The Lapa Street Party went on until 9 am we are told and it was not suprising that James and I were pretty much the only ones up for breakfast in the morning! The last few days have been crammed with activity and even though we are on holiday relaxing, it really is sensory overload!

On Saturday we decide to explore Copacabana and its environs on foot . We have heard that if you get yourself out to Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas (a salt water lake) you are able to hire bikes and cycle round the lagoon. James takes one look at a map (I swear he has a built in compass (very handy!)) and off we go. 50 minutes or so later having wandered round the back streets of Copacabana we descend upon the lake. It is enormous and has a perimeter of 7.5km. Good job we would be hiring bikes I thought....

We start the walk round the lake sharing the towpath with walkers, joggers, cyclists and their dogs. Anything goes in Rio, there are even old men pounding the lakeside in Speedos, I joke not. 2 hours laters, we have walked the perimeter of the lake, taking in helicopter landing pads, private members clubs, childrens playgrounds, locals playing football but still no cycle hiring places. Do not believe everything you read in the guide book! But it was a lovely walk and was a great way to explore the area.

We walk back to the hostel a different way, along the beach itself . James had run along the beach the night before but I still had not seen Copacabana in all its glory. The beach in the sunshine is something else and we both start singing Barry Manilows at the Copa - Copacabana!

At 3pm we are picked up at the hostel and are taken to the Maracano? stadium to watch a local derby - Flamengo versus Portuguesa. I have never seen anything like it and should probably be getting James to write this section of the blog to do the emotions justice but it was just wild. The fans were chanting throughout the entire match, flags were being waved, there was never any let up. The opposition were booed at every opportunity and fans even booed their own players. It was savage! When the home side scored, flares were lit up and you could feel the roof come off the stadium. A fight broke out and a player from each side was sent off. Final score 2 - 2.

Back to the hostel and there was an all you can eat BBQ. The food was delicious and it was a great opportunity to meet fellow travellers and hang out .

On Sunday, we decide that it is time for some iconic images of Rio. The sun is shining - and it makes an enormous difference. We get some directions and its off to Corcovado to see Christo Rendentor or Christ the Redeemer. We take a local bus and either some very poorly given directions or poorly understood ones see us getting off the bus half an hour before the actual bus stop! Its not hard though, all the time we are walking towards this figure on the hillside - we soon find out where we need to be. We catch a funicular to the top, and there he was. It was marvelous! You approach the statue from behind but rather than looking straight at him immediately I purposefully walked to the other side so that I could look at him for the first time from the front. I look up and nearly topple over, for a split second I lost my breath. I always knew it was going to be spectacular but being there is truly something else. I cannot think where I have been in recent times that had the same effect . I think seeing the Pantheon in Rome 8 years ago was the last time I felt like this. I am so excited, I ring Dad from the top of the mountain and let him know where we are.

After an hour and a half trying to take it all in, its the funicular ride back down the mountain and two buses back to the hostel. James is desperate to find a sports bar (suprise suprise) and we are just in time to watch the Brazillian Grand Prix. We see Massa win the race and Lewis win the championship (just), there was a lot of confusion in the last lap - Brazillian TV had panned away from Lewis doing his final lap (focusing on the Ferrari garage of Massa) so we thought Lewis came 6th and lost the world championship. It was not until the rankings were displayed on the screen that we realised he had come in 5th and we cheered like crazy. Of course the rest of the bar were cheering Massa and we got a few looks and made a swift exit.

In the evening we went down to Ipanema (I feel another song coming on) to meet some friends. We had bumped into them in the shuttle bus queue to the plane at T5 when we left Heathrow. Only old geography coursemates from Leeds Uni! Small world. We had a lovely dinner together in a local restaurant and they carry onto a Favela Party and James and I return to the Mellow Yellow for a few more drinks with newly made friends.