(Becca) Hello All. Here we are again with the latest update from this amazing city. Carnival was fabulous and is very much recommended to anyone who loves a party. The evening at the Sambadrome was amazing and yes we did manage to stay up all night. In fact we arrived back at the hotel for breakfast and went to bed at 7-25am! The parades are just some of the most spectacular things you can imagine with thousands of people participating in each Samba school. They each have about 1.5 hours to parade along the Sambadrome complete with amazing costumes and floats and then the whole thing is judged along the way. There are 12 schools in total,  6 on each night and they get better and better. Everyone is dancing all night and the whole atmosphere is so friendly and happy.

We have also managed to catch some of Rio´s famous sights whilst we have been here. The statue of Christ the Redeemer and the famous Sugar Loaf mountain. Lots of people watching along the many beaches and we have walked miles, taken a boat cruise at sunset, ridden the tram to Santa Teresa and strolled around the Botanical Gardens.

We also managed to watch a football match at the Maracana stadium which was pretty cool. The area we are staying is called Flamengo so we were cheering for that team, they were playing the lesser known team Resende who went on to win 3-1. A bit of a shock for the supporters.

For the last night of Carnival we went to the famous Gay Ball which has to have been one of the best people watching experiences of my whole life. The placed was filled with people of indeterminate sex with some of the most beautiful costumes you have ever seen. There was a plethora of fake boobs and so much Botox in bottoms! Men in tiny shorts dancing in podiums and generally a lot of amazing music and Samba. I have never seen so many men in the ladies toilets!

Byron looked fab in his undecided costume. Boy from the waist down and girl from the waist up! It was fun trying to fasten one of my bras round him (it only reached his sides!) so I had to tie him in with string. The green tinsel wig looked cool too. I, on the other hand, made use of my Easter island flowers again and a lovely headband made of pipe cleaners (very Blue Peter!)

So we are leaving today to fly to Madrid for a few days before returning to the real world at the end of the week. Looking forward to getting back but very sad it will all be over.

TTFN

Becca xx

PS. Photos to follow when we get home. Sorry!