The one where there was trouble in paradise

Ah yes .. the joys of travelling without realising Brazil is hitting peak holiday season with a long weekend. More on that in a moment.
The football game Mark and I went to in Rio was amazing. A Rio team versus a Paraguayan team in the South American Cup semi final. Thank god the Rio team scored. They won 2-1. It was the most unbelievable crowd. So many flares went off at the start and we couldnt see the ground for a while! The crowd chanted and yelled the whole time. About 50,000 people there I reckon. The small crowd of opposition fans were in a little area completely separate to ours. When the Rio team scored in the final few minutes the crowd erupted and everyone was hugging and cheering. Awesome. We paid $6 each for an ice cream though. Ahhhh love being ripped off when youre a tourist. The game started at 10pm!
We strolled around Copacabana the next morning then got a bus to Angra Dos Reis where you get the ferry to Ilha Grande. I had been there on the Intrepid tour earlier, you might remember the hot young Brazilian Cristiano from earlier blogs. When we docked at the island we hit trouble, big time. A woman who spoke English told us the whole island was booked out because it was the start of a long weekend, and everyone in Brazil seemed to be coming to Ilha Grande. So I left Mark in a restaurant with our bags while I searched for a room. It took a lot of doorknocking and ´no we have no rooms´before I found a pousada with a double bed for one night. Given it was 5pm and there was no way of getting off the island till the morning, we took it. Ah yes, sleeping with my brother in a double bed. Oh well... it was better than the other option of sleeping on the beach! We had planned to stay 3 nights, but it was impossible to find any rooms. So one night it was. And it took about 5 minutes to spot Cristiano, who was on the beach looking rather gorgeous. My Portuguese is a little better than it was a month ago, so this time we were able to have a sort of conversation!
Mark and I had a beautiful swim in the ocean at sunset. A great travel moment. You just know that in a few months when we are back at work we will be wishing we were back on Ilha Grande swimming in the water. Im still not taking any of this trip for granted, because I know its 3 of the best months of my life.
We then went to a bar for a few drinks and Cristiano and a couple of his friends joined us. Mark went to sleep and I stayed out drinking for a while with Cristiano, who was very upset we werent staying longer! So was I ... ahhh oh well, such is life.
Just to ensure the travel gods were making our lives difficult, Mark and I got the ferry back to the mainland in the morning to catch a midday bus to Sao Paulo, but of course its booked out, so here we are waiting for the 3pm bus in 37 degree heat in an internet cafe with no air con. But we are still smiling, cause we are on holidays, just like everyone else in Brazil this weekend!