November 18th - Rambling from Rio

After a lush stay in the transfer hotel, including supper, breakfast, hot showers, wifi, clean crisp sheets... We left for the airport. We arrived in loads of time, but passport control/security took so long we actually only caught the plane by about 5 minutes.. This was really really stressful. I've always wondered how people manage to miss flights but after nearly missing two in two days I've got a lot more sympathy. I spent most of the 9 hour flight watching films and The Middle (jealous keeches?) and before we knew it we were in Rio. The immediate transition into the land of ORGANISATION was startling. So clean!! So many shops!! So little sand!!! There was a stand for taxis!!!! We got a taxi to a hostel. The drive was incredible, with a lit up Christ The Redeemer in the background, and the lights of Rio. We got to the hostel, put our bikes together to the amazement of the other guests who were all downing the mojitos and fell into bed.

November 17th - Christ through a cloud. 
We woke up and decided to visit Christ The Redeemer ASAP. I've been excited ever since me and my  fab cousins made a v realistic scale model out of sand. We had a lovely walk along the sunny beach with our feet in the sea, and then got the van to the top of the mountain. On the way up we had a tantalising view of the statue and the city below but when we got to the top we were in a cloud. Complete nightmare. I could barely see Mum let alone the statue. We waited for a while becoming increasingly despondent, and then to further our woes an annoying German man talked at us for a while. This sealed the deal and we left. It took a while to get back to the hostel, and then we had to pick up my bike which had been serviced. By this point it was getting dark so we went out to look for something to eat. The beach area of Rio is very touristy and most of the restuarants were overpriced Italian - so we bought a picnic, listened to the Archers and had an early night.

November 18th - Rainy Rio
We decided to stay an extra day in Rio because of the disappointing trip to CTR, and the stress of the travelling of the past few days. We woke up and had a swim before breakfast. Swimming in the sea is something we do as much as we can on this trip, and I always love it. It's not just the act of swimming in the sea, but the fact that the sea is same wherever you are: St Mawes, France, Barry Island, Sahara, Senegal, Rio... The feeling is so familiar it's comforting in a new place. We made the most of the breakfast buffet in the hostel (cake included) and then set off to cycle around the lake that was used in the olympic rowing. Within minutes the weather seriously deteriorated and we were hit by awful wind and rain and were soaked in seconds. We turned around and retreated to the safety of the hostel. After lunch I went to the Laundry to do washing in a machine!! I never thought that at the age of 21 I'd be this excited about washing... Not speaking Portuguese made this negotiations tricky but we worked it out. After washing we cycled around the lake. These views were breathtaking. Mountains appearing from nowhere with buildings at the bottom. CTR standing high above the lagoon. We stopped off to visit the botanic gardens which were beautiful, very green and lush with all sorts of exotic plants and a non-stinging bee colony. We even saw a hummingbird at touching distance.

Tomorrow we're heading South along the coast, following part of the olympic road race route to start with. We're hoping for no more rain... And less wind more worryingly.

P.S Thank you all for your lovely comments! We read them all and I know I don't reply but it's because wifi has been so rubbish and the process just seems unachievable. Please please keep writing and I'll try and reply more.