Centro.

Jardim Botanico.

Rio's botanical gardens are at the foot of one of the city's mountains. On one side, the boundary casually merges into the lush rainforest that climbs the adjacent slopes. Christ looks down from above. 

The climate here is consistently hot and humid such that bromeliads, mosses and orchids grow plant on top of plant, on top of plant. It's a quite lovely spot.

The trip up to, and view from, Corcovado Mountain and Cristo Redentor is everything it's cracked-up to be. And then some. 

You ascend through jungle on a funicular railway - which in itself is a beautiful trip - and then gaze down the sheer drop on the city, jungle and beaches 800m below. 

I wish we'd gone up on day one as the astonishing perspective it provides helps you figure out what is where in Rio's crazy and complicated layout.

The eye-popping backdrop of the city demands some pretty strong and characterful architecture, and at periods in it's history, this has been delivered. 

Rio embraced modernism with gusto in the '60's, and much of what was built measures-up pretty well to today's view of good, enduring design. More recently (1996), the Museum of Contemporary Art was also built, across the water in Niteroi. 

It's a wonderful, fun, flying-saucer of a building - although unfortunately, built with a shoestring construction budget, it's already looking a bit worn at the edges.

Rio de Janeiro: go to the top of the class...

My friends said it. The guidebooks said it. In fact, anyone who's ever been has said it:

Rio is the world's most spectacular city, with the most beautiful people - who know how to squeeze more life and fun out of every day and night than anyone else (and, from what we've seen, days can be pretty damn tough for many of those that call the Cidade Maravilhosa, "Marvelous City", home). 

And they were right.

We've lived it up to the max., and loved it up to the max. So far it's loved us back.

The people we've met have been warm and kind, willingly sharing tips on things to do, places to go and stuff to see. How else, for example, would we have ended up with 3,000 Cariocas at one of the Samba Schools preparing for Carnival? 

Rio is also perhaps the world's first clothing optional city. The locals work very hard to look good, and it pays off. At the beach, but also away from it, the sensation of one's jaw scraping along the mosaiced marble pavements is an odd, but not unpleasant, one. Really, Leblon, our nearby stretch of perfect golden sand, looks like a casting for a Bruce Webber shoot at 5 on a Sunday afternoon.

I vowed I wasn't going to be seduced by Rio's charms, but I have been. How could I not? Afterall, few other cities have afforded me such moments of wonder as this.

Yes, I know I waxed lyrically about Cape Town - and it remains one of my favourite places - but for sheer beauty, fun and her powers of seduction, Rio goes to the top of the class. 

I think I might stay.