In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, we stay at the Windsor Excelsior Hotel (left) in Room 1216 (above) - the hotel is located overlooking Copacabana Beach and from our room we can see a distant view of the Christ the Redeemer statue (below)

February 28th/29th: A Titan driver collects us from home and quickly transport us (and three other passengers on the same tour as us) to Heathrow Airport. We relax in the Business Class lounge before Flight BA 249 (a Boeing 777) takes us to Rio de Janeiro. We get some sleep on the overnight flight after dinner. After breakfast on the plane we land at 6:32am, join up with the other 40 members of the tour group, then take a slow bus ride to the hotel for another breakfast. We then make two short walks of the area near the hotel, with a rest in between. The walks mainly include the Copacabana Beach where we sample ice creams and smoothies

After a cup of tea in the hotel reception area (right) our first evening in Rio ends with a group meal at the nearby Maxim's Restaurant (above and far right) where we both have excellent risottos followed by a warm chocolate pudding