Nigel and Ann

Meet Nigel and Ann, a British couple who I got talking to in what we call 'the wee local place' about 10 days ago when Bb was in São Paulo. They were having dinner, I heard them speak English and thought I'd say hello. They were in a hotel just up the road from our studio. I shared a few of our favourite places with them and wished them a good holiday.

The next night we bumped into each other waiting to cross a busy street and so they invited me to join them for a drink. We arranged to meet the next morning with Bb to show them our Wed food market and to let them see our studio. We did that and wished them a good holiday.

Then Bb and I made the spontaneous decision to stay for carnival and the only room I could find locally was, yes, in their hotel! So.....two days later, when they thought we'd gone back to Bcn, we bumped into each other in the hotel reception. They did a full double take and I think by this stage they suspected we were stalking them! I felt a bit sheepish, explained what had happened and said we'd probably see each other around in the breakfast room.....and wished them a good holiday.

Sure enough we chatted over the buffet table at breakfast and then arranged to meet for dinner on Tuesday night. We had a lovely time getting to know them better at dinner and then walking along the crowded front of Copacabana...at the end of the evening, we wished them a good holiday.

Last night was their last night. Bb and I were wandering round the evening arts and crafts market when, surprise surprise, there they were again. We agreed to meet in 15 mins across the street for a last night drink and they told us they'd fallen in love with Rio, felt quite at home in Copacabana, had their own 'wee local place' and were saying they'd love to come back. It was lovely meeting them, we're going to keep in touch and we might bump into each other yet again! And there's talk of them renting our studio for a return visit!

In other news it was my brother Busboy's 500th blip today...here!