I will explain more about the title later but thought it was time for me to take control of the journal and add a male point of view, especially as it was becoming, as Sam said, "....snapped from a travel mag..".
Oh, and the Mighty Dragons!!!!!!
After a long night of travelling we arrived in Sao Paulo at 6am ready to start our 6 hours bus journey to Rio. We hoped to use this journey to make up for the lost sleep~, as the buses are 'luxurious' and have reclining seats that are more comfortable than they are on planes. But no such luck. About an hour and half into our journey we were woken by lots of talking, which could have been in any language, and we realised that we were not moving. Having found my glasses, I managed to focus on what looked like a gun..... A slight panic quickly faded as I located the word "Policia" written on the mans uniform. It appeared that they were searching everyone's bags for drugs. During the search of my bag the officer was amused to see my glasses case with "Police" written on it. I think that saved us from the check of our main luggage and trying to explain the packages that Sarah supplied of emergency drugs!! Looking back I think that this was a sign of what we should expect on our Rio adventure.
Have I mentioned the Rugby yet? I believe half-time England 16 Wales 6. Lots of smug English supporters.
Anyway we reached Rio safely and found our hotel, that I was praying was going to be nice as I had booked it over the internet and Sue had expectations. Fortunately I pulled it off as its clean, comfortable and up to Sue´s standards, phew!! Anyway having settled into the hotel it was time to explore and most importantly to find a laundry to do our washing as we had no clean clothes left after the very hot Galapagos trip. Mission accomplished, ready for collection next day after 12 or so we thought, I hate Portuguese it is impossible to understand. When we arrived the next day to collect our clothes all we saw were steel shutters!! This became the story for the next few days as every time we went back, with fingers crossed, more steel shutters!! In fact the laundry was closed for 4 days so we had no clothes for the whole of our time in Rio. We are now staying an extra night just to collect our clothes!
The Mighty Reds on the comeback Byrne try; England 19 Wales 19. Where are the Smug Supporters now?
The beaches here are amazing they go on and on and on. As part of our fitness pact we have walk them both. Ipenema beach is more beautiful than Copacabana and has a friendly and relaxed atmosphere. The beaches are full of tanned bodies of all shapes and sizes even the OAP´s are walking around in bikinis and speedos!! Everywhere you look people are playing games; beach volleyball, football or just "keep-me-ups". Beach Volleyball is an interesting game and we managed to find ourselves with the locals in the stadium watching a national final, unfortunately for me it was the male final!!!
Carnival time!!!! We were both really excited, despite not having our planned carnival outfits at the ready. Sue resorted to butchering a free T-Shirt from the volleyball final into a skirt but decided lime green was not her colour. We decided to travel on the Metro which was fun seeing the performers carrying their costumes and the anticipation in their eyes.
Upon arrival to the stadium we were confronted by the usual handouts with a couple of odd ones. As I pushed may way through the crowd a man shoved something into my hand as I looked down I saw 2 condoms, he obviously thought I was going to have a good night! Although looking at the outfits the guys were wearing, and what we had seen in Rio, I didn´t want to be too lucky!! My amusement soon turned to laughter after we realised what Sue had been given. She was given a couple of She-Wees!!! For those of you unfamiliar with these they are female urinating devices, one of which Sarah had so thoughtfully given Sue before we left, and provided much amusement over Christmas! Hilarious!!
Having negotiated our way into the the 'Sambadrome' what we saw was not what was expected. The section was packed full with locals sat on wet concrete slabs waiting for the action to start. There were no signs of seats for our soft English bums! We finally found a spot on the end of a row and waited for it to start. After the national anthem, I think, a few fire works, a parade started and lasted about 10 minutes. A good parade we thought.....After a further 10 minutes and more fireworks proceeded a mass of colour, music and amazing dancing which lasted for about an hour. The costumes were fantastic and the floats were even better. During our photo taking I noticed that one dancers had lost her top or so I thought as on closer inspection, zoom lens, showed that she had only remembered her head-dress. She was obviously showing off her brazilian wax to the tourists!! The processions continued and they got better and better as each Samba school went passed. Words can´t do this justice so I hope that our photos will.
I almost forgot Phillips try; England 19 Wales 24.....
Anyway today is out last day in Rio and we are heading to an island called 'Ilhe Grande' which sounds fantastic...
Enjoy the photos and we will report in again in a few days.
Try converted by Hook England 19 Wales 26!!!!!!!!
