Monday 6th September - Rio De Janeiro
We both slept quite well despite the rocky roads and middle of the night stop in Sao Paolo - no breakfast so we finished the biscuits . At the bus station we found a nice hotel we liked the sound of from the tourist information. We jumped in a taxi there past the very busy Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. The weather here is still warm but much more fresh which we like a lot. We walked down the Ipanema beach (not as famous as the other one but nicer) past the bronzed bodies, poseurs and bad fashion excuses for bathing suits. Despite what you might hear about beach bums in Brazil, we couldn´t help noticing the local girls wore ill-fitting bikini tops. We had some local Brazilian fare for lunch and walked further down the beach to the Copacabana - all along the front are residential apartments surrounded by high security fences - not what you see on the postcards! We stopped at a bar that only served alcohol so antibiotic-taking Sue went without. We also booked ourselves a city bus tour for Wednesday which takes in the big Jesus statue and Sugar Loaf mountain.

Tuesday 7th September - Rio De Janerio
3 years ago today we got married in Wiltshire - today is also a national holiday in Brazil because of their Índependence Day´ . We celebrated by having a lazy morning and a bottle of celebratory champagne. The locals celebrated their cause by packing Copacabana and Ipanema beaches. We had a good long natter with Sue´s parents for an hour and a half - they can phone us for absolute peanuts which is great. We went shopping for a pair of sandals for Sue and then it was time for our ´Brazilian night´. A hotel pickup brought us to a buffet restaurant where we ate heartily before being brought to the samba night palace. The evening was a slick, colourful, rhythmic event with plenty of extragavent costumes, fit bodies (on the stage, not in the audience!) and tropical music. We both thoroughly enjoyed the evening and would say it´s an essential experience for anyone who visits Brazil - it was a fine way to cap our wedding anniversary!

Wednesday 8th September
Though the pain in Sue's ear is disappearing she now has a blocked ear which is causing her discomfort - so first thing this morning we jumped in a taxi up to Copacabana to see a kindly English speaking doctor . He diagnosed more pills and ear drops for Sue - so now once again every 6 hours Sue has to tip her head to the side whilst her ear tries to absorb the drops - at least he told Sue she could drink alcohol with no problems with the antibiotics. We had a long walk to the tourist information office to get some more information on Ilha Grande - the tropical island we hope to go to for a few days. Whilst not overflowing with information in the office the lady we spoke to was helpful. So back we headed down the beach to a travel agent where we bought our bus tickets for Saturday to Agras Del Rios. We found a great Mexican restaurant tonight to eat in. In Brazil/Rio the police have these little huts/stations which all look remarkably like the 'tardus' from the Doctor Who BBC TV programmes!

Thursday 9th September
Our 'Day in Rio' bus trip began at 8am with a hotel pick-up. Our first stop was the pyramid-like Rio Cathedral with it's huge stained glass windows. We whizzed past some nice period buildings in the centre of town but didn't stop for photos . Next up was 'Sugar Loaf' mountain - on the cable car on the way up Derek overheard some nuns talking about miracles (I saw his eyes! one said). The view from the top was brilliant and made us realise why Rio is rated as one of the most picturesque cities on earth - the mountains, the skyscrapers, the beaches and the sea. We had lunch in the same restaurant as 'samba night' on Tuesday - we met 4 people from Salt Lake City (all mormons) whilst eating. Back on the bus and this time it was a 2 hour ride to Corcovado (aka the Jesus Statue). We stopped briefly outside the Maracana football stadium for photos in a very dull and uninspiring setting and even more curiously we stopped at the road where the Rio festival has it's parade so that some weirdos could take pictures of the viewing platform!! By the time we got to the 'Jesus Statue' we were well and truly 'bussed out' - at the top of the statue we did manage to squeeze between the throngs to get another photo - once again the views for miles around were magnificent to say the least

Friday 10th September
Another morning at the doctors as Sue went back to the Polish come Brazilian man to see what progress her ear had been making - quite good progress as it turned out though she was still presribed more anti-infection pills and ear drops. We went shopping for the prescription as well as for something to keep the water out of her ear. It was time for lunch and we stumbled accross a really great modern design restaurant with great salads and friendly staff. We walked along the Ipanema beach enjoying the cooling breeze and soft sands - we bumped into into the Salt Lake people again whilst there. We could't resist going back to the same Mexican we were in a couple of nights ago to retaste the excellent nachos and chicken fajitas. Trying to pay the bill early was a waste of time at the hotel. They insisted to Derek 'you might have drink from the bar or make a call' - he gave up after 20 seconds.