The weekend of October 28th & 29th. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Saturday morning and Jorge and I head out for the Jardim Botânico do Rio de Janeiro.
Our route takes me a drive along Copacabana, Ipanema and Leblon beaches before we park the car and take a local bus to the main entrance of the botanical gardens.

Unlike in the UK these gardens are not contained within stunning glass-houses, this wonder of nature is an outdoor spectacle. The dramatic main entrance of tall palms leading to the central fountain is a joy.

The gardens were laid out by order of the Prince Regent Dom João in 1808 and there are over 6000 varieties of plants.

We dine at Guimas in the Gavea area of the city where I sample my first Caipirinha made from persian limes. The flavour is far more bitter than the Caipirinha's I have tasted thus far.

On my drive back to Copacabana it strikes me as slightly strange to see people walking in the middle of the city streets in their swimming trunks.

I spend my afternoon walking the length of Copacabana beach taking in the atmosphere.

People come in all shapes and sizes, entertainers perform all along the beach and I particularly enjoy the sand sculptures and the travelling bands...and yes the beautiful people who come to see and be seen.

I head over to the world famous Copacabana Palace Hotel to join the jetset.

Here as I sit sipping my Caipirinha, the beautiful people are not only beautiful, they are also very rich.

It is true, people do sit around the pool sipping champagne posing in their bathing costumes; as is the case all around me. They are calling friends in London, New York and Miami to show each other just how important they are...and why shouldn't I join them? It may be pretend for me and the real-thing for them, but it is great to see all walks of life.

This could be the setting of a pre-war novel in colonial Hong Kong or Singapore. The architecture is not dis-similar, and it strikes me that whilst all around us in this paradise there is abject poverty; to the people here life is one long round of champagne and caviar.

The designer ladies lunching at the table in front of me, the expat group behind me and even the young German Count who is frantically leafing the pages of the Brazilian version of Hello searching in the vain hope of stumbling upon himself.

It would take a catastrophic event (such as the march of the Japanese into the tennis clubs of Singapore)that forces the two worlds to collide, before most of these people would even begin to comprehend the world that lies just beyond their manicured window.

I do get some of my interpretations wrong. The very obviously gay couple drinking expensive champagne is made up of a small and balding 50-something man and a beautiful and buffed young man in his twenties. I am shocked though to discover that it is the young man who has the money and is paying the bills rather than being the stereotypical toy-boy.

Finally though I think I have now seen it all. Climbing into and out of the pool, and swimming, without getting your Dior glasses wet...now that is style!

Today is another of those situations I am getting used to on my travels, when one minute I don't have enough money to eat - as last night - and then I am spending the average weekly wage on cocktails. My life remains one of extremes.

Its come time to leave, The guy in front is a wonderful caricature from an Agatha Christie mystery, resplendent in his Panama hat. The plonker behind is a loud American keen to let everyone know of his tenuous connection with His Serene Highness Prince Albert of Monaco and the Princess Grace Foundation benefit at Grand Central Station in New York.

We can all do the 'royal'connection thing...after all I once sat on the Queen's bed!

Let's move on. I can only take so much arrogance, time to head out on to the beach where there is no demarcation in who you are walking beside.

Sunday 29th October 2006.

The Presidential election today is basically a division of wealth. The leftist incumbent President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva with his social welfare programmes is popular in communities like Rocinha, whilst the middle and upper classes hold the view that under the current regime every day brings a new story of corruption and the choice is then to turn to the conservative opposition.

This morning I spend the day on Copacabana beach and the afternoon I spend by the rooftop pool in my hotel. At least one day I should do the Rio chilling thing, right?