Christmas in Brazil. Trust you all had a nice Christmas, whoever you are and wherever you are reading this. We relaxed around our Pousada for the day, keeping cool in the pool. Temperature outside was up to 40C so we were baking! Christmas Eve is when Brazilians open their presents so we each exchanged gifts in the evening of the 24th. Rachel's Mum shared a few thoughts from the Bible about the Christmas story which was ace... So, it's been different but oh so much fun!

Da Vinci Code. I read the Da Vinci Code in 3 days this holiday. Thought I'd better have an opinion about such a controversial book. Have to say, found it to be a load of tripe and not even that well written! Please email me if you disagree.

27 Dec 2006. Three years married today, and it's been a great three years. Almost exactly this precise time in 2003 I was shuffling about at the top of the aisle waiting for my bride to arrive. This year, as I mentioned in a previous blog, we went to Caetano Veloso in Rio. For those of you who don't know who he is I'm talking about possibly Brazil's biggest and best singer/songwriter of the last 50 years. CV is in his 60s now but still struts his stuff. He seems to be ageless. Imagine somebody with the longetivity of Cliff Richard, the popularity of Robbie Williams and the coolness of Lenny Kravitz and you have something like Senhor Veloso.

So, the show was held in a small venue called the Flying Circus - a kind of outdoor tent, with art installations and palm trees dotted around. Doors opened at 8.30pm and the show was due to start at 10.30pm. Caetano Veloso took his time to get to the stage, not arriving until after 11pm so we were already exhausted before he'd even started. (I remember gigs in London in the 90s would FINISH at 11pm because of licensing laws). CV was launching his new CD, and brought with him a pared down band with only drummer, bass player and guitarist. CV is always reinventing himself and his music in order to stay fresh. This time he dispensed with the backing singers, brass section and mini-orchestra he has for his larger concerts. The result was a raw and sparse sound which worked really well. Most of the crowd were half his age which shows his enduring popularity. Other Brazilian celebrities attended including an emerging artist from the North East called Lenini.

The radio station promoting the event had the slogan: "Ninguem resiste a musica brasileira". Nobody resists Brazilian music! Well, even though it was a masterful performance from a masterful performer we resisted staying to the end and left for our hotel at 1am. Being parents of a small baby does not afford us the luxury of being out too late! Anyway, I recommend checking out Caetano if you don't know anything about him or his music.