Finally! At last! Now it was time to leave Sweden for the dreamtrip to Rio de Janeiro! After weeks and days and hours of waiting, now I was on my way!! First one and a half hour flight to London, Gatwick, then one hour of waiting and then the big big flight to Rio, by Sao Paolo. thirteen hours in a Boing 747. Everything went good and time was fast. On the ground in Rio de Janeiro, wow, soon I would meet Silvana. Passport control, to get the bags and customs was easy. There is the door to pass to come out to the meeting people. What if she is not here? What if there is so many people outside and I don't recognize her? Stupied stupied thoughts! I saw her right away, it was so easy, it was just to look for the most beautiful person standing there waiting. Big big hugs, little talk, lot of joy! Out to the car and away towards Copacabana for a little walk. After this it was time to eat. We had dinner at a restaurant in Flamengo. Chicken. I got a card from Silvana, wonderful. Then we went to Silvanas brothers in Meier, where I would live. So friendly, so nice people! I liked them all from the very beginning! Everything was fantastic, everyone were so nice. This was a good start of the trip!

Saturday 07/10/1999

I woke up in Rio de Janeiro! After a good breakfast with my new friends we spent many hours talking about Brazil and Sweden. Time passed so quickly and it was soon time to have lunch. The food was so very good! Now it was time to go to Silvanas apartment in Tijuca. She had a very nice apartment and now I met her mother and 3:d brother for the first time. They were also so very sweet. Talking talking talking. Poor Silvana, she had to translate everything, when her mother didn't understood English and I could not understand her Portuguese (promise I will learn to the next time). Now it was evening and we went out for a drive with the car. We stoped at Leblon to take a look out over the ocean and then we drove to Barra. We came back home very very late.

Sunday 07/11/1999

Woke up late. Lunch at Silvanas house with her family. Played a little with her lovely daughter, Amanda. And then it was time to be a tourist. We went to Corcovado to see the statue of Cristo Redentor and the beautiful view from the high mountain. It was an amazing view, you could see almost all Rio and the sundown was magnificent! After this we went to a little bar at Copacabana beach. Brazil and Argentina played soccer that night (Brazil won) and the people in the bar watched the game and they were absolutely crazy everytime Brazil scored. We drank coconut water and talked about ICQ, chats, the first messages and many many memories about it. It was so good (hehe 2 words)! At about 22:00 we left the bar to go to Barra again. This time to go to a movie, Star Wars. First we stoped at a supermarket and there we met one of Silvanas fellow workers, hehe strange to meet someone Silvana knew in a big big city like this :-)! At the movie we met up with 2 of her brothers and went into the cinema. It was a good film, but I had some problems to understand everything when the "robot-talking" just was translated to Portuguese haha!! When the film was finished it was very late and I went home to Silvanas brothers house. Goodnight.

Monday 07/12/1999

Goodmorning! Silvana had come to her brothers house early in the morning, I was still sleeping. We talked a little and then she had to go to work. I spent the day with her brothers and their computer. Me and Silvana was supposed to meet a friend in the evening, but she had to cancel and Silvana called me to tell this so in the evening I went to central of Rio to meet Silvana at her work. I bought a phonecard to be able to call her from public phones. I met Silvana at Avenida Rio Branco and we went to the place where the cablecars goes up to the Sugarloaf. In the photo to the left you can see Silvana at Vermelha beach. My brown eyed angel of the south!! Once more we just sat and talked and talked. So much to talk about, there was never a silent moment. It was like we had known eachother for many many years. One more evening we came home too late.

Tuesday 07/13/1999

Woke up early in my bed at Meier. Silvana was working, I was supposed to meet her at a bookshop (Saravia) in the central to have lunch. Her brothers gave me a ride there. We had our lunch at a place called 'Under grill', very good barbecue with many many different food. Silvana went back to work and I spent the afternoon walking in the central of Rio. I exchanged some Us dollars to Reals and did some windowshopping. In the evening we had dinner at Silvanas house, the whole family and then I went home with my friends, the brothers, and got to bed before midnight for the first time.

Wednesday 07/14/1999

Silvana and me had lunch at a little place where they served 'natural sandwiches'. We drank something called 'acai cupuaçu'. It was very good. Then I took the metro to Silvanas house and spent the afternoon with her mother and youngest brother. We went out for a little walk and when we where sitting in a park, there was a TV-team filming and asking people questions about the 'Millenium bug'. Hehe they also came up to us and asked us but we had no answer to solve the problem, so I don't think we were on TV that night. In the evening we went to a big big shopping center in Barra. Silvanas mother gave me a new bag (hehe she didn't like the one I had). I bought some shirts and Silvana bought a shirt and a pair of jeans. We also had a little to eat and some beers. It was a nice evening. I was tired after the shopping and it was good to go to sleep in the night.

Thursday 07/15/1999

Woke up early. Spent the morning at Silvanas house. We had lunch in a nice resaurant in the neigbourhood, called La Moge. In the afternoon we were at her brothers place. The evening we spent in Urca and Mirante do Pasmado. It was a beautiful evening and once more we had so very much to talk about. Everything was so wonderful. This was life!

