h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

.. that's what happens for going out for breakfast at 3.00am in the morning. Still, Eggs Benedict and passion fruit juice are rather hard to resist after a good party. *pats tummy* Oh-Oh, tummy not looking flat at all, and only TWO days to go till I fly to Rio.
Aaaaaggggghhhhhh!

Hi, Gogo,
I see you're back? Apart from the rain, how was Rio?
Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you!

How was Rio?

Well... I loved it! Admittedly I didn't see much of it beyond Ipanema, Leblon and Copacabana, and what I could see of the favelas on the drive through from the airport.

And sadly, when I went up to the Corcovado, the famous view was totally obscured by clouds and/or fog!. Visibility was nil, I couldn't even see the Christo, though I pressed my nose against it.

Naturally, when I arrived in Rio it was totally cloudy, and then it rained! Not that it was the end of the world...as I spent the next three days shopping. No one had prepared me for how marvellous the shops were...and the SHOES! I was in total heaven...have never bought so many mouth-watering shoes or bikinis in such a short space of time. (typical female, I know...)

On the fourth day, the sun ventured forth, but we ventured to Buzios for a 10 day stay. What a wonderful and intoxicating place that was! Loved it. Unfortunately we had torrential rain for the last two days,(Christmas Eve and Day)...I could not believe the floods, and the buggy I had hired kept breaking down.

Then we went back to Rio for two more days before returning to Blighty!

But what a wonderful place Rio is. I could happily live there. How very lucky you are to do so. And what about that street in Ipanema that has red carpet running down the length of it's pavements. What is that about? And what about the steaks...I can't believe how delicious and cheap they are.

What surprised me most was how unthreatened and safe I felt, even when walking around by myself. I had heard so many negative stories about the dangers encountered in Rio, which totally passed me by. Perhaps that was because we didn't really venture beyond Ipanema?

What part of Rio are you in? And how was your Christmas?

GGG

BTW...how do you find swimming in the ocean there? I ventured onto Ipanema Beach once (the one time the sun came out), but was put off by the swarms of jellyfish...never have I seen so many jellyfish! There were a few off Buzios and Cabo Frio, but not as many as I saw in Ipanema.