the end of our short stay in Rio. It has been great - certainly one of the best cities we have been to, despite the language barrier (will be glad to get back to a Spanish speaking country).

Tomorrow we are off to Iguaçu for a three night stay before we head to the beach (undecided which one at the moment) for a few days before we head to Chile on the 11th.

Will update the photo´s as soon as we can.

Love to you all

Tina

p.s. Congratulations to Georgina and Jeff who got engaged on Christmas Eve.

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