A taste of the exotic with Princess Cruises

I have spent most of September pouring over images of far off, exotic destinations. Princess Cruises launched their 2011/12 exotics brochure and it features some amazing itineraries as well as additional tours to bolt on. I've always fancied travelling South America so some of the itineraries really appealed to me.

I have had a taste of South America. Last year I went to Brazil with a group of friends just before Christmas for a wedding and visited the iconic Rio de Janeiro and Iguazu Falls.
Rio is a city like no other that I've seen. Walking along the streets the locals just ooze confidence (occanssionally boardering on arrogance!) and they are all so proud of their nationality. 'The Brits' unfortunately brought the rain with us but the monsoon weather didnt stop us exploring.

Rather that write down everything I did, here is my Top 5 things to do in Rio:
- Drink a Caipirinha from a hut along Copacobana or Ipenema beach (or any beach really, Caipirinha's are almost cheaper than water to drink out there)
- Take a cable-car up to the top of Sugar Loaf Mountain. I actually hiked up the first mountain which was amazing but I would only suggest it if you are fit and have a guide, it would be easy to get a bit lost along the trail, especially if its wet.
- Eat at a comida à quilo (literally meaning food by the kilo). Here you pile your plate with as much food as you can cope with. They work out the price based on the weight of the plate. These were the best places to eat for the vegetarians in the group.

- Take the tram up Cocorvado to visit Christ the Redeemer. This has the best views of the city on a clear day but if the clouds are in then there is no point. I didn't make it up during my stay because every time I tried the clouds came in. At times it was so thick I could barely see a couple of meters in front.

- The Lapa steps. I loved Lapa. It was one of the only areas in the city that had any history. The beautiful building were run down but still had so much about them. In this district, down a few random streets, there is the Lapa Steps; a set of steps decorated using old baths covered in tiles from around the world. The artist still lives half way up the flight and is more than happy to stop an chat with passers by, my friends and I had our picture taken with Selaron. Lapa is also the place to go for a visit to a Samba club. They get hot and sweaty, and there is no such thing as personal space but that is the beauty of the places. They are all about getting together with friends and letting go. There's often food and drink to help re-fuel after an attempt at Samba.