Falling in love with Rio

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Well whats to say about Rio that probably has never been said. It certainly lives up to the hype and as cities go, well in Michelles words "this is my favourite city ever" and that goes well considering Cape Town, Sydney, Perth, London are a few of which where we have spent good times.

It really is a stunning city set in a beautiful landscape of mountains and rocks, two of which famous around the world, Sugar Loaf and Corcovada, where Christ the Redeemer stands tall.

We had two stays here with four days before we headed up to Itacare and then finally our very last three days of our trip after Itacare, and what a place to end it on.

The urge to see and do was firmly in our minds on our first stay, which meant Sugar Loaf and Christ the Redeemer were our must do and see, but of course we couldn't come to Rio without doing the other must sees of Copacabana and Ipanema Beaches. We picked Botafogo as our base and decided on Albergue Vila Carioca Hostel which was in a great location close to the Metro. We new Rio was going to be expensive so we had to go cheap and so it was the 15 bed mixed dorm for us, a little cramped but comfy none the less, and the included breakfast was one of the best we have had. Mixed with good kitchen facilities and proper supermarkets nearby meant we ate and lived well enough.

So as said we were ready to see and do Rio so first stop was Copacabana and Ipanema which we walked to first. The beaches are amazing, long strips of Golden Sand with there individual black and white ceramic style wide walkways. Its a fitness lovers dream with cycle paths and walkway being used by skaters, cyclists and joggers alike, added to this are the numerous fitness stations dotted along the beach. So that was it, it was a great chance for us to work off the big breakfast everyday with a 4km run up either beach and a little workout, before a dip in the ocean to call off before chilling on the beach.

We had been advised that Sugar Loaf was best seen at sunset so that was for us, we took the cable car up just as the sun was coming down and were blessed with amazing colours and skyline views. It was great to see the whole place in the setting sun then lit up at night.

Christ the Redeemer was next up and we opted for the train to the top, which considering the number of visitors this place has it was not to long a queue and even at the top you could find your own space to have that picture perfect postcard shot. It has to be said that it is an amazing statue gazing down over Rio and the panoramic view of the entire city was worth the trip up alone.

On our return to Rio we were pleased we had seen and done all the main sights as we were still chilled from Itacare so the beach was our home for those last few days. We booked back into the same Hostel, we new where we were then. Those few days were the perfect time to ready ourselves for our journey home. The weather could not have been better sunshine and 26 degrees everyday, hows that for winter.



So with our tans topped up it was time to say goodbye to our South and Central America Travels. The past 6 months have been the most amazing time of our lives, we have tried to put together a list of our highlights but each time we think back something new comes back to mind. We have met some great people along the way and seen places we had dreamt of and were not disappointed by any of them. Looking back it seems such a long time since we arrived in Buenos Aires but yet the time seems to have passed so quickly, our only regret is that we couldn't see more.



So what was the best bit of our trip, well thats easy, getting to spend the last 6 months with each other every day and having memories we will share forever.

We hope you have all enjoyed our journey its not long till the next one!

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