Lola hits Copacabana!!!!

Yes ladies and gentlemen, this showgirl is now in Rio de Janeiro!! Woohoo!

Brasil has welcomed me with somewhat open arms, if you don´t count the rain, the grey skies and the absolutely boring ass city known as São Paulo. No disrespect, but there just isn´t anything to do in that town. Don´t raise your hopes if you´re going there as a cold tourist. I´ve heard that if you know someone there its different (where isn´t), but I wouldn´t pay to go back! Six hours bus down the road and we arrived in Rio in a severe downpour...severe being a somewhat understatement!

I have to say that Rio has lived up to expectation thankfully, with the only negatives being some poor weather for part of every day and the fact that Brasil is very very expensive! I´m basically living on London west end prices here in Ipanema. It was maybe naive to expect things to be cheap, but I didn´t expect to be paying the same prices as I´m paying at home. You´ll be glad to know I´m managing my budget though...dinner tonight is instant noodles!

So, once again, without meaning to, I have ticked off another wonder of the world. Friday saw me at the top of the Corcovado looking up at Christ the Reedemer and down on Rio de Janeiro. It was absolutely amazing. The statue itself is actually a mosaic, did you know that? It was worth seeing up close! Plus the views over the city are stunning, the only negative would be that there are so many tourists up there it is almost impossible to get a decent picture without 17 other people invading your shot, but wow oh wow is it still worth the visit! The Sugar loaf was also fantastic, on the beach side of the island, the cable car up also provides stunning views over the city, although once you get to the top of the sugar loaf itself, there really isn´t anything to do except spend money in very expensive shops!

I also managed to visit Maracanã stadium and stand in Pele´s shoes for a second...or his footprint in the hall of fame to be exact, and those of a few other famous Brasilian footballers who to me could be any man on any street anywhere! But there were some quite excited men on our tour so I guess it was something special!

Topping it all off, we went to the Sambadome to check out where carnival takes place and had the opportunity to try on some costumes. I picked one with yellow flowers in the headgear! lol! Just a shame I couldn´t take it with me all the way to Copacabana! (If you don´t get the reference check out Barry Manilow!)

And the important part, the beach. I´m staying on Ipanema beach which is gorgeous, when there has been sun, its been a pleasure to sit on the beach and appreciate the...ahem... Brasilian form. I can confirm ladies that all...yes all Brasilian men wear those lovely form fitting brief shorts. This can be somewhat offensive when it is accompanied by severly pregnant bellies or bear like body hair, but 90% of the time I can only describe it as an absolute pleasure! I make no apologies if I sound just ever so slightly perverted, but I know I´m in no way as bad as the gazillions of tourist men feasting their eyes on the thong bikinis of the usually quite round bottomed Brasilian women! And before you ask...no I will not be buying or wearing a thong bikini. Full stop!

Copacobana beach is a little more rough and ready, more men and therefore lots more prostitutues! It´s also home to the famous Help nightclub which is home to your sex tourist and your prostitute of every age, body shape and quite commonly here sex, including the so called 3rd sex (Trannie central). Its a shame having your camera out would probably get you robbed cos a lot of this stuff has to be seen to be believed!

I´ve managed to meet up with my mate Ama here who has spent the last 3 months in Brazil, ´learning portuguese´(code for living it up I´m sure)!! ;-). Last night, we went to Lapa, the party central of Rio and had a fantastic time. R$3 (1 pound) caipirinhas on the street accompanied by super delicious barbacued meat on a stick followed by a lot of Samba (or my version of it anyway) in a club called Lapa 40 degrees. Live music and a fantastic DJ meant I stumbled back into the hostel at about 5.30am this morning and woke up at 10 with a stinking hangover. Their caipirinhas here have quite a large amount of rum and it really doesn´t take that much to get you seriously inebriated!

Unfortunately, there has been one giant super niggle while here in Rio. I´m staying in a hostel called Girl from Ipanema, lovely place but with some issues on the security front. It´s in a mews like alley with several houses, mostly hostels but private homes too, on either side of the alley, but there is a gate at the entrance of the alley. There are a lot of people coming in and out mainly because of the many hostels here. My hostel has three houses scattered in the alley with the house I´m in having the main kitchen and dining area for all 3 houses. You get a key to the gate and the house you stay in, but the door to our house is almost always open to allow people from the other houses to use the kitchen. Sound off key? Well yes, especially when you know that the door to the only girl´s dorm that I´m staying in didn´t have a lock on it. I remember feeling a little off put and feeling the need to put a padlock on every possesion I had in the room when I checked in.

Well, fate doesn´t like to be tempted. 3am on Friday night a man managed to get in the gate, walked to our house, came in through the open door to the house and walked straight into the girls dorm where myself and two others were fast alseep. He picked up two rucksacks on the floor and walked right out again completely unheard. All this was caught on CCTV including the part where he walked right past the now sacked security guard who asked no questions. Needless to say I was pretty much almost out the door when we found out the following morning. A man walks into a girls dorm unchallenged? Seems we were a little lucky he only walked out with two rucksacks!

Thankfully, security has now been tightened, locks changed, doors closed and new security guards, but I was hellofashakenup! Its good to know the hostel had CCTV as well and was able to pass it onto the police, but I had to ask, whats the point of CCTV and no locks on bedroom doors?!?! And thanks to my paranoia, none of my things were taken, but I have a lot of sympathy for two other girls who despite not loosing money or passports did loose their diaries and other personal books, one of them had all the contacts and stories from her 5 month trip and is only 2 weeks from going home! Depressing.

But, despite it all I´m safe and thankful and loving the Rio vibe! The fact is that kind of thing could happen anywhere and you just have to be prudent as much as possible. I decided not to move becuase given the situation I´m probably safer in that hostel now than anywhere else, plus it has a fantastic atmosphere and a reasonable nightly rate. Don´t get me wrong, my safety comes first, but it looks like they´ve bucked up their act!

Tomorrow I hit the beach again, and on Wednesday I fly to Salvador, the ultimate beach and party town in the north. Can´t wait!