I arrived in Rio yesterday and am staying with a friend in Jardim Botânico.

She has a really nice apartment and is it nice to stay with her and her family and get a real perspective of Rio, not the touristy version.

Today we went to see Christ the Redeemer, unfortunately it was really cloudy, so I didn't get a view of the city but I did manage to get some good photos of the Christ.

After we had a quick walk around Parque Lage and Escola de Artes Visuais de Parque Lage

We then hung out in Leblon, did some window shopping and walked along the beach, while Grace's son has basketball practice.