Brazil day 3 - Rio Trio

Rio is HOT. Let me get that straight right from the start. Day or night, this place is ROASTING!! Since we arrived, we'd not managed to quite work out the air con in our room. Now, I'm all up for experiencing local culture and customs but when that comes to sleeping in a sauna, that's where I draw the line! So, at breakfast, Guedo was advised of the heating issue and at the same time he advised us that they have a terrible drought in Rio right now (the same in Sao Paulo where we'll be in a few days) so washing towels and bed linen will not be as regular as normal.

After a chilled morning I managed to convince Lauren to go with me to watch a football match at the Maracana Stadium (beautiful stadium where they hosted the World Cup Final this year).  Rio based "Vasco" were playing ABC in the second tier of Brazilian football. 

We took the Subway there (an experience in itself) and managed to get ourselves VIP tickets including drinks, unlimited food and the best seats in the stadium right on the half way line, all for less than we'd pay for the cheapest Spurs ticket at home!

What an atmosphere!! The fans were singing non stop from an hour before the game all the way through! It was quite disconcerting when, half way through the first half, someone let off a huge banger which shook the stadium! Imagine the largest firework explosion you've ever heard and hearing that INSIDE a football stadium!

The game ended 1-0 to the home side (Vasco) and I caught the goal on video for you. http://youtu.be/E8BtrOuLw7Q

Here's a few pictures too:

On the way home we picked up a few supplies and when we got back, our air con had been fixed so we are planning a quiet night in our lovely guest house tonight while we plan the next few days' activities.