It was a long way to arrive in Rio de Janeiro but the one´s good for travelling over London was to see again my Andrea and the charming british rain which always welcomes me when I come to visit ;). But since a short time all museums in London are free, so I combined my trip visiting the Natural Museum and my old friend the TRex.
My trip from London via Madrid to Rio wasn´t only pretty, which isn´t a problem for me since I am a really goodsllepy head except that it´s freezing cold. Also 2 blankets couldn´t save me from shivering...so I was quiet delighted at least for the first minutes when I arrived in Rio at 8 p.m. where the temperature still showed more than 30 degrees...and afterwards came the sweating ...and I am afright it won´t go away until I will leave Brazil. So I am forced to get used to the brazilian lifestyle doing everything slooooowly....time is not that important here.
I had the luck to spend my days in Rio in the gorgeous flat of Doreen & Ronaldo who allocated me without knowing me. Better than in any hostel I had my own maisonette room with a atteched terrace with a breathtaking view to the mountain Corcovada with it´s statue of Christ the Redeemer on top of that. 
Lucky devils - this Cariocas (that´s how the people from Rio are called) -to live in a town surrounded by blue sea , small rocky islands and white beaches on the one side, and forest-clad mountains on the other.
Although Rio counts about 11 Mio. habitants nevertheless in 4 days you can get a quiet good overview over the touristic part of the city itself - means the Center with his financial part full of modern skyscraper and is historical core with it´s districts Gloria, Lapa or Santa Teresa with it´s kind of shabby glamours bohemian style, and the South with Copacabana and Ipanema ans of course the famous Sugar Loaf.
Copacabana´s beach is also lovely but in the last decade the area lost it´s popularity against Ipanema. Needless to say that I directly tried to morph myself into a real carioca by hanging around at the beach under my umbrella watching the people and sipping on my green coconut from time to time and slowly but surely get teint. Lots of people passing by jogging, biking, skating...but despite of that I was q bit disappointed not seeing an over-average amount of beautiful people as this prejudice of Brazil sticks in my mind. 
But in the other hand side it´s not easy to live slim in Brazil - they love their sugar and not in only in form of cachaça (in their chilled capirinha) also in anyother drink...an extra portion in their fruit juice, coffee, etc. As conquered by the portuguese tehy also adapted their rich cake culture...bakeries in every corner and last but not least as the 2nd biggest cattle producer worldwide, they also love their meat...and lots of this..as a vegetarian your life can be really though here.
As you can read between the lines - YES, I can chat with the people and at least they understand what I want from than. So I felt really comfortable in Rio taking every Bus without knowing how to come back later, because I could ask someone later...no prob! By accident I also was already in cinema in Rio...while visiting an exibition it started to rain so badly that I decided to go on a free movie which was going on in this culture centre. As luck of the draw it was a movie of Pedro Almodovar 'Atame' - really never had time in Spain watch movies of him and know captured by the rain in the middle of Brazil I sentimentalized of Madrid seeing this movie subtitled in portuguese.
But although the rain will stop again...at moment looking ahead to my next destiny Ouro Preto...an old mining town of the the 18th century in Minas Gerais...8hrs bus drive away from Rio...CU there...e Boa viage!