Rio

We finally arrived yesterday at 7pm after a long 10 hour flight from Madrid. Have to say though, the flight wasn't so bad, even though the video machine wasn't working so there were no movies, oh yeah and my sleeping pills didn't work! But, mum, you'd have been proud of me. It was pretty bumpy but after a while I just forgot about it. Even got a few hours kip!

So on our first day, we decided to take it easy. We were so tired last night we ended up heading to be around 10. Got up at 6 this morning and headed out. The hotel is grand, the room is a bit small, but the rooftop swimming pool and bar make up for it! So we strolled along the Copacabana this morning, and headed into the centre. First impressions are, it's a lovely city, clean and friendly, though the cab driver from the airport excused himself for speeding but the area was very dangerous and didn't want us to get hurt! I'm sure there are bad parts to the city but we haven't yet seent them, and hopefully we won't run into any trouble.

After heading into the centre, we decided to do some of the touristy things, ie the cable car up to the Sugarloaf mountain - which was amazing. Scary at the same time, but the panaramic views are breathtaking. You can wander around on top for ages and never get tired of the view. We then headed over to the Chirst statue at Corcovado. Touts were trying to get us to forgo the train and go with them in their taxis but we decided to get the train anyway. All I can say is, Wow! It was a thrilling and steep uphill climb through rainforest, and the views topped even the sugarloaf. Coming down was just that little bit more thrilling as you glance over the edge of the carriage into a enormous drop.

That's about it for the moment. We've just located a shopping mall and I need to buy some clothes cos I hardly brought any with me! Hasta luego!