Jacked in my job to go to the World Cup in Brazil

Corcovado Hostel on the morning after the final

The morning after the final I went for a swim in the hostel pool while admiring the view of “Cristo”.

It was a perfect end to the most amazing month of football fun - singing England and West Ham songs with a bunch of fellow England fans!

Aware that time was getting on, I headed back down and back to the hostel to prepare for watching the final. I arrived back at the hostel to find some England fans dressed in England shirts, hats and flags having their faces painted (with the St. George's Cross). It turned out two of the boys were from Yorkshire and another two from Essex (one of which's brother's went to Coopers and was an Iron). This was perfect, I threw my West Ham shirt on (if you remember, I swapped my England one for a Costa Rica shirt) and headed to Copacabana with the boys!

Someone taking a photo on Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) and the view of Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain) from the statue

Something I didn’t know was there is a chapel inside of the statue.

Me with the Maracanã in the background and Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer) on the morning of the final

The hostel was beautiful with a pool outside and a view of Cristo Redentor (Christ the Redeemer). As I had arrived early, I left my bags and took the opportunity to visit “Cristo” before heading to Copacabana to watch the final on the beach.

After I'd finished up at the white arches and grabbed some lunch, it was back to the hostel to pick up my things and move to another hostel in Flamengo for one night. Refúgio Hostel was very pleasant and a bit more chilled out than the craziness of Lapa. I met some great guys who I was sharing a room with and we headed to a restaurant near the hostel to watch the game and get some dinner. The buffet was fantastic! The football from Brazil not so much, and there was no way you could see them getting anything from the game.

Selfies at Escadaria Selarón (Selarón's Steps) and Arcos da Lapa (Carioca Aqueduct)

On Saturday, before moving hostel, I visited Escadaria Selarón (Selarón's Steps), also known as the Snoop Dogg steps as they feature in the video for Beautiful by Snoop Dogg featuring Pharrell Williams & Uncle Charlie Wilson. I also stopped to check out the Arcos da Lapa (Carioca Aqueduct).

Birthday cards from the family on my bed at Manga Hostel, Lapa

A great night was had by all topped off with a final caipirinha and some munchies in the packed street.

Waiting for the rain to ease off at the bottom of the second cable car

Woodland near the peak of Pão de Açúcar (Sugarloaf Mountain)

View from the top of the first cable car and the second cable car heading into the rain cloud

I came back down to where the second cable car leaves from and sat down to grab some food and a few beers while waiting for the rain to ease off…I was there a while!