Rio de Janeiro (pt 2)

So here we are in the barrio of Botafoga in Rio de Janeiro. Our hostel is just over the road from the beach, which is always nice, though when we last left you it was pouring of rain.

The rain hadnt ceased yesterday morning, so we got the metro over to the old historical centre of town, walked around in the rain and had a look in the National History Museum, which was pretty good, but suffered because it was being renovated and half the exhibits were closed.

Following this, more walking around, a trip to Bob´s Burgers and finally the Metro back to Botafoga. Too late to pick up our laundry (its still in the hands of the laundrette woman), we found a cinema and went to see FANTASTIC MR FOX (which was awesome) and followed it up by going to a late-closing book store and some late night milkshake at Bob´s Milkshakes.

This morning, Steve prodded me to wake up and declared that it wasn´t raining. At this point I didn´t care and went back to sleep, giving Steve time to eat his breakfast, have a chat with some Jehovah´s Witnesses and block up the toilet. He woke me again by throwing his unbelievably smelly towel onto my bed, forcing me to get up.

And so, in the sun for once, we walked over to our local beach, for the first time able to see the statue of Christ on the mountain behind us, then 15 minutes down the road until we reached the base of the Sugarloaf. Took the cable car up the big granite peak sticking out of the see, wandered around, saw lots of birds lizards and monkeys, and of course the brilliant panoramic views of Rio, including Copacabana...which is where we´re headed now.