The most beautiful city in the world

It didn´t take long. I have fallen in love with this city. My snaps don´t do it justice at all but it has everything - beaches alongside skyscrapers nestled against a backdrop of rainforest-covered mountains. There is severe poverty and wide-eyed street urchins hang on every corner begging for money but the scare stories about every traveller being robbed in Rio have so far (touch wood) proved groundless. We´ve ridden around on the buses undisturbed - even heading perilously close to the infamous Cidade do Deus (City of God) favela. My heart leapt just once when a young boy, who could have been no more than 12, was asked to lift up his shirt to prove he wasn´t carrying a gun. He wasn´t. And apart from that we have felt nothing but warmth from the Cariocas (Rio locals) who, in stark comparison to Londoners, are the friendliest people you could ever wish to meet.
Rio´s most famous tourist spot is the Corcovado mountain with its ´Christ the Redeemer´ statue keeping watch over the city. After running the gauntlet of taxi drivers desperate for trade, we took the little red funicular train, which chugged up the steep mountainside, to discover the most breathtaking view I had ever seen. A city of 20 million people, surrounded by sea and islands spread out as far as the eye could see. And standing in the shadow of such an imposing statue, which must have been 100ft high, made it an even more humbling experience. We now knew why Rio was so special.
But it´s the people who make a city and that night we discovered the true spirit of the Carioca. They say that if you meet a Brazilian who doesn´t like football, he´s not a true Brazilian. That night, Brazil were playing Argentina in a World Cup qualifier. I´d spent the morning looking through social networking site couchsurfing.com, where I found a load of people meeting up to watch the game. And so we joined them. Five Cariocas, a Dutch guy, two Swiss scientists and a couple from London. Leading them all was Marcelo, a lawyer from Flamengo who arrived in his canary yellow Brazil shirt with a broad smile across his face.

And this most passionate of football fans even managed to mask his disappointment when the game ended in a 0-0 draw. He spent the rest of the night laughing and drinking with us until none of us were sure he´d make it to work at 8.30 the next morning. He even invited us back to stay with him when we return to Rio. Marcelo - we´ll be seeing you again I´m sure of it.