RIO DE JANEIRO, mARCH 2007

We were here on a 5 day trip as Mary had to carry out a station audit. Which meant her going to work and me having to slum it round the pool at the JW Marriott hotel on Copacobana Beach! Life's tough sometimes...!

We arrived on the Saturday morning, March 17th, after a long 14 hour flight which included an hour's stopover in Sao Paulo. Luckily we got Club (business) class so managed a few hours sleep during the night! Spent the rest of Saturday just relaxing, and also booked an organised tour for the following day, Mary's only full free day of the trip. We set out at 8.30am on Sunday morning for our tour, which took us to Corcovado, to see the statue of Christ the Redeemer, Sugarloaf mountain, and a city tour. We also had lunch in a nice restaurant near Ipanema beach. We were out for over 10 hours so we were pretty knackered by the end of the day but it was well worth it. When you get up to the base of the statue of Christ, you really do say WOW! It's an awesome sight close up and worth climbing the 220 odd steps up to it. Although after we'd huffed and puffed our way to the top, we saw an escalator we could have used! Our knees still haven't recover from the climb. I should've listened when my Mum and Dad said playing all that sport wasn't good for me!! Anyway, pictures are below......happy viewing.