Rio!!!!!!!!!

Happy New Year!!

Hope you all had a good one! New year in Rio was excellent! We arrived here on 27th after the worst flight (Linzi and I thought we were going to die, the turbulence was so bad!) but it was all worth it when we arrived. We met Jeff at the airport and headed to our apartment which turned out to be lovely. The last week has flown by, lots of catching up, drinking and a bit of sight seeing crammed in. We went to the Maracana (football stadium in Brazil) and did the tour, went to see the huge Jesus statue (Louise thought it was God!), ate loads of steak and drank plenty of vodka.

For new year we went to the huge beach party with about 2 million other people. It was amazing, dancing around a packed beach with samba music and drinking with the locals. Linzi spent the night learning to salsa while Vicky got sandwiched between 2 men in tight trunks for half the night (the only clothes the Brazilian men seem to wear - the tighter the better!!) The night ended up in a local bar for more celebrations then spent new years day recovering in bed. Managed to leave the apt once to get a burger from Big Bobs, not quite the same as the old steak pie at home!!

Yesterday, Jeff and I got the bus to Angra dos reis then got the boat today to Isla Grande which is a gorgeous island. We´re staying in a really nice hostel on the beach which seems a great place so far. The girls got a flight to the Igazu falls from Rio today so we´ll hopefully catch up with them before we go. Until then though its relaxation, lying in hammocks, drinking beer, kayaking and boat trips - its a hard life getting back into the travelling mode!! I´ll give it a good try!!

Love Karen xx