We both slept incredibly well in our king-sized bed. We are very pleased with our hotel, the Mar Ipanema, located ideally on Ipanema’s main avenue, Rua Visconde de Piraja. Our room on the seventh floor is of adequate size – not huge, not small but very well designed. There are places for all of our belongings, a safe large enough for our valuables, a fantastic air-conditioner (it has been very hot and humid in Rio during our visit) and perhaps the best shower we have ever had – lots of hot water with pressure enough to scrub the paint off a car! Even though we are on a busy avenue, we hardly hear any street noise from high up on the seventh floor. The staff has been fantastic and the hotel restaurant serves delicious food and killer caipirinhas. We highly recommend the Mar Ipanema.

We stuffed ourselves silly at lunch and then waddled a few blocks to the botanical gardens and spent the next couple of hours walking along shady lanes lined with exotic flora and fauna. We enjoyed the peace and quiet in this special sanctuary.

At 4 pm we caught another taxi back to the hotel to rest and recharge and at 7 pm we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant and sat outside in the cool evening air. There was a light misty rain as we sat and watched Rio winding down on a quiet Monday evening.

We ordered a small dinner of calamari, fries and caipirinhas and watched cariocas enjoying each other’s company in a uniquely Brazilian fashion.

By 10 pm we were in bed watching the Simpsons and Spiderman 3 in Portuguese. What a world!!

Next Day