Friday 07/16/1999

Slept long and woke up alert in Meier. Silvana was working. Me and one of her brothers went out to have a look of the Meier area and we had lunch in a Arab-restaurant. It was very good. In the afternoon her brothers droped me at the metro (when they were going to collage). I met Silvana outside her work and we went to a place called Amarelinho (hehe or the Yellow Place as I called it) in Cinelandia. We had some beers and a very good time. Then we went to Silvanas house to get ready for the night. This night we went to a disco in Barra called Rockin Rio. Wow, what a place!! Good drinks and music, so many people and everybody was dancing. We met many of Silvanas friends and everybody was very friendly! I had a wonderful night there. Once again we came home waaaaaaayyyy to late!

Saturday 07/17/1999

We spent the morning playing with Amanda and also with Silvanas dog, Milla. Then we went to her brothers hosue to have lunch. We had a delicious shrimp dish, so very good! The day passed quickly and soon it was evening and the whole family went to Barra. You can never guess what we would do there!! Ice-skating!!! Yes yes yep yep!! I have skated on ice in Rio de Janeiro! Many of the people skating were not so good with this (of course) but Silvana skated like she never done anything else. We had a very very good and fun time there. After the skating we sat down and had a little to eat and some beers to drink. Silvanas family went home and we went to the lake called Lagoa Rodrigo de Freitas. There were many small restaurants with live music and we sat down in one of them to drink some beers and to listen to the music. It was magic! From this moment this was our place, we would come back here many times. Hehehe as almost every night... to late in bed.

Sunday 07/18/1999

In the Sunday around noon we went for a walk on a path besides Pãu de Açúcar (Sugarloaf) called Claudio Coutinho. Silvana climbed in the mountains and I took many many photos :-). We saw some monkeys and views I didn't believe existed. It was so very beautiful!! Now we started to get hungry. We took the coast road towards Barra and stoped at Sheraton Hotel to check it out. It was a great place near the ocean with its own beach and a big pool area. The restaurants were unfortunately closed so we continued to Barra and had dinner at a sea food restaurant called Parol da Barra. The food was wonderful! And so much!! You could eat as much as you wanted to. when we were at the restaurant, Brazil played the final in the Southamerican cup and I think they won (hehehe yes of course they won!). We had a great night in Barra (we spent very much time here, didn't we!?) and time moved on to fast as always.

Monday 07/19/1999

This Monday was a calm day. Silvana worked and I didn't do much in the morning. I took the metro in to center and we had lunch at McDonalds. I have to tell you that I am almost an expert of McDonalds food (tryed it in near every European countries) but I have never had such a good hamburger as McCheddar!! In the evening we were at Silvanas house with her family and then I left for my bed at her brothers. The second night in bed before midnight.

Tuesday 07/20/1999

Spent the morning doing 'house-work' in Meier. Did the dishes, sweeped the floors and washed my clothes. Took a taxi to center where me, Silvana and one of her collegues had lunch in a nice restaurant. Then the adventure of 'exchanging traveling cheques' began. I think we were at 4 different banks in that lunchhour. In one of the banks they maybe could exchange my cheques, but only if I had the 'buy ticket' with me! Heeeyy!!! That is the reason to have traveling cheques... to not keep the 'buy ticket' together with the cheques! So we gave up because Silvana had to go back to work. I took the metro to her house and played with Amanda, talked to her brother and mom. In the evening I took the metro back to center again to meet Silvana. We had dinner at our place by the lake and once more it was so wonderful there. Late back to her brothers house.

Wednesday 07/21/1999

Silvana picked me up this morning and we went to her collage. She had a class and I walked around a little to look how a collage was in Brazil. It was pretty much the same as in Sweden hehe maybe a little more sunny! We had lunch at the collage and then we went to the center of Rio to try to exchange the cheques again. After visiting 4 or 5 new banks without any success we were told to go to a 'exchanging house'. Here it was no troubles at all to cash the cheques. As a new rich person I walked proudly out from the house with 880 reals in my pocket. Silvana went to work and I took the metro back to her apartment. Metro back to center. I dressed in Silvanas car because I had forgotten my clothes there in the morning. We went to a big shopping center 'Iguatemi'. We had dinner with her mom and one of the brothers. Later in the evening we all met, the whole family, in Silvanas apartment and there were many good laughs when I tryed to speak Portuguese :-))).

Thursday 07/22/1999

Woke up in Meier. Took a taxi to center and me and Silvana had a sallad for lunch. Silvana went back to work and I took the metro to Copacabana. I walked the beach and it started to rain a little. It was such a big big beach and now in the rain so very empty! I think I am one of very few persons who have visit Rio without swimming in the ocean but instead gone ice-skating! I met Silvana after work and we dressed up to go to a disco called Maxin. Maxim was on the 44:th floor in a big big house at Shopping Rio Sul. Wow, what a place, what a view! When we danced you could see Sugarloaf to the left, Copacabana stright ahead, Cristo Redentor to the right and then.... the best view of them all... Silvana a little more to the right. We had a wonderful night with beer, Margaritas, sushi and lots and lots of dancing. Hehe back home waaaaayyyy to late, I think time was 04:30 when we came back home. Slept good!

Friday 07/23/1999

Spent the morning at Silvanas house. Tired after the late night. Around noon we went to Tijuca forest. Well, I live in the middle of the forest here so I know how a forest looks here. This was something completely diferent. So beautiful, so many trees I never seen before, waterfalls, animals.... Lovely! We had lunch at a nice restaurant there with good food and wine. Back to Silvanas apartment to spend some time with her family and then we went to Barra again and also this evening we had a good time there. Hehe yep again.. too late before we came home.

Saturday 07/24/1999

Saturday. It was soon time for me to go back to Sweden. We just had to go up to Sugarloaf this day. We had planed to do it the weekend before, but it was to many clouds then. We took the video camera and ordinary camera and then a taxi to Sugarloaf. To come up to the top you have to ride two cable cars. First one up to Morro da Urca (230 meters over the sea). We filmed the trip in the cablecar with the videocamera. Already up here you had a wonderful view over Rio. We spent about an hour here looking, filming, laughing, drinking and then it was time to go all the way up to Pão de Açúcar (390 meters over the sea). Once more we filmed the trip. The view was really something special! After some time up at the top there was some clouds coming in from the sea and we walked around in the clouds, cool! After our visit on the Sugarloaf we took a taxi to a barbecue restaurant and had a great meal. All the time there was waiters with more and more meat for us to eat! Eat until you die! We survived :-). After the meal Silvana told me that she had heard about a cafe in Barra which served a special chocolate to drink. So we took the bus to Barra and had a drink of chocolate. We were suposed to go to a movie, but we were tired and Silvana was a little frozen (haha it was only 25 degrees) so we took another bus back home. Silvana fell asleep in the bus, so qute! In the night we had planed to go to a disco, but Amanda didn't want us to go there (she had a cold and was needing her mom) so we stayed at home that night.

Sunday 07/25/1999

Sunday again, time went to fast. This was my last whole day in Rio, and what a day it would be! In the morning we went to Maracanã stadium to buy tickets to the soccer game later in the evening. They had not opened yet so we went to the lake (where else?) instead. We rented a little boat (a swan which you drove like a bicycle) and were out on the lake for half an hour. It was wondreful. We had lunch in a little place at Copacabana. Once more it was 'natural sandwiches' with 'acai cupuaçu'. Now it was time to go back to Maracanã stadium. We parked the car just outside, bought tickets and went inside. WOW! SO BIG! I have been at 'Stade de France' in Paris which takes 80 000 people... this was more than double as big! The game (Flamengo - Ponte Preta 1-0) wasn't very good but it was such an experience to be there! I will come back, I promise. After the game when we came out to our car there was a little problem. We stood by the pavement and we had no chance to come out... there were cars parked all over the road. But after only 10 or 15 minutes we were out of there. Silvana is really a champion of cardriving! Back to her apartment for a shower and new clothes. Where should we spend the last night... yes ofcourse at the lake! We went there and when we arrived we saw that it was a big concert there with many famous Brazilian artists. We listened and danced (hehe well Silvana danced (like a dream) and I tryed to dance to the tropical rhythmes). We had a wonderful time! After the concert we were warm of all the dancing and had some beers. It was a magic night there by the lake. When we came home (to late, or acually to early the day after) Amanda was already awake.

Monday 07/26/1999

The last day in Rio. My airplane left at 21:30. In the morning we gave Silvanas mom and aunt a ride to a busstop. They were going to a nearby town to shop. We went to Meier and Silvana had some hours of sleep. I packed my bages and arranged things for my trip back to Sweden. Ok, ok I also slept some hours. Back to Silvanas apartment and lunch at Tijuca Shopping. Time went much to fast, much much to fast! Shower and new clothes and then we left for the airport. This was not a happy time in the car I can tell you. At the check in they wanted 66 reals for some tax. I had no money hehe I had given all that I had left to Silvana so she had to buy my way back to Sweden (hummmmmm how could you let me go?? hehehe). After check in we had one hour before I had to enter the airplane. We went out to the carparking where we had stood a long time talking when I arrived. This time we were not as happy as then... Back inside again and I had to go in to the departure lounge. Kiss kiss hug hug bye bye tchau tchau. I don't know how many times I walked back to hug her before I just had to enter the departure lounge. When I entered, I turned around and walked back to see threw the door once more and there she was looking at me. So beautiful, so sweet. There was a long line to the passport control and then I almost had to run to the plane. I was one of the last to enter the plane. The trip back was not as good as the trip to Rio. I had just one seat and too many memories. I don't remember how the food tasted, I don't remember the films. I think I fell asleep some hours.

Tuesday 07/27/1999

Woke up about 2 hours before we came to London, Gatwick. On the ground again I called Sivlana and told her that the flight didn't crash. It was good to hear her voice again. 3 hours waiting at Gatwick and then back to Gothenburg. In Gothenburg I took a taxi to Christers house where I had my car. Christer and Goran had washed it when I was away (thanks). I drove back to my house late at night. I arrived here at 00:30 starting to plan the next trip to Rio.