"The one where she got back home safe and sound"

Well the rest of my time in Rio was tremendous helped spectacularly by the lovely group of people I hung out with in my last four days. Thank you Sabine, Sam, Nathan and Nicola - you were all lovely and I really appreciated the send off from the bus stop. Despite the torrential rain on my last day in Rio they helped me with my bags and waited with me for the bus to arrive so they could wave me off. How nice :)

Well I can't say that those last four days were entirely Caipirinha free, in fact my last proper night out was spent in Lapa (where it seems that all the hot, young and trendy things hang out) underneath the arches of an aquaduct surrounded by hundreds of Brazilians listening to some improvised MCing and drumming which was tinged every so often by the strong smell of urine. You can't beat that kind of atmosphere. I swear that my eyes were nearly popping out of their sockets as I watched in awe and amazement the incredible dancing that took place under the arches. When God was dishing out talent, rhythm, love of life, confidence and sexiness he definitely dished out the largest portion to the Brazilians.

You know if you see someone you fancy in an English Bar and you can spend all night ogling at them wandering if they have noticed you and whether you should go and talk to them. In the end up you leaving the bar in disgust and kicking yourself because some slightly drunker person had the gall to chat to the person you quite liked and you never had the chance to approach them. You swear to yourself that had it not been for them you would have approached them for a chat.....

None of the above applies to the Brazilians, neither men nor women, especially when it comes to a chance to practice their English with a foreigner. They have a great curiosity about tourists and so will approach you for a chat whenever and however they can. This makes for a very interesting evening when you look around and see lots of drunk tourists and lots of sober Brazilians having chats and promptly snogging the pants off each other.

Also what can happen is that you go straight in for the kiss and then realize you can't communicate with one another so you spend the rest of the night getting your friend to translate for you, yeah, thanks Nicola ;)

Anyway the journey back was long and boring and I was desperate to get back safe and sound to Rich and my Mum and Dad. As I was so shattered when I got in to Madrid I went through passport control three times in a state of total confusion as dumb Spaniard after dumb Spaniard sent me the wrong way to get to my check in gate.

Thank you to you all for staying in touch with me and for reading all about my awfully big adventure. You were a tower of strength to me when I needed a little push.

It wasn't until I was back on home soil that I realised quite how much I was worried about staying safe out there. There were a few horror stories that I can share with you all personally if you fancy hearing them but suffice to say I came away from Brazil with a great impression of the country and dying to get back.

Next time i'll take Rich with me though.