Dancing on the sand

It has famous beaches, Sugarloaf mountain and an iconic statue of Christ. Beneath his outstretched arms, city people go about daily lives in offices, shops, restaurants, by the seaside and in the turbulent favellas.

In short, it is one of the most famous cities in the world. So it would have been a good idea to book ourselves into a hostel months and months in advance of the New Year celebrations, when national and international visitors descend on the city. We hadn't reserved and didn't like the look of the triple-inflated hostel prices, so we were forced to blow the budget on another nice hotel (shame!) with a rooftop pool.

The heat and sun of Brazil were very welcome after a chilly few days in New York. My cold soon disappeared as we lazed by the pool, shopped for Havaianas flip-flops and tickled our fancies at the buffet-style restaurants where, among many, many other choices, you could combine mashed potato with fish stews, sushi and salad.

We spent an afternoon walking the famous Copacabana and Ipanema beaches, which were filled with families, sun-worshippers and groups of lads performing competitive keepy-ups with a football. At Copacabana we stopped for a beer in a shady restaurant, and at Ipanema, Duncan picked up a couple of servings of refreshing icy acai (made from the super-berries) from a street-seller's cart.

On New Years Eve we toyed with the idea of going to Copacabana for the firework display. But after a nice walk on the local Flamingo beach and a really nice dinner with pudding at our favourite buffet restaurant, our enthusiasm for fighting for space on the metro then facing an uncertain trip home after midnight had waned. So we retired after dinner to our rather nice hotel room for some sketchy fizzy wine (which was quickly ditched in favour of some good beers), drunk while watching the Copacabana fireworks on the telly. It wasn't the wild night most people go to Rio for on New Year's Eve but at the time, it was exactly what we felt like doing!

Another day in Rio was spent in the city, following a walking tour from our guidebook. It took us past famous landmarks like the opera house, an unusual rubix-cube building and a hilltop church with impressive gold alter. We walked in a famous park, had a beer in a famous bar and then queued for a seat in the Colombo coffee house, whose interior is so impressive that most of the diners take a few snaps of themselves and the double-height ceilings before tucking into drinks and cakes. We had one of the most delicious hot chocolates I have ever tasted, together with something delicious involving cheese and spinach for me and chocolate pudding for sweet-toothed Duncan.

The day had been hot and dry for our tour and we were tired but not totally exhausted. So we decided to walk for the thirty or so minutes it would take to get back to the hotel, rather than get the metro. It was a BIG mistake. We had got about ten or fifteen minutes away from the tube when the heavens opened and rain hammered down, flooding the streets in minutes. Cruising taxis were snapped up, and we ended up desperately flagging down buses before we found one going close to the area of the city we were staying. From the bus we had to walk in knee-deep water dodging stranded cars to the hostel. We were soaked but it was quite an adventure!

Our first attempt to take the little train up to the Christ the Redeemer statue was aborted as we realised that the cloud cover was too great to make the most of the views. It stayed cloudy and a little rainy for a few days before the bright sun returned. First day that it did, we went back, but so did the rest of the tourists in Rio and we had to queue for a long time to get a ticket, then wait a couple of hours for our slot on the train. The wait was quite nice as we found some soft drinks (I really got into Guarana, which is super-popular in Brazil), and enjoyed the sun.

Our turn on the train finally came, and we trundled up the hill and joined the crowds jostling to take pictures of Sugarloaf Mountain and the beaches from the spectacular viewpoint. Another popular shot was arms stretched below the statue, which of course we had to do! Duncan spotted the Maracana football stadium (more on that later!) and in the café, we found some local wildlife scurrying about doing a spot of people-watching and skin shedding...

For his birthday, Duncan decided he would like to take a tour of the Maracana stadium which he had spotted from on high. Unfortunately, the footie season hadn't yet started so he couldn't see a game, but for a smallish entrance fee it was possible to walk around the stands, put your feet in the concrete where sporting heroes like Pele had put theirs, walk the tunnels, sit in the dressing rooms and stand on a small patch of the pitch. Dunc was in footie heaven! We ended the tour with beers at the 'Maraca-Bar,' then went for a birthday meal involving cake and a double-heaped plate of buffet food...