Flying down to Rio !

Maybe some of you spent a long Sunday afternoon in the sixties watching this 1930s Fred Astaire musical with girls standing on plane wings, and dancing the carioca ?!

Cariocas of course are the in habitants of Rio, and their music is the samba ! We drove past the km long Sambadrome lined with high concrete stands. An incredible business.

The thirties was a heyday, but so was the turn of the century as the country gained its independence and celebrated with the building of colourful ornate and sometimes grand houses spreading into leafy neighbourhoods like the one where we are staying, just under the Corcovado Christ. Friends of friends have opened their doors while they're away, we’re so lucky !

Rio seems to be an efficient city, with frequent  buses hurtling in all directions and a modern metro system which we mastered quickly. We walk miles too, best way to mingle.

Communication is a problem, but we're picking up bits and pieces – by the time we reach Colombia we’ll be totally lusitanophone !