The Copacabana strip with the Dois Irmaos mountain The cable car that takes one to Sugar Loaf Mount The Candeliria Church A samba dancer in action I've listened to the song, The Girl from Ipanema hundreds of times. And each time I'd have visions of a tall, tanned, young lovely walking down a golden beach. Imagine my excitement then at being surrounded by thousands of such leggy, tanned beauties on the very same Ipanema beach in vibrant Rio de Janeiro. Yes, Ipanema is one of the best sun-kissed strips in Rio. But the even better news is there are several other beaches that are equally eye-catching. We walked along the Copacabana beach and got quite an eyeful - of bare- bodied hunks and women in daringly small bikinis, and even of some couples sun-bathing in an almost acrobatic manner. Of course the best bit were the huge, frothy waves crashing invitingly on the shore. We stopped to buy some coconuts. They were very refreshing and my niece, Donna made a satisfied sign with her fingers. Immediately, the coconut-seller threw us a funny look. Another vendor, who knew English quickly explained that here in Rio, the sign meant something else altogether - and something quite obscene at that. Suitably embarrassed, we moved on quickly. That night, we dined at Cipriani, an elegant Italian restaurant. Ideally, we'd have liked to hit the legendary Copacabana Palace, but it was a tad pricey for our pockets. Nevertheless Cipriani did just nicely and as we looked out over Atlantica Avenue and the Copacabana beach, we tucked into our seafood meal with gusto. We decided to walk off the calories and headed south-west on Atlantica Avenue. Large groups of dancers and musicians lined the streets. Up in the sky, we could see the Alpha Centauri shining bright - a treat, since it's not visible in the Northern Hemisphere. The Centauri is, with the exception of the sun, the closest star to Earth. The first thing on our agenda for the next day was visiting Rio's famous Christ statue, which stands atop a mount. Known as Christ the Redeemer, it was even more colossal than we'd thought. A few birds, looking tinier than usual, were perched on one concrete, outstretched hand. At the base, a small chapel was drawing a crowd of devotees. We even saw a helicopter go by with wide-eyed tourists looking out at Christ. On our way back from the landmark in a tramcar, we caught a glimpse of Rocinda, the largest slum in Brazil. In contrast to the swank area in which we were staying, the grim conditions of the slum startled us into silence. From the tram we switched tracks to a cable car - for a view of the famed Sugar Loaf Mountain. The cable car ride was in two stages: the first takes you up to the summit of Morro da Urca (215m); the second takes you to the summit of Sugar Loaf. Also called Pã de Açúcar, at 394m this is undoubtedly the most famous landmark in Guanabara Bay. As we stood atop the summit, soaking in the 360-degree view of Rio, the sun began a slow descent and slashes of crimson streaked the horizon. Indeed, the 35 reals each of us had to pay for the Sugar Loaf trip was more than worth it. To see Rio at its best, you just have to cough up the bucks. And a ticket to see Rio's legendary Carnival at the Sambadrome cost us plenty - $180 each to be exact. Traffic to the Sambadrome was crazy. As we approached the venue, we had to change vans, to one with a special permit to get inside the grounds. Stickers were stuck on to our shirts - these would serve as tickets for transportation back to the hotel. The Carnival competition had 16 samba schools slugging it out for top honours. Eight had performed the previous night and the remaining were about to unveil their magic. A parade of ornately dressed dancers made its way through the Sambadrome past hordes of onlookers on either side. The costumes were gorgeous. The floats were magnificent. The music was boisterously loud, yet rhythmic. It was a fantastic scene. As daylight broke, the dancers left their floats to come closer to the people in the stands. And the cheering reached raucous levels. We stayed on until the very end watching the last school go by just as the sun came up. The crowd had thinned quite a bit by then and we finally left at 7am after the declared Queen of the Festival made an appearance. Our penultimate day in Rio was spent beach-hopping. First up was the Praia de Copacabana, a popular stretch on the Ipanema coastline that curves into a clear crescent, and which is anchored at one end by the imposing Sugar Loaf mount. We strolled on the warm sands taking in thousands of sun worshippers all around. Our next stop was another strip that marks the meeting of Copacabana and Ipanema, popularly called the 'the beach of golden youth'. At the far end stood the imposing Dois Irmaos (Two Brothers) mountain. This beach though proved to be a bit too 'hot' for us thanks to loads of topless beach bunnies and others in thongs. We appreciated the less boisterous Ipanema - it seemed to preserve the romance of Rio. Having overloaded on beach culture, we wanted to sample a taste of downtown Rio. It wasn't as good as we'd expected, but there were some nice touches. The Praca XV de Novembro square, which is home to one of Rio's oldest markets, is dotted with some great examples of early 18th century architecture. There were churches like the Candeliria Church, which impressed us with its fancy arches and domes and the avant-garde Metropolitan Cathedral. We also came across another concentration of buildings on the Praca Floriano square, which houses the Teatro Municipal, the Museu Nacional das Belas Artes and the Biblioteca National. What better way to end our tour of Rio than with a quick visit to its nightclub quarter. Neon lights glittered everywhere promoting the biggest and best shows. Naturally the samba clubs were the most popular and it didn't take us long before we made our way into one crowded hall. Everyone was doing the samba. Frenzied dancing and whirls of sequins and silk dominated. What a way to end the night! Photographs of Candeliria Church and cable car by the author