Having been away from our beloved Rio, we made a good start on the day. The girls (minus one Jessica Bredbury), Rodrigo and I waited for a bus in the blistering heat, once it finally arrived I think we traversed the majority of the city until we reached the buses terminus - the foot of a hilly area called Corcovado. From here, we began haggling with minibus drivers to take us up the hill to our destination - "O Cristo Redentor" (Big JC to you and me!). R$40 lighter we ascended the mountain with a bunch of Brazillian chavs where we alighted high up above the city offering phenomenal views and insight into how bizarre the city's geography truly is! Having climbed the remained of the way to the foot of the statue, I was surprisingly underwhelmed...it wasn't nearly as big as camera angles had lead me to believe! Nevertheless, I believe it is one of those things that you have to check off, like the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben.



Descending the hill proved far more arduous than we would have thought. Having made our way partially down the hill, we found ourselves stranded on a jungle covered part of the mountain being eaten alive by everything with more than four legs! Finally homeward bound, we took the metro back to Ipanema where we watched the Mexico game and the day slipped into night.

The following morning was yet another early start, with the girls desperate to maximise their tans, we slot an early beach session in before England vs Algeria. With some rays caught, we made our way to the Fifa Fan Fest for a disappointing display from England. As day once again slipped into night, we all began to slip into comas! Whilst the discussion of a second venture into 'Lapa', reality dictated otherwise and we just stayed at the hostel. The highlight of the night was befriending our new room-mates; Alan, Mike and Eddy who did head to Lapa. Once there, Mike was mugged in a port-a-loo by a child and having returned from their night out, he fell from a top bunk, slept walked upstairs and spent the night there in an empty bed...he's a strange boy!


Day three after our return to Rio was Ruth's birthday which was spent on the beach. I was disgustingly hyper and ran, swam and pestered everyone all day long! Having bounced around the beach I was buried and turned into a hideous mermaid/octopus creation. The "Room-Mates" purchased a bat shaped kite (those beach vendors will flog anything!) which they ended up almost decapitating several old people with before Mike actually managed  to get the hang of it!

With a very long day on the beach behind us, I slipped into my pink shirt on Ruth's request and I slipped a Capirinha or two down my neck! In celebration of time marching on and Ruth's birthday, Ruth's daddy treated a whole host of us to dinner in 'Carretao', an all you can eat buffet (I know it sounds cheap but my oh my it wasn't!). The Brazillian's seem to regard buffets in the highest esteem. The buffet. was. AMAZING! I loaded my plate and returned to the table, the piece de resistance is the waiters, they are each charged with carrying a certain meaty good on a stick which they deliver to your plate upon your request. I think we all left a good few pounds heavier, it was a lovely evening. The debauchery came next-door in an Irish bar - "Shenanigans", we had a sing-song with the live band, drank many beers and danced until they started clearing up around us! Bed was welcomed with open arms...


The following day, with our hangovers tamed to the best of our abilities, we made our way to Copacabana to the Fifa Fan Fest to take in the Brazil vs Cote d'Ivoire match. The complex was frenetic, there were people everywhere - unlike the England game! As the temperature soared and our tolerance for the heat rapidly declined, we fled to the sea, between this point and our decision to return to the complex, someone stole Alice's shorts! Nothing else, just shorts! By the time the match actually kicked off following some kind of 'pre-construction' using "Pro Evo" on the big screen, the atmosphere was electric and with each Brazilian goal the entire crowd erupted, showering us with beer! Following the match we took a rather hair raising mini-bus back to our hostel with some terrifying locals who wanted to take us to the Favella! Safely home, we hit the hay!

The next day introduced yet more staff incompetency in Che Legarto and again we had to relocate from Ipanema to Copacabana. That morning, the girls, Alan, Mike, Eddy, Jack&Paul and myself hauled our stuff across town to our final resting place in Rio. The day passed us by with little to report, the evening began in a restaurant over the road where 'Per Kilo Purchasing' reigned supreme! Back to the hostel we took over the bar, after a long while we head out on Vinnie the barman's recommendation to a bar we had already been to, although there was much debate over whether we had or not! We danced and drank and the night came to an end which was depressing considering it was the end of my journey with Liat